Hi there

I've been playing my Trevor James Opus 10 for about 20 years, it was serviced regularly and had a fantastic tone. I had a Yamaha (not sure of the model) for a while in my teens but didn't really get on with it.

I don't play much classical, I play in a band, so it's mostly folk rock/ country stuff.

Some wally spilled beer on my flute a few weeks ago, and it no longer plays. I've had quotes for repair (several new pads etc) and it is looking like it will be over £100.

I'm wondering if it might be worth replacing it if it's going to cost that anyway. I've a small budget (I did play at grade 8 standard but have never had the funds for a "proper" flute, although I would love something with open holes.)

Can you give me some pointers of what to look for second hand, or do you think I would be better getting the trusty old TJ repaired?

(At the moment I'm playing a friend's Pearl flute and I hate it!)

Wow - I've not heard of a TJ Opus before!

I was always taught to store my flute vertical on a stand (to allow moisture to evaporate and not affect the pads). £100 for a pad reservice seems a bit high. Maybe the springs were affected too?

Buying secondhand - better if you can test it, or if it is sent on approval, or get a demo of it before you buy it. I played a simple system flute before it broke - these are much older, and are more likely to have terrible pads re-padded, strange cracks closed, needing tenon rewrapping and sometimes keywork problems.

Surprised to hear you play Boehm for folk rock/band music. I like simple system for its tone, but now I'm going far into baroque traverso. I have a Trevor James TJX10 in excellent condition, serviced last year in perfect sound with only slight signs of use. I'd let it go for the price of reservicing your flute if you can pick it up and test it before deciding