Hi!

I am already planning my summer holidays. I will probably take a flute with me. But this year we will spend a couple of weeks travelling abroad and in some -probably- risky places. (not serious, but we could get it stolen in the worst case).

Definitively, I will not risk bringing my Yamaha 674 on this trip.

I have the alternative of my old Gemeinhardt M3, but there a few problems:

- It requires a revision and adjustment, right now I have to apply lot of pressure on some keys to make it sound.
- The pads are very old (over 30 years), as they are the the factory originals (with one exception). They look OK, but I believe they may have hardened a little.
- The M3 headjoint produces a rather poor sound, compared to what I am now used to produce (Yamaha EC cut and more recently Nagahara DA cut).

I would like to hear your opinions on these different options (and any other you may suggest):

- Have the body repaired and the headjoint modified. Having it undercut could improve the quality to a decent level? The resulting cost would not be too high compared to other options below?

- buy another, better HJ such as a Yamaha CY from a 211 model or similar. What similar? Anybody has one to propose? PM me if you do.

- Buy an used complete Yamaha YFL 211 and forget about the Gemeinhardt. (it already has its place reserved on the wall to hang as an adornment). Anybody could offer such an instrument (or similar) to me at a good price? You can PM me if you do.

You may say that I only think about Yamaha, the reason is that this brand is the only one I have experience with (Gemeinhardt not counting).

Any suggestions?

Thanks a lot in advance


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Closed holes, Offset G, C foot would be OK.

I'm for the Yamaha 200-series, used, and put the Gemeinhardt on the wall. For what it would cost to overhaul the Gemeinhardt properly, you could probably buy a used Yamaha student flute in good condition.
Your EC headjoint might be able to fit a Yamaha 200 without any modification.
I had a Gemeinhardt 3SHB that I sold after I bought my Yamaha 881. I was planning to use it for a backup flute, but once I had learned more about playing the Yamaha headjoint well, the Gemeinhardt drove me crazy. I planned to buy a student Yamaha 200-series for a backup. What the technician had was a Pearl student flute in fantastic condition (almost new), with recent clean, oil, adjust service done and a year's guarantee for $400. Even better, the barrel was almost exactly the same size, so I can change headjoints between my Yamaha 881 and the Pearl without any resizing.
I don't know if your technician has any used Yamaha flutes to sell, but there are reputable re-builders to buy such a flute sight-unseen.
Another possible benefit could possibly be the ability to swap footjoints so that you could have a (lighter weight) C-foot on your 684, but they might not be able to be switched.

As an added note, if high-dollar flutes might be stolen, you could get an older, battered plastic flute case and decorate it as a 13-year-old girl might, like with 'Barcelona High School Marching Band' and nice yellow smiley-faces so that it would appear that the flute was a low-value student instrument. Or maybe some duct tape! (Of course, you would have to make sure the inside of the case was in excellent condition to protect the flute).

There is the option of getting a very nice headjoint to use with your Gemeinhardt, but I would say that would cost more money than your other options. Your EC head would have to be made much larger, if I remember right, and some headjoints don't go through the resizing process with all of their characteristics intact. The taper (a HJ is larger at the flute end than the crown end) can get warped into something less than desirable if it is changed a whole lot. Although just about any headjoint can be re-sized to fit any flute, sometimes it significantly changes the headjoint, and not for the better.

So...that would mean spending $$ on a good pro headjoint, and spending $$ on an overhaul for the Gemeinhardt. I would say buy a used Yamaha in good condition, and the CY headjoint should be adequate. And, if you need a better headjoint, you already have the Yamaha EC that should be able to be resized by only a very small margin.

Jose,
As you know, I sell used Yamaha's. I also very much like Jupiter and I have one of these too.
http://fluteragious.phanfare.com/

I apologize in advance if I offend anyone by advertising my link. Only trying to help

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I do think that you would be further ahead by buying something like a Yamaha. I am honestly not just saying this because I want a sale or anything. I promise!
I do prefer the headjoint that comes on the Jupiter flutes rather than on the Yamaha personally. I can get a cleaning crisp sound out of a Jupiter than on a Yamaha. I am more of a fan of Jupiters lately. Their newer models are very nice and not over inflated cost wise like Yamaha flutes tend to be.

Thanks for all your valuable inputs!.

I agree with Tibbie about retiring the M3. Its C foot fits my 674 quite well, in fact I use it when I have low Cs in the piece (much easier to play with a C foot)

Kate, the Jupiter is appealing, though I never played on one. As I have a Yamaha EC HJ (standard size), do you think it could fit the Jupiter body "as is", in case I would like to swap HJs??

Jose, I can't say for 100% that your EC would fit, but I have put one on a Jupiter student flute before and it did fit, but a little snug.

I think the easiest and most appropriate answer is still the Yamaha or Jupiter. Kate has a good track record for fixing them up and selling them within a reasonable budget, she might be able to send you one of each.

I do like the Jupiter's scale, and the headjoint is a good one, though I don't think it is very similar to the EC you are used to. (I haven't played a Nagahara, so I don't know what they are like.) It might take some time to learn to get an outstanding sound on the Jupiter if you are well used to another type of headjoint.
I sold a Jupiter flute about three years ago, I didn't like the HJ at the time. However, I played the flute just last night and got much more from the flute. So...you might be happier with the CY. Nobody can answer that question except you, though, so it would probably be worth the money to play them both before choosing.

The only place I know to get a Gemeinhardt headjoint modified is from JoeB, and since he is not as 'his own' instrument shop anymore, I don't know if he does this anymore. It might be worth a PM to JoeB to find out.

I was seriously considering buying either the Jupiter 511 or one of the YFL221 form Kate site, but I found one YFL211 in Ebay from a known music shop vendor in northern Spain. I bid and I just won it an hour ago. A good price, considering this is Europe if the instrument is as advertised (162 Euro, aprox 218 US$).

But the main advantage was that the vendor is in Spain and I can fetch it personally or have it shipped quickly and cheap. Also, the YFL has the probable advantage over the Jupiter of allowing me easily swap the CY with my EC HJ.

Sorry Kate, I found the information on your site quite helpful and I was genuinely interested, only that this one saved me the trouble and risk of having it shipped from USA with customs complications here and risk of having to add local TVA. Your prices are very good, too.

The link where I found this instrument:
http://cgi.ebay.es/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&&item=250579053670&view=all&tid=0&guest=1

Hope this link works in spite of loggin issues. If it doesn´t and you are interested in seeing it, let me know and I will find a way to upload the page somewhere.

I will post soon about how all this resulted.

I really appreciated all your inputs and support. Thank you very much again.

No problem at all Jose I was going to agree with what Tibbie said anyway about you should probably get a Yamaha since you are used to that headjoint style. Very good point. I completely understand not wanting to deal with customs and such. I usually only ship to US and Canada because of this. I couldn't view the flute that you won. Were you able to find out when the last time the flute had a COA on it? That will help. Congrats on a good find!

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Oh and thank you for the compliment on my site. I am glad to hear that it came in useful!

Thank you for your understanding.

I uploaded a copy of the WEB page with the flute here: http://www.myfileupload.net/download.php?file=c55c02041cb38aa5f6b9c529c5f98427
This one should work, but the JPG virtual printer I used displays only the first part of the web page.

The Yamaha option has two other advantages: I can try a CY cut on the 674 and compare and also, I can use the C foot on the 674 instead of the B foot, which simplifies my scale practise when low C or C# are included.

I do not think this flute ever had a COA after it left the factory. According to the vendor description, it has never been used, except for exhibition and demonstrations. I do not know how much use these activities represent. Anyway, it is not a big investment and I can have it repaired if necessary. And if possible....

It is a serious vendor, Mundimusica, a well established music shop in this country.

Plato was right. We live in a world of shadows, our reality is a collection of shadows. But nobody paid much attention to this old truth.

The auction was almost certainly a scam. A rather refined one. I will share it so that this tales does not catch other people.

The vendor phoned me today. He said he no longer accepts Paypal, because the auction price is too low, also said that the flute is not at the place he announced, but 500 miles farther and that it must first arrive from Italy.

So I smelled a scam and I have desisted to buy. I have now to arrange the situation with Ebay, but I do not think the vendor is going to object. Worst for him, if he dares.

So I am back at the start point, angry and frustrated. Fortunately I am not pressed at all and I still have my 162 Euro safe in my pocket.

A sad world, this Internet thing.