Hey everyone. Has anyone ever had a Pearl flute before? How are they? Do they need to be taken to the repair shop very often, or at they very durable?

I`m considering saving up for one, and I don`t know if it`s a good flute or not. I`m considering getting the 505 series, open-hole, offset g, split-e, and c foot.

I don`t plan on going to a conservatory or anything, I just thing flute is really fun. But I want to get a new flute because my old one is closed hole, and my teacher suggested getting an open-hole one.

Be aware that there are very fine examples of Pearl flute, especially those made in Japan. However the standard of the student ones from Taiwan, IMO, have much to be desired, compared with the student Yamahas that I work on.

1. There is quite high variability form flute to flute in how they play, even when adjusted properly. Perhaps this is because of variability in hand cutting of the embouchure hole - I don`t know.

2. It is common for there to be quite a lot of sloppiness in pivots. For a flute to be reliable, pads need to line up with tone holes to an accuracy something like -.02 mm. If a pivot has 0.1 mm `sloppiness`, then any adjustments will be rather precarious at best. This is an expensive item to put right, and is likely to leave some cosmetic damage during the process. There is also often sloppiness where the pivot rod goes through the `king post` between the Bb key and the F# key. This is quite a major nuisance to correct.

3. The tone holes are not particularly level. The good quality, rather firm pads that are used are not good for accommodating this unevenness, nor `2` above.

4. If the need arises to clean the keywork with a solvent, then all the felts can be expected to fall off. That is because of the adhesive used. This is now quite common in student flutes, but was not a problem for at least the almost-recent models of Yamaha. Another significant additional expense.

5. Where the regulating screws impact, tiny patches of silencing material are glued on. This particular glue fails very readily. When it does, some notes become unplayable. Sooner or later these either all need replacing, removing (making the mechanism significantly noisier) or the screws themselves replaced with Yamaha ones, which have the silencers Incorporated in the screws.

6. The much-vaunted "pinless construction" really has no advantage at all compared with the well tried and tested pinned construction that has been the standard on all other flutes, including top professional models, for many years. It just adds another complication every time a technician needs to remover the stack keys.

7. There are often other little mechanical issues which are simply shoddy manufacture compared with Yamaha.

I know several teachers who are fed up with how often these flutes need servicing. It is because of all those items above.

IMO they should be a few hundred dollars cheaper than Yamaha because of all the work they are likely to need. Perhaps they are.

"The much-vaunted "pinless construction" really has no advantage at all compared with the well tried and tested pinned construction that has been the standard on all other flutes, including top professional models, for many years. It just adds another complication every time a technician needs to remover the stack keys."

YES!They are a huge pain to just take apart and put back together again. I am not a huge fan of them myself.

I would like to add another thing here. SOME of the Pearl models that I have seen have very soft metal bodies and dent very easily.

Please notice, I said, SOME.

I hope you`re not comparing Pearls "preferred" mass produced flutes to a Yamaha flute.

A Pearl Quantz would be a more appropriate comparison with regards to quality and price. Have you found these quality issues with their Quantz line?

They do make flutes of various quality… ranging from questionable $400 flutes to sticker shock $60,000+ flutes.

Pearl is pretty open in regards to who their "preferred" line is intended for and it`s "mass production". http://pearlflutes.com

Regarding soft metal flutes... I`ll just throw this out in the air.

1. Non-solid silver flute bodies are generally harder than solid silver flutes.

2. Solid silver flute bodies have a minimum required silver content... the less silver, the harder the body.

If these statements are true there is something wrong with the notion of a "soft metal" flute body. Perhaps the flute body is a thinner-walled flute which is usually considered a design feature.

"I hope you`re not comparing Pearls "preferred" mass produced flutes to a Yamaha flute."

I`m comparing the locally marketed 500 series that is priced similarly to Yamaha here.

"Regarding soft metal flutes... "

There is a lot more to it.

Firstly, even quite small amounts of the right metal added to an alloy can dramatically alter the hardness and strength, so in student flutes especially, where many different variations on the cupronickel alloys are used, the hardness can vary a lot.

Secondly:....

When silver or copper alloys are heated close to red hot (and they are when they are produced), they become very soft.

The more they are "worked", the harder and more brittle they get.

"Worked" covers ANY process that permanently distorts the shape without cutting.... e.g. drawing, beating, cold-forging, ball-peening, bending, stretching, rolling, etc.

Hardening processes can be incorporated in the manufacture of the keys, or some or all parts of the keys can be made by simply casting the hot metal, making them soft. The strongest keys are typically made by cold forging. A lump of cold metal is forced into a mold under enormous force. This, of course, is more expensive.

To complicate the issue, the various parts of keys are typically silver-soldered together. This is done at a temperature that can easily soften the metal, depending on the alloy and the precise control over the temperature, and the particular solder used.

Metallurgy is a complex science!

Damn Arak!! You remind me of my husband. You are both like a walking encyclopedia.

a couple of my students have had pearl student level flutes and, while they have a nice, easy tone and play well, they were constantly in the shop for adjustments, especially the split-E key mechanism

Thanks Kara. I`ll take that as a compliment. Perhaps he, like me, is a compulsive searcher of information. I think it goes back to a primeval hunting instinct. We might have a high proportion of throw-back in our genes.

"a couple of my students have had pearl student level flutes and, while they have a nice, easy tone and play well, they were constantly in the shop for adjustments, especially the split-E key mechanism"

The adjustment of the split E linkage itself is not really that critical, because the lower G key does not need to close firmly to provide the desiered effect. Indeed, the alternatives such as the donut leave a very large effective leak here.

However, with a split E, the G pivot tube is cut half way along, and for both G keys to close reliably when the upper G key is closed, the pivots must have very little play. Unfortunately this is often not the case with Pearl. "Swedging" these pivot tubes greatly improves reliability.

Also, this is one of the locations where there is an insecure silencer beneath the regulating screw.

"I`m comparing the locally marketed 500 series that is priced similarly to Yamaha here."

The 500 series IS the Pearl "preferred" series. The entry level Quantz is priced comparatively to Yamaha.

"Regarding soft metal flutes... "

I would love to know of a flute maker that forges flute bodies
The heating of metal in an of itself does not change hardness, but the compression of the metal. The thin and thick of it all. The metal itself is not softer or harder.

Well, you guys lost me when you got into how hard/soft the bodies were. Alright then, what brand and model would you recommend?

You can`t seem to go wrong with a Yamaha.

Also, keep in mind that just because a flute has open holes, does not mean that it is better. That is a huge misconception. I really wonder why teachers are always pushing open hole flutes on their students.

Here are your options for an inexpensive upgrade flute with at least a solid silver head and open holes, assuming your spending limit is around $800:

* denotes Special Features unique to this flute versus others.

Yamaha YFL-381
Pearl PF-665RB Quantz *Pointed Keys, Pinless Mechanism
Jupiter 611
Gemeinhardt 3SB (ONLY S or K Headjoint) *silver body/foot
Emerson EF6 *undercut tone holes
Emerson EF8 *undercut tone holes, silver body/foot
Armstong 303B *thinwall head
DeFord 8B (Emerson) *silver body/foot