Does the Boston Legacy model have a split E mechanism? Because if it does I may just reconsider my first inclination to go with one of the two gemeinhardt models that I was looking at [roy seaman, kg limited]. Also, since the legacy can come in either ironwood or grenadilla, I was just wanted to clarify - the grenadilla wood has a much darker sound than the ironwood, right?

No it doesn't have a split E which I think is a good thing. I had a split E on my other Burkart piccolo and hated it. When I got my new one, I opted to go without it. I could not hear or feel any difference. Then again, we all now how I depise split E's. I feel like they are more of a crutch then anything, but people who have them will say other wise.

I agree with Kara on the Split-E issue. My Zentner has one, but I certainly do not consider that an important selling point, nor a very important feature. It's perfectly possible to play E's and slur A3-E3 without one, and seeing that they can potentially cause mech problems and affect trills, I personally dislike them (unless you want to cough up even more money for an on/off clutch). As for the different woods, some people say the Grenadilla is darker, others the Ironwood. I personally preferred the Ironwood when it came to the Legacy's, but normally prefer Grenadilla over any other wood. The only way to decide which way to go is to play both.

thanks! what I think I've decided to do is to order through fluteworld and have them send me one of each of the three models and then send the other two back. [they usually offer to send 3 of the model you are ordering anyway, but my instructor suggested to have them send me one of each so I could test them all out] I guess I'll just have to wait and see

Sounds like a good plan. Good luck finding one you like!

the Hammig is the best I have found for the money if your budget is in the $2,500-$3,000 range, I have also seen good Zentners in that range, BTW, most the new Hammig piccs have split E, if that is a feature you want

thanks! Yeah, I think I prefer having a split E at this point but if I find a really good picc without one it won't hinder my decision to get it anyway so I suppose it's not that big of a deal. So I'm going to give the boston legacy a chance even though it doesn't have a split E. I'm ordering one of those, a gemeinhardt kg limited, and a gemeinhardt roy seaman. I'm excitedddd

no matter what picc u get, just remember they all are hard to play in tune, work with a keyboard and tuner a lot

They are harder to play in tune than a flute, but some of them do have an excellent scale on them, and the amount of flexibility that the player has is also going to dictate how difficult it is to play in tune. Patrick's suggestions are good though. Definitely do some tuner work, and play with fixed-pitch instruments, and then move on to ensembles of varying sizes and instrumentations.

I just recently played an Emerson Boston Legacy piccolo in Ironwood. I really loved the sound, it was very sweet and easy to control. The upper register just popped out (including high B and C).Intonation is excellent. I have played on Yamaha, Zentner, Gemeinhardt and a Haynes piccolo and the Emerson is much superior. For the price you get a much better instrument than you would if you bought a Gemeinhardt.....