Hi you guys



I got the new Flute I posted a while back about!

Thanks a ton you guys! I'm in love with the sound!




But, low and behold... My Band Director thinks I'm a stunning Piccolo player...


Meaning, there's lots of piccolo in my future, with severely reduced Flute.


So, I thought perhaps sometime in the future, I'd invest in a Piccolo



Any thoughts on which piccolos are best? Right now I'm playing on the School's Picc (It's a Boston Legacy... not sure on how good that is compared with other Piccs, but I know it's just swell to play on.)




-Texas Flute

if you become a good picc player, your flute playing will not suffer, if anything, it will open more doors for you, it did for me..

Ann, I would be curious of what the other piccolos you tried that you liked a bit better. I tried the BL in iron wood and while it was a nice piccolo, the key set up didn't work well for my hands. I have my eye on a Zenter and Moenning.

To the orignal poster... Congrats on getting your new flute. Which one did you decide on?

As far as piccolos go, here is a list of good brands..

Powell
Burkart/Phelan
Lillian Burkart
Zentner (no longer made, but can get used)
Seaman NOT the ones being made by Gemeinhardt (also no longer made)
Emerson Boston Legacy
Haynes
Hammig
Keefe
Brannen (no longer sold and now are Keef piccs)
Braun
Bulgheroni
Yamaha

Wow I wish my high school had a Boston Legacy. We weren't that lucky. Really, unless you're willing to spend $4k on a custom piccolo, you won't find one much better than the Boston Legacy. If you want to continue playing after high school, I'd suggest you play the school's piccolo while saving up for your own once you graduate.

Yes, I check usedflute.com everyday. The ones I thought looked good were either sold, the seller never got back to me or they were asking way too much. There is someone trying to sell a Burkart/Phelan for $3000, when you can get a new one for only $3150 brand new. I don't know how anyone expects to sell a used piccolo for only a $150 less for what a new one sells for. People amaze me!

I had the same problem with the BL picc. The first time I picked it up I knew right away it wasn't going to work for me as the D# rod next to the D key is over further then most picc set ups. If it wasn't for that, I most likely would have bought one.

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I forgot to mention, as I am sure you probably know, I own a Pearl Grenaditte piccolo. It has a gorgeous sweet sound and I have played it next to the Burkat piccolo that I used to own and I actually prefers the sound of the Pearl over that one. Now the mechanism could use improvement though, and that is why I am looking for another one. I most likely will still keep my Peal though to play for out door concerts. If you are going to be playing piccolo a lot like I do, then I am not sure if I would recommend the Pearl. Both of mine started leaking after the first couple of weeks of having them and I treat mine with kit gloves. It is probably just my luck though because I seem to breath on piccolos and they go out of adjustment. lol!!

Ooh.. you are lucky! I wish I could get my hands on a Keefe. I believe there is something like a four year waiting period for a new one.

Your High School has a Boston Legacy Piccolo wow! When I was in High School (a decade ago) all we had were the Gemeinhardts with the silver plated heads and the plastic bodies. Which is humorous considering my sophomore year my parents bought me a used piccolo for a Christmas gift and it was a Gemeinhardt with a solid silver head and a plastic body. (They did mean well I and I played on that piccolo until my senior year of college.)

I played piccolo all through out high school and my college years and I would not trade that for anything in the world. Being good at both the flute and the piccolo is a great asset to have and like Patrick said it can open up a lot of doors for you. I was actually very surprised when I was in college and none of the flute players wanted to touch the piccolo. They all acted as if playing the piccolo was some sort of punishment. The other flute players were surprised to learn that I loved playing piccolo (and was good at it).

As far as which piccolo to buy I can only repeat what others have said and that is try out a lot of piccolos and see which one is best for you. All the piccolos that I have, with the exception of one that I found at an antique store, have been gifts from my parents ( I guess when it doubt buy me a piccolo)the last one they bought me was the Woodwind Brand from www.wwbw.com (senior graduation present from college). Please don't try this one out. While I was able to produce a nice sound on this piccolo it is always in need of repairs.

Best of Luck!

Just remember - get some custom hearing plugs. It'll save your hearing and you'll be glad you did years from now.

Wow. I'm surprised that your school has a wood picc, let alone that is considered one of the top piccolos for the student on a budget. my high school (which was one of the best band programs in the area) had 2 yamaha 32s that were so badly in need of an adjustment, a silver plated signet from the 80s or something (and the Ab key broke in half. do you think they wouldve fixed it? no. instead they took some crazy glue and put it back on), and a plastic gemeinhardt. the mechanism fell off. they didnt fix that either. the school 5 miles north, which was even smaller than us: 84 students in the graduating class when i left, had 3 yamaha 81s. soooo jealous, especially since the program itsself averaged a 4 at district band festival.

i dont like the boston legacy personally, but i think theyre a good value. im going to put out the name of the global. i should become a spokesperson for them. i think theyre great for the money. they even outplay many of the piccs more expensive than them. if you can afford a BL, you can afford a global. the global is a less expensive (about $200 less). I've heard that dean yang is making a piccolo now. i really like their flutes, so i would be interested in trying out their piccolos.

HOLY COW A BOSTON LEGACY piccolo IN SCHOOL!!! lol i wish our school had one. Even though i LOVE my Sonare!

Thats great I remember In middle school I played the piccolo all year in wind ensemble more then flute. But all we had was a cheap old Yamaha, and a Selmer plastic bundy, which I used and liked, then my wood one got ruined)it was my gemeinhardt 4W) but in Highschool it was all about marching band, and it was ridiculous, concert band was never cared about. so the piccolos were solid silver, but tarnished and unplayable, except one Gemeinhardt a plastic, solid silver headjoint one, it was really nice though. but thats my story

Sorry I haven't been able to respond since I originally posted >.< I've been swamped with Music lately.


I ended up getting the PF-795 Elegante with the Forza Headjoint. Holy Crap, does it project.


Our School is pretty lucky It's a Brand new high school, with Amazing Directors. The lead Director works with the Cadets, and he's amazing!


I was actually thinking about trying out a Pearl Picc Kara; how well do the high notes come out?

The Pearl plays with ease and is such a sweet sounding piccolo. I really wanted to keep mine to use when I had to play out doors, but now I owe my husband for another piccolo, so I am forced to sell my Pearl. I had some troubles with the mechanism on my first piccolo, but the Pearl company was wonderful and sent me a brand new one. I am still a little weary about the mechanism and if it is going to hold up to all the playing I need to do with it, so that is one of the reasons I am going back to a handmade piccolo. I just wish handmade piccolos came in plastic or grenaditte!

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"back off, I have first dibs on representing them lol. How cool would that be if that was my job, to travel the country and talk about how great Lillian Burkart's stuff is? I would totally do it :-)"

No, I beat both of you guys to it. Or should I say my cat did. I love Lillian's piccolos so much that I name my cat Lillian Burkart. lol!! The people at the her shop thought that was so funny. I call her Lilly or ditty kitty though for short.