Hi! I`m a bit of a newbie here. My name really isn`t Codey, I`m not sure how that name got assigned to me, I apologize if there`s a previous member named Codey, I wasn`t trying to steal anybody`s name.

I`m looking for a good intermediate flute. Lucky me, I live near Fluteworld and went there Friday and played a lot of flutes and narrowed my choice down to those three listed in the subject line. I`m not sure about the model number of the first Yamaha listed - trial paperwork calls it a YFL674H, but on the box the model number is written as YFL674HA. (?)

In any case, since to my admittedly unprofessional (for the time being - LOL!) ears and fingers, these three are nearly equally nice to play, I would like to add into the equation other factors, such manufacturer`s reputation and any knowledge that you would care to share with me, either goood or bad, regarding these three specific flutes as well as the two manufacturers. Do Yamaha flutes have a tuning issue? I`ve heard that they are not tuned to the same frequency of A as American made flutes. Is this true, and if so ,is it a problem? I`m curious too about what you feel regarding Pearl`s "Pinless" mechanism - what are the advantages and disadvantages?

Any and all comments would be VERY much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

BTW, sorry for such a long post>

I would suggest you find a flute isntructor with a degree in flute performance in the area. Their time would probably only cost you $35 and they would probably jump at the chance of just play testing a flute for you.

Do make sure its a blind test to alleviate any brand bias on their part.

I highly recommend joining the FluteList, http://www.larrykrantz.com/fluteweb/fluteweb.htm , you will have access to thousands of professional flutists opinions from around the world and also access to the ARCHIVE. You can simply search those models and read tomes of information on them over the years.

Best of luck.

Dear Catman,
I always recommend Yamaha as being very good and reliable brand. However, I am one of those people who feel that the scale on them could use improvement. I have play tested many Pearls and worked on some, I do think that intonation is better on them, but I don`t care for the sound that they produce. This is just me though.

As far as the pinless mechanism goes, it is not all it has cracked up to be. I really don`t like to work on Pearls, they can be a nightmare to fix when they do need fixing. I just don`t think that they are manufactured as well as the Yamaha.
I am not saying that they are bad by any means, just when compared to the Yamaha, I feel the quality is better on that Yamaha than on the Pearl.

IMHO,another thing to avoid is the split E on the Pearls. They are more trouble then it is worth. If you have a really big problem with the E staying in tune and cracking a lot, you may consider a G donut instead.

I hope that helps! Good luck to you and please let us know which one you decide upon.

Kara Kay

I have a Pearl Flute and was wondering what the problem with their Split E is? I have only played on this flute ever, and want to know what I am looking for when I go to upgrade. Thanks

-Dennis

The split can jam up the rest of the keys that are on the same rod just for starters. If you can get by without one, (which anyone is capable) then I would stray away from getting a flute with one on it. The tend to deaden the sound on the high E too, which I never did like. That is just my preference though.

Perhaps our more experienced technician that posts on here regularly can describe it to you best.

Ahh..there he is! Thank you. I have never had much luck with the split E on the Pearls or much on any other brand. I did have one that jammed up and it was on an offset model, but I have heard that it is very common to happen on flutes with the in line. That was before I started working on flutes, so I don`t know what the repair man did to get it to work again.

Oh, well I have never had a problem with mine. I have an offset G. My E sounds a tad fuzzy, but never any keys jamming. I don`t know how people can play on an inline G :-o

-Dennis