...with a Trevor James flute this morning.



Oh yes.

The beautiful keys, the smooth body, the....

Anyway!

The person in the shop confused me with the different Yamaha flutes. I know there are lots of threads on this already but it's just so excting that I couldn't resist starting one myself...

Are there any 'nice' student flutes out there that are a little less pricey than the TJ ones but still have a soft mechanism etc? I really did love the TJ10X one, but don't know if I can justify it. (I probably can - it's for my 18th, but even so )

How much was it Flossy??
Bev

I'm going to sound really tight now.

It was £299 in this shop, but I've found the same one online for £240...

I do know that's not a great amount to spend on an instrument but, well... I'm a student!

Go on, have it for your 18th! £240 is precious little for an instrument, and if you like it so much I'm sure you'd regret buying something you feel is inferior.

When I bought my son's flute, his tutor said he would certainly not reccommend buying anything less expensive than the Trevor James student model, because there would always be problems with the mechanism - bits coming loose and dropping off. TJ is a good solid make, and was absolutely fine for me too in the early stages.

Go for it, you can treat yourself for your 18th!

I always specify the TJ10X III for our authority instruments - tight, solid mechanism, big sound, and cheap - we get them for around £180 ex vat from the usual suppliers.

Our local repairer also stocks a few variants such as the TJ Vivace range - available also with the TJ10X headjoint - and they were even cheaper. A little freer blowing, so even better for beginners.

I've found that TJ instruments always sound well and are excellent value. They used to be quite lightly constructed in the past, but they've been improving the designs over the years and in my opinion they represent the best balance between quality and value.

I recently tried a Vivace flute, which I was told was a new budget version from TJ (but there was no TJ logo on it). This was £200. I was pleasantly suprised by the sound - slightly darkish with good resonance, less bright than your typical TJ (which I think is a good thing, although some people like a really bright flute sound).

I wasn't entirely convinced by the Vivace's mechanism - these should be light and well sprung, whereas this felt a little bit too light (and therefore likely to wear out faster) - and the whole instrument had a plasticy feel, although this may have been partly due to the pink coating on the flute. I didn't feel the instrument would stand up to heavy playing, but if you're wanting it as something to mess around with (or as a starter instrument which will be upgraded later) then it might suit. The only one I saw was pink, but they would persumably have other colours or silver-coloured ones as well if you don't like pink.

Like others who have posted on this thread, I think TJ flutes are brilliant starter instruments. They are easy blowing (which is good for beginners) and good for tone development - they are not quite as forgiving of poor technique as the yamahas, but this is probably a good thing. The sound is bright but not brash (I personally find yahamas too brash/garish). Good up to around grade 6ish, but the basic TJ models aren't capable of the tone colouring needed for the other intermediate grades (unless you're able to choose pieces which compliment the instrument's natural tone colour) and would definitely need replacing before you tried any of the advanced grades e.g. a diploma. £240/£299 is cheap for a flute. The one you saw online may need to be set up properly but a specialist flute repairer in order for you to get the best out of the instrument - so bear this in mind when you consider the price difference.

If you like the TJ go for it and ignore that Yamaha's the person in the shop was trying to sell you. Yamaha flutes seem to be a bit of a love-hate thing, and if you really love the Trevor James and it's sound then you probably wouldn't love a Yamaha in the same way because they have a different sound. A lot of shops will try to sell everyone Yamahas because of their reputation (and they are good flutes), but they don't suit everyone.

I've got one of them and am happy with it...

I agree, Yamaha was for so long about the only widely available AND playable AND reliable cheaper option.

But the Japanese preference is for the bright end, modeled after French flutes (although Yamaha is far from being a really bright flute), whereas British flute-makers have tended to the "dark side", and British flautists were reputedly probably the last to switch to metal bodies.

What did you like the sound of? Of course, most of the tone comes from *you*, but when you think of the flute sound you want, are you thinking pure/silvery/sweet/transparent (bright), or dense/loaded/overtones (dark)?

I have never seen a Trevor James flute, but if people are telling you it's mechanically reliable, then I think that the shop's offer of either TJ or Yamaha was a sensible pair of alternatives.

I don't know if this means anything really, but when i started playing I was given the choice at my music centre of a Yamaha 211 or a Buffet...I don't know about TJ ones but my friends who've had buffet ones have had terrible trouble with keys dropping off etc whereas mine's only needed a repair on the foot joint (long story) and a tweak every now and then...not including new pads 2 1/2 years ago (probably due some more soon thinking about it). The difference in price initially being £20 but i've saved in the long run out of repairs bill...think it was £20 for the repair and new pads so pretty good overall.

I went for the Yamaha obviously from the previous paragraph, this was about ooh, 6 years ago i think. I know there has been some problems with some of the recent yamaha's but is this clear of that? Sorry to hyjack the thread (temporarily). Is this flute capable for me to get to grade 7 or 8 or should I now be looking for a new one when I take it for a service around Easter?

*hands thread back to miss ross*

Fluterocks, consider buying a headjoint! 211 has the CY cut headjoint. See if you can try a Yamaha EC cut headjoint, and also look at non-Yamaha headjoints.

As for Grade 7-8, I don't know if you need a B-foot, but if you don't, a headjoint upgrade might be enough (unless you have lots of cash burning a hole in your pocket, of course!).

To be honest, if the TJ suits you then buying one that doesn't suit you as much for a bit less is a false economy. You'll get more satisfaction out of playing an instrument that is right, and so will get more use from it than an instrument that isn't quite the same.

Definitely go for it; you know that you love that particular flute and I can't think of a better 18th birthday present than something that you really, really love and that you would probably never buy for yourself.
If you're really worried about the price, might you be able to get a friend/your parents to mention to relatives/other friends that you really love this flute and then they could chip in for the present as well?

One of my friends loved really expensive teddy bears and so ten of us all put in £10 towards a Steiff (I think?) teddy bear from Hamleys for Jill's 18th and she was delighted with it, which made it a far better present than a couple of CDs, a few books, a bracelet and some bubblebath etc which is what she would have ended up with if we hadn't done that. We all piled into the shop to "help" her choose it as well - so you could get some people to come with you to pick it up to be part of the birthday experience...
My parents organised a similar thing for my 21st and I got a CD player for my car.

The flute will be a present that you'll love for years, so I would certainly go for it. I had always wanted to learn the flute and bought myself a Yamaha 211 after saving up for months! I liked the solid feel of the Yamaha and wasn't as keen on the other flutes I tried, but what you personally like in terms of a flute will be different from other people, and you should get the one that fits you best.

No reason why you should need a B-footjoint. There are lots of professional players who have C-footjoints. The only reasons you might need a B-footjoint are if you started playing a lot of repertoire that required one (which will not be an issue for exams) or if you bought a flute which sounded better with a B-footjoint. Most flutes are still designed for the C-joints and adding a B one changes the resonance of the instrument, but some are designed for B-joints and sound better with them.