Sorry Riki I didn`t mean to mispell your name. I am bad at that.

No that`s fine, I`m used to it

KC, the only time my piccolo and I have a significant intonation problem is when I am out of practice.

IMHO any particular model of piccolo needs a particular embouchure that suits the way the tuning was designed - far more so than flute - in order to match the embouchuyre that the piccolo was perhaps designed for. This may account for our different findings.

A local professional orchestral piccolo player seemed to have no problem with mine when he tried it, after being used to his Hammig.

Personally I have neither heard nor read many negative comments about the 62 at all, although of course there are better piccolos for a considerably higher price.

I cannot comment on Burkart because I have yet to encounter one in my country.

I have a personal question. My band director brought an Armstrong marching piccolo to my attention yesterday. It is an Armstrong, rather old but plays well, rubber pads,a finger guard, fairly good springs, and the only really bad thing I noticed was that the crown cap is stuck; I am asuming that a repairman can fix that pretty easily...It is only $100. It will shine up with a little TLC and I can get a good tone out of it... A good deal, but I dont really want to shell out that kind of money without an opinion from others. I do not know much about rubber pads or Armstrong piccolos. (a little embarrasing considering I hold Armstrong flutes in such high reguard...) Opinions???

I cannot see that crown taking more than 2 minutes to fix.

I dont mind how long it takes...just as long as it is fixable and the repairman is willing to put a little effort into it! I dont know how much it would be, but I am going to get an estimate on it at my local music store-they do the repairs for my marching instruments.

I find them OK.

I own (and still play) my 4S with a useless gold lip.

I now play on a Powell Kingwood piccolo.

I would recommend the YPC-62 only if you find it works for you. I thought the sound was thin and airy and it was out of tune.

I have never tried the Armstrong.

I found the Yamaha 62 to have a good sound to it, but I agree with you, I found the intonation to be a big issue on it.

Any other opinions!?! I need to get back to the director by friday if I am going to buy the piccolo-I don`t think I am unless anyone can pursuade me otherwise...

Jessie, I wish I could help, but I would really need to look at the piccolo before I could tell you what to do. It really depends what kind of condition it is in. I would see how much it will cost for the repairs and then go from there.

Thanks, KC...I have decided not to buy it-my local repairman said that there would be a fee of around $50 to fix a few things and he is giving me a discount...I dont really need a new marching piccolo anyway and do not have very much money to spend on my instruments right now...You sound a bit exasperated...are you alright?

Exasperated? Huh??? What do you mean? I am actually in a good mood. Lol!

Heee...my bad...I tend to pick up the opposite emotions of my friends, too. I think that they are happy and I make a joke and they burst into tears...It makes me sad...Anyway (wow, that was deep for today...)I told my director I didnt want it. my school doesnt even want to spare the band $100 to buy it. I am trying to see if I con convince the principal (a former director) if he can spare the money-the school needs a new piccolo badly.

oh, lordy. arguments ahoy.

gemeinhardt piccolos arent great, but they get the job done. wooden piccolos shouldnt be played outside, whatsoever. the change in temperature and whatnot from inside and outside can crack the wood. between silver and plastic, choose plastic because silver is almost always out of tune (as 99.9% of piccolos are) but plastic ones hide it much better and they do not sound as shrill as silver ones. a plastic body silver head is good... silver boduy with plastice head is head-heavy.

i`ve done everything possible to combine 3 crappy piccolos to create one semi-good sounding one to play at concerts. didnt work. for something cheap, go for the yamaha 32. plastic body/silver head.

but for conert band, definately go for wood. plastic next choice and metal=deafen the person next to you with screaching sounds.

There are arguments all the time in the forum-its a bad thing because sometimes the arguments can get out of hand, but then it is a good thing, too, because it shows that everyone has a different, valuable opinion.