I have to chuckle about the inflated discriptions of some of the new flutes that show up on Ebay.

Any teachers out there approve or even know of Gruskin flutes.

Or how about using SILVER as the discription of the colour of the flute, not what it is made of.

How about the main feature of the flute is how many holes it has.

I`m not telling anybody to `not` buy any flutes off of Ebay. But I am issuing a caveat emptor, as I was looking there yesterday, because an associate mentioned they looking on Ebay for a flute for their child.

i just asked that same question a bit ago as I was looking at a "too good to be true" deal on some chinese made flute which is probably similar to the one you`ve noticed. ended up sticking with a name brand and got a great yamaha 461 in very near new condition for an awesome price. stick with the good brands..

Haha. Yeah, those Ebay flutes... They sell them like cars- "2005 model!" and they`re like "fancy plateau model- you won`t find this on other flutes"- that just means it`s closed holed! Haha whenever I feel like laughing, I just go look at stupid Ebay flutes.

The best ones are like "our flutes aren`t cheap China ripoffs like the rest! We put a serial number on it, so it MUST be high-quality!" Yeah, sure.

Yeah, this one guy took the flute out of its case and photographed it on the grass! Also said it was made in a Gemeinhardt factory but refused to give brand name.

Don`t buy from that guy!! His user ID name is Poorkid101, right?
A student of mine fell for it and when she got the flute it had no name on it and it wouldn`t play at all! Is was the poorest made flute that I have ever seen! It took her weeks to get her money back from that guy! He said that was better than a Murmatsu. In the listing he also said that it had good inclination. LOL! What a joke!!! If sellers like that only knew how us flute players laugh at them!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!

Ok, I`m alright. I forgot what his username was. Don`t know how he can expect to sell his flutes. I mean, it`s SO lame trying to hide the brand name. (hey, a rhyme!)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

I also tried to find a flute on ebay. Has anyone seen a flute going under the name of a D.C. Pro Series III? I found it on ebay and someone bought it for me as a gift.
Has anyone ever heard of this guy? He is very professional, but I have not seen anything from him since...

Aparently Dominc the seller designed the DC pro series intrument. I talked to the guy on the phone not too long ago. He assures me that they are excellant quaility. I have never tried on though. What do you think of it?

I think that they are very fine quality, although the finish on the gold wears off within a few months-but that is easily fixed. I did have a slight problem with one of my keys, but it was something so small my music store fixed it for free. They are awsome flutes if you are a pro or an advanced player, but i think that anyone who knows the fine points of music can handle it. It is a very heavy flute because of the way it is built, but it has served me faithfully for almost a full year. I also talked to Dominic, and he is a very professional man; and answered my questions truthfully. Are you considering a flute of his?

A student of mine was looking at some of his flutes. I have a Muramatsu DS so I am pretty well set when it comes to flutes. Dominic did tell me that they really aren`t up to par with the rest of the pro models like Murmatsu, Miyazawa or Altus just to name a few, but he did say they would be good for an intermediate level of playing.
I was curious about them, thanks for your input on them.

You are welcome...

I brought a flute on eBay about 8 months ago, a I love - it is not perfect but I didn`t have any problems

flutie, what brand did you get?

Jessie --
You said the gold plating wears off within a month but that is easily fixable?!
Please explain further - I am really interested in buying one of these.

By the way -
I bought a "24 K gold" plated Venus piccolo - and I love it!
It has such a better sound than my old student model Armstrong, and has great tonal consistancy - doesn`t get sharper in upper register, etc. I don`t really think it is 24K gold plated, it`s probably some laquer... but I can`t deny that I love it.

Just my two cents.