Dealers of repute such as Fluteworld or NY Flute Center would not sell Gemeinhardt flutes if such allegations were true. No music store would carry products that kept breaking and causing returns.

Talk to any repair tech and they will tell you differently. (Micron...where are you?) Music stores can carry them so then they can sell them to clueless customers who won`t know the difference when they go out of adjustment anyway.

I am not sure how many models of Gemeinhardt flutes you have played to judge this brand. Get some good flute repair training, service over at least 20 Gemeinhardt flutes, then get back to me in a couple of years. You may like how they play, but the quality of them is another thing.

Talk to any repair tech and they will tell you differently. (Micron...where are you?) Music stores can carry them so then they can sell them to clueless customers who won`t know the difference when they go out of adjustment anyway. I am not sure how many models of Gemeinhardt flutes you have played to judge this brand. Get some good flute repair training, service over at least 20 Gemeinhardt flutes, then get back to me in a couple of years. You may like how they play, but the quality of them is another thing.

Still in that bad mood I take it...

Micron has no experience with any Gemeinhardt from model 3 on up from his own admittance. You only have experience with a single Gemeinhardt 2 series flute that you had ages ago from what I have read of your experiences with Gemeinhardt flutes.

What experienced repair techs are in this forum??

If you want the opinions of flute repair specialists and even makers themselves they are accessible at the flutelist and they do not partake in the tar and feathering of brands.

Your claims are baseless.

Please share with us where you have studied instrument repair and in what school you have obtained your performance degree from before you go about attacking people with regard to their inexperience.

<Added>

"What experienced repair techs are in this forum??" should have been "What repair techs experienced with Gemeinhardts are in this forum??"

Sorry if this is a bit off your point Stephen.
Jose Luis if you haven`t bought one I found a site with good prices in €.
Take a look
http://www.paulryanmusic.com The Yamaha 371 is going for €1040 here

You know, it occurs to me, after reading some of the posts on this forum that there are really only three people that offer opinions on anything; Micron, Kara, and StephenK. Everyone else is asking questions. That`s not a very representative sample of flute consumers, at least not enough on which to base a purchasing decision.

I don`t know much about Gemeinhardt, but look at it logically. I live in a medium sized city on the east coast of the US. There must be at least 10 to 15 music stores in my area. Most carry Gemeinhardt. If I were a music store that provided repair service and offered a warranty on the equipment I sold, as most of these stores do, I would not carry a product that kept comming back for service or my customers had problems with. If a product keeps comming back for service, it would cost me time and effort to satisfy the customer, which translates to money.

Let`s just say for the sake of argument that 50% of the dealers in my area are not reputable and don`t care about their customers after the sale. That still leaves plenty of dealers that stand behind and support the product.

In addition, the dealers in my area that do not carry Gemeinhardt, don`t talk bad about the brand. They don`t say that they are unreliable or poorly made. They simply offer an alternative, or a higher or lower end brand.

Ok, fine, maybe my area is not representative. Let`s look on the internet. If you go to Woodwinds and Brasswinds and search flutes by best seller, the top 5 best selling flutes are Gemeinhardt. If you go to Musicians Friend and search best sellers, the top seller is Gemeinhardt. I find it hard to believe that all the dealers in my area are wrong, all the purchasers on the internet are wrong, and only a couple of people on this forum know best.

I understand the loyality to the brand that you play, have become used to, and feel is a part of you. But that is no reason to discount entire lines of equipment based on limited experience. Even if you work as a full time professional repair tech, and repaired flutes 24/7, you could not put your hands on enough of any one brand to make a reasonable statistical judgement of an entire production series.

I think simply based on market evidence, Gemeinhardt is a reasonable brand to consider when making a purchase decision. As for playability and tonal qualities, each person should make up their own mind after trying the instrument.

Thank you Leprachaun for the information on Paul Ryan;

Now, it`s amusing to see how any thread, whatever the subject is, always derives in discussions about one brand advantages an the like, personal experiences and the like.

It`s obvious we all like this type arguments and (I) enjoy reading them.

So you were not out of point. I visited the site and is very interesting, as being in Europe the warranties are more enforceable.

Price is a little high, at 1,248 $ in Dublin. I also get the price for the YFL311, which is more the type of instrument I am familiar with (closed holes and offset G).

I about fear changing both things in one step, even if I plug the holes. The YFL311 with closed holes is also cheaper, but still at 959Eu (1,150$)

I could buy a Yamaha YFL311 in Madrid at 1,000 Eu, so it`s more or less the same as Ryan`s, considering the shipment from Ireland to Spain and probably more expensive, due to TVA issues

Nancy Shinn offers me YFL381 for 700$ in used (but supposedly very good) condition.

It does have the open hole and in-line G issues, I know.

But, what do you think of this level of price (seems to me a little high, but not sure..)?

Still in that bad mood I take it...

No, I am just tired of this whole Gemeinhardt debate that you love to bring up everytime someone mentions something bad about Gemeinhardt or Yamaha. Wasn`t it just you who whom attacked Micro for Gemeinhardt in a previous thread for no reason. It sounds like you are a little bit sensative on the whole Gemeinhardt issue. So let`s not get into bad moods, shall we?

You only have experience with a single Gemeinhardt 2 series flute that you had ages ago from what I have read of your experiences with Gemeinhardt flutes.

True, but I have seen and worked on more then just the student models, but not often. I have seen more (newer) Gemeinhardt 2SP flutes then I have every seen older ones.

If you want the opinions of flute repair specialists and even makers themselves they are accessible at the flutelist and they do not partake in the tar and feathering of brands.

Tar and feathering of brands? I just call them like I see them!

Your claims are baseless.

Think what you must. I am glad that you are happy with your Gemeinhardt.

Please share with us where you have studied instrument repair and in what school you have obtained your performance degree from before you go about attacking people with regard to their inexperience.

<Added>

I was trained over several summers in NY by a close friend who specialized in flute repair, like I do beleive that I have mentioned before. And your experience to judge Gemeinhardt flutes as being superior would be what?
Schooling does not mean a thing if you would like to play flute professionaly and be good at it. There are some wonderful professional flutists that never went to college. It is what the world would like you to beleive that you have to do to be somebody.

I have enough experience and knowledge with Gemeinhardt flutes to say that I think that they are poorly made, I don`t like the sound and would never recommend them.

No, I am just tired of this whole Gemeinhardt debate that you love to bring up everytime someone mentions something bad about Gemeinhardt or Yamaha. Wasn`t it just you who whom attacked Micro for Gemeinhardt in a previous thread for no reason. It sounds like you are a little bit sensative on the whole Gemeinhardt issue. So let`s not get into bad moods, shall we?

The thread was on Jupiter flutes and I was questioning the general statement that Jupiter flutes had soft metal.
http://www.8notes.com/f/25_152668.asp?spage=1

I believe you were attempting to bring up Gemeinhardt with a snide attack on it, which I ignored, at the close of that particular thread.