I'm in high school, and I've been playing flute for seven years. I want to get a piccolo so I can play it in my school's wind ensemble and concert bands. I've played on two or three different piccolos, but I'm not sure what style or brand to go with. I hear the silver ones are good for marching, but I would really like a good concert/ensemble sound. I've also played a plastic body and a black wood body, but I'm just not sure what to look for.

Well if you plan on marching, I would definately rule out the grenadilla because it is the most easily damaged. Silver/gold is definately the best bet for both concert and marching. I use an Armstrong 210 piccolo, which works great, and is very durable. You could buy a grenadilla for concert, and a cheaper composite for marching, if you want to spend the money.

You should consider the Pearl PFP105E.

It's a higher performance piccolo made of a synthetic material to be as close to grenadilla as possible. You can use it outdoors or in and get the performance you need. Many Pro players and the military bands use them. Pro players who are touring worry about their expensive grenadilla wood piccs because of radically changing environments. They will often use the Pearl for these situations since the performance is quite good.

Military bands play out and in and need high performance also, so there are a lot of pearl piccs in those circles too.

You can find them most anywhere $995 for purchase.

Joe B

The pearl that Joe mentioned is awsome. I would love to own one. I think they are the best value for the money. See if you can find one to try.

Let's not forget here to mention that one factor in the mix should be "playing condition"
It makes no sense to buy any flute for a hefty price tag if it's not working properly or for a reasonable price if that flute isn't able to be brought up to playing condition with a reasonable amount of careful work. After having attended a few fests and conventions, it always disturbs me when I try out a used flute and it's not playing well. What are they thinking when they try to sell these things against much better playing flutes. but then again there's always a person.....caveat emptor is Latin for: Let the buyer beware.

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hmmm. ...I think that this post of mine somehow got on the wrong thread...weird.