How well do Gemeinhardt piccolos play? I have tried to play my friend`s Gemeinhardt student flute which had really bad sound opposed to my intermediate open hole Yamaha, but are the piccolos really bad? What about the professional Gemeinhardt piccolos?

Thanks.

I agree with you about the student Gemeinhardt flutes compared with Yamaha.

In my experience, Gemeinhardt piccolos play better than their flutes do, provided that they`re well adjusted, to be leak-free with light finger pressure. Manufacture is scruffier than Yamaha (unless they have suddenly improved lately), so this can be more difficult to achieve than with yamaha.

One leak test for piccolos is to put a cork in the lower end and play low D. With the appropriate (relaxed)embouchure and (gentle)breath pressure, it should sound a very quiet D an octave lower. If you can play this note (with light finger pressure), then there are no leaks.

However there could still be leak issues associated with the linkage of one key with another, e.g. the F key not adequately closing the Bb pad.

Thank you.

Also, do you know anything about professional armstrong piccolos?

Armstrong does not make any professional piccolo`s.

I am borrowing a hobo marching piccolo from Armstrong, and it`s ok I guess, I still love half wooden or all wooden piccolos though.

Thatis probably because they are generally of a higher quality and of better acoustic, rather than because they are made of wood.

There are many other parameters involved apart from the material.

Yes, but we have been through this before. No one will agree with you on that. I garantee it.

I`m pretty sure that if someone made a body of a piccolo with crap wood thats usable (unlikely to happen), it would sound better than a crap marching piccolo.

Yes, I agree. Wood sounds and responds much better than the metal or silver piccolos. I still think that the Yamaha wood piccolos sound better than any of the older or newer Haynes silver pics.

Sorry KC, but we will have to agree to disagree...

1. "No one will agree with you on that. I guarantee it." You simply cannot make guarantees on behalf of all players. That is surely arrogant and presumptuous.

2. If a person states something as fact, as you seem to be doing, it requires only a single example to prove that `fact` to be wrong. I have played that example of a piccolo - metal - Never played one sweeter.

3. You seem to refuse to address or acknowledge the fact that there are many other VERY significant parameters in the design of a piccolo. Anybody with a modicum of knowledge of the acoustic design of woodwinds can tell you that it is primarily THESE that make the differences in the sound.

Rikki, if I, personally, or probably you too, make a piccolo from the very best timber, it will sound really stink. That is because I do not have the expertise to get the DESIGN parameters right.

Almost all metal piccolos are student instruments, and of course they are likely to be stink when compared with top professional piccolos, most of which are timber.

Why do they make them form timber? Almost certainly because of reasons including:

a. It is easier to made the double tapered cone bore of exactly the right shape in timber.

b. It is easier to undercut the tone holes on a timber piccolo.

c. It is easier to make the tone holes (no soldering).

d. The tube is more rigid; it does not easily bend.

e. The instrument is more elegant, the key posts and embouchure plate more nestled against the body.

f. Because of marketing forces... Manufacturers are driven by misconceptions in the marketplace, as long as doing so increases sales, hence profit.

These are probably also the reasons why clarinets and oboes are usually made from timber.

But note that some top oboes are lined with a plastic; one of the top Buffet clarinets (Greenline) is made from a composite that is essentially plastic in its properties; some top-brand oboes have an entirely plastic body; astute listeners could not tell the difference in sound between a concrete and silver flute (I presume without keys); There have been top clarinets in the past, made of metal.

Let me tell you something!! You want a good piccolo, then choose for Armstrong or Yamaha. I`m a professional flute/piccolo player and Armstrong or Yamaha have the best piccolo`s now for an affordable price.

Take a look @ http://www.boxymusic.com or http://www.musicproducts.com
They have good prices and you get your instrument in a few days.

Greetz Thomas

I have a nice Yamaha piccolo and it has served me well throughout the years...I have rarely had to take it in for repairs and it plays rather well for marching band. It is suitable in a concert setting, but not as good as others.

Thank you all.

My Yamaha YPC62 (wooden) has served me extremely well for many years. I have played others with a slight edge - very slight - but far more expensive.

I don`t play it in the rain. Nobody in my country does. Woodwinds were not designed for that, although attempts are being made to allow them to better cope with that.

I am probably going to get a long lecture on this post, but here goes.
Arak, that is great if you can keep your 62 in tune. I find the scale on them horrible, as do many others that I have talked to that own one. I love the sound of them and I think they are built very well, but it is just too bad about the scale issue. I went through two of them before I gave up and switched to a Burkart. The new global line is really not much more if any of a price difference compared to the 62. I have had my Burkart for a year and I am loving it. No more frustrations about intonation! It is too bad that Yamaha can`t make some changes.

Ricki, you are too funny!