I wrote this in another thread, but I thought it would be nice as a topic.

I might get blasted by other members on the forum for this, but I really like the First Act flutes when they are well adjusted. So far I have gotten in a few and after I made the proper adjustments to them I have been impressed. The headjoint design on them is particularly good. Now I haven't had one long enough to evaluate how long it will hold up in compared to other brands such as Yamaha, but I have been tinkering with one for a few months now and so far so good.

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Just for fun, I thought would try out a little test. I took out a Yamaha 225S and the First Act flute. Both in top notch playing condition. I then did a blind test. I had my husband hand me one flute at a time and play. We both liked flute #1 best which was very surprising because it was the First Act flute! We did the test a couple more times and came up with the same results. I was very surprised to say the least!

The Yamaha definetly is a more solid flute, and IS better built, but I still really like this little First Act flute. A lot of these flutes need to be re set up after buying new. More so than most name brand flutes, so that is a down fall. I think I may just get a few more and set them up and sell them.

I'm just curious, but how many flutes have you had?

I think that one of the flute manufactures is getting fed up with their "competition".
In the recent Nov. '07 Flute Talk mag. their ad copy said:

"If a flute is built, priced and sold like a toy, it will probably end up in the toy box and not the band room."

I'm just curious, but how many flutes have you had?

Were you asking me or Lera this?

Just like how it was with Japan(remember back in the 60s and 70s when "Made in Japan" was equivalent to break if you look at it wrong?

Then the Koreans. Hyundai is beginning to make cars that are getting close to GM in quality.

I figure that in another 20 years or so, the flute bubble will have burst. No longer will places be able to charge boutique prices for anything other than a truly handmade flute. All of the basic ones will be sold for very little money over cost due to $400 models that are as good as Yamaha's current intermediate models(I suspect that it really does cost Yamaha about $400-$600 for a 400 or 500 series flute - there's insane markup)

But it's gong to be a decade or two until they catch up, I think. Who makes the First Act line?

That's an interesting opinion, Kara. I won't try to change it, as we're all entitled to our own preferences and ideas, but I think it's important that a caveat be included for any readers who might read this as a ringing endorsement for low-cost flutes. Most flutes from sources like Big Box Store X are very hit-or-miss. It's great that the one you've been working with for the last few months has held together well, but this may or may not be the case with any other instrument, even from the same source. Also, most people are not experienced repair techs, and as such do not have the knowledge or skill to do the (presumably extensive) set up required on a flute like this so that it can play properly. Even if they were to take it to a repair tech to have this work done, it pretty much defeats the purpose of buying such a cheap instrument, as the price of setup could easily boost the overall cost into the realm of a flute that would have been ready to play straight out of the case. I agree that in the future cheaper flutes like these will likely corner part of the market, but so far, they're too inconsistent and require too much investment on top of the original purchase price for them to be good choices for students. Just my $0.02.

Unfortunetly Chris, not all parents can afford an $800 student Yamaha or gold flutes or headjoints for their kids.

And I'm not saying that they should, but for the cost of buying a First Act and having it expertly set up, they can get a used Gemeinhardt or Emerson that will be just as good without the question of reliability.

I'm not writing this about thes First Act flutes per se but about these cheaper flutes in general.

One thing that we must consider as educators and musicians is the durability factor of the instruments.
I had one of these chaep flutes in my studio and i discovered that a spring was loose. the key, I think. So, I tried to reinsert the spring into the post with a small screwdriver and the hole that is supposed to hold this spring had been made too large at the factory. I know that this was the case because as I tried to fix this, other springs had also come loose from un hooking them from the keys. These flutes may work out of the box but they may not work for long and they are discouraging for the student if they are constantly in the shop for repairs. That is, if the repairman will accept them for repair. Some won't.

A few weeks ago, a mother was in the store asking for a cheap $15 tuner for her daugher's flute. The BD recommended a tuner. The mother as a side note, mentioned that they were looking to have the flute 'fixed'. It seemed that the blue paint was flaking off of the tube and that the gold paint was wearing off of the keys. This is the 2nd year that this girl has gotten out of her flute. Now that the levvel of playing is getting better in her system, the BD was complaining about the tuning of this cheap flute. They spent $40 for their tuner. ~Worth more than the flute is because the repair man isn't going to take apart this flute to repaint the tube. Can't tune it, can't fix it.

Maybe someday these flutes will be better quality (like the Honda or Hyundai examples) OR maybe someday our expectations will have lowered to accept them. Personally, I've never owned either brand vehicle mostly because of their initial reputation. Then again, maybe they will go the way of the Yugo in the US. It is a sad situation if the parents can't spend the necessary amount of money to buy a quality instrument. It would even be sadder if they COULD buy a decent flute but prefer to spend their dollars moe easily on cell phones, wide screen HDs and satellite hookups. Priorities.
I still maintain that they are like cheap garbage bags. If you buy one, you may find that you need to use two or three more before you are done with the job.

As a side note.
I would much prefer to see a properly working used Yammy or Gemmy with dings all over the Hj in my studio than a brand new blue painted cheapy flute.

Were you asking me or Lera this?

Sorry, I was asking Lera.
But never mind anyway...

On the issue of low cost flutes; There is quite a bit of competition in the student-to-intermediate flute market anyway. Yamaha, Pearl, Jupiter, Trevor James, Gemeinhard etc etc etc. Not to mention all the flutes that are made by top of the line companies who are trying to get a share of the lower end market; Sonare, Azumi, Amadeus. ALL of these flutes are already made in low-wage countries such as China and Taiwan. Yes, margins may drop further for the branded flutes, but if no-name flutes get better their margins and costs will also rise as they become established brands themselves, otherwise why would they bother? The very same thing happened with japanese cars (and other goodies), and is already happening with Korean cars.

Leporello,
This is a good point. as a matter of fact, I believe that Yamaha started out as a lesser quality brand but what we have to deal with is in the here and now. Maybe when these flutes become of better quality and materials, then we can reassess them but because of what I've actually seen being used around here, I have to advise against them currently.

I quite agree. I've only ever had a chance to play one "store-branded" flute, and despite the fact that it was a specialist store (one of the biggest in Europe), and their specialist flute person's assurances that it was a fine flute, I thought the sound was just not very good at all, even when the store guy played it. And this was not one of those awfull pink or purple flutes, it felt pretty solid, and was a very good looking instrument with open holes and a silver lipplate. Anyway, (as I know I've said before,) I got the Pearl.