Yep, yet another flute thread.

For a while I have been looking into upgrading my much loved Yamaha 211 flute in the hope of eventually taking grade 8 and even a first diploma, and of course have a better flute for teaching with. A while back people suggested I tried a solid silver headjoint on the 211. The 311 seems the most likely choice, but is this no more than a 211 with a solid silver head? People have talked about the TJ Cantabile or Virtuoso. Would these offer anything, or is that just preference?

Assuming the body of your 211 is in reasonable condition, a handmade hj on your 211 would probably be better than a 311 - I think it is basically a 211 with a silver head, not a bad flute though.

If your 211 is in OK condition then unless you wanted inline G or open holes, you could end up with effectively a serious upgrade by getting a new hj.

Alternatively of course, if it's in good shape you're liable to get a reasonable amount for it 2nd hand, to put towards a new flute.

Have you tried any out? What is your price range? Others will be able to give you better advice than I will, BUT knowing how much you can spend will help a lot!

Not tried any out. I did try a silver head piece at Woodford - no idea what make but liked it a lot.

Pricewise, looking on Justflutes I would definitely be looking at Step-up, nothing higher, certainly under £1000. My 211 is very old now and although recently serviced it is still not that good condition. And I haven't even considered open holes or not.

Open holes aren't really necessary unless you desperately want to play the kind of music that uses them. I would always go for open holed now because I am used to it!

Whose headjoint was it? They could probably tell you. Silver hjs are fantastic and the only handcut one I've ever tried was fabulous.

Have you considered getting a newer 211 and upgrading the head? I think that justflutes actually offer an option of a 211 with a handcut head. Good combination of reliable mech. and a really good headjoint. I haven't tried this combination but I could imagine it has potential to be a good buy.

I believe, others will know if I am right, that the 311 body is the same as the 211, but I am not certain. If you need a whole new flute, though, it's supposed to be a good/reliable one, and I think my old Yamaha (my first upgrade, which got stolen) was the open-holed version of the same flute, and I loved it to bits.

I can recommend Pearls but mine is an expensive one.

Knowing what I know now, if I was to upgrade or buy new again, I'd just be looking for as good a mechanism as I could afford realistically on my flute, without worrying about whether the body was solid or plated, and then spending the cash on the headjoint, much as I love my solid-bodied Pearl. (Though it does have a good mechanism so I am not complaining

If considering buying a new flute rather than just a headjoint upgrade with only a £1000 to spend I recommend either the suggestion above of getting a newer yamaha plus a handmade headjoint. Just Flutes do this for £710 with a headjoint from their resident headjoint maker Ian Mclauchlan.
Im not sure what everyone else thinks about Sonare flutes but Ive had a very good experience with the highest model. Not sure how the lowest model compares to similar flutes, but worth a look and comes with a great headjoint.

If you mean mine, then I think you tried the headjoint to my Yamaha 574. Did you try my Willy Simmons headjoint? If you can afford it, I'd get a handmade solid silver headjoint and put it on the 211.

I agree with Nicki- a handmade headjoint on the 211 would be my choice.

Ditto on the handmade headjoint to the 211 body - if you bought the 311, the body is the same as the 211 so you might as well get the best headjoint possible. Other than that, you could buy a whole new flute that's "better" than the 311, but really you're limited under £1000. Have a look at the Powell Sonare and the Jupiter Di Medici maybe? Other than that, you could look for a second hand Altus/Miyazawa?