Today we made a very long and exhausting trip up to London to look at new flutes - I have to say that I was not that impressed with the shop in question, but maybe I just caught them on a bad day (they obviously had better things to be doing than to help and advise me!).

Anyway, they have suggested three options (given that £2,000 is the absolute maximum I can afford):

1. A new flute costing about that much - they gave me four to try and said there wasn't much else available in that price range that's better than what I've got (apparently, although I paid £1,200 six years ago, prices have now gone through the roof). I discarded three immediately as I thought they were awful (I didn't look at the makers, don't worry...!); the only one I liked was an Altus 907RE.

2. Have my current flute overhauled (including removing the small dent) because as far as they are concerned, it's a 'good flute'; the cost of this would be £400-£500.

3. Have my current flute overhauled and buy a new headjoint. They gave me five headjoints to try of which two wouldn't even go in. The only one which I thought made a big difference was a Nagahara 950, but with a price tag of £1,445, plus overhauling mine, the cost is going to be the same as a new flute.

Part of me thinks that a new flute is a better investment, but on the other hand, are flutes ever and investment anyway. If I were to sell mine, they said that they would overhaul it for £200, sell it on comission for £1,000 which means I'd probably end up with about £700.

When I went down to Taunton last week, the one I liked (and I must have tried about 12) was the Pearl PF795RBECODA - this one didn't appear today.

Any suggestions? I know there's another decent shop in Croydon, so maybe I need to go for a third opinion and trying out session???!!!

Very confused ! Suggestions welcome...

David

P.S. You can see what a stressful day it's been; I can't even spell flute!

How much did you like the Altus?

I brought it away to try along with the headjoint, because although it was the one I liked out of the ones he gave me to try, I couldn't decide how it compared to anything else.

Makes sense

I was thinking that if you came away thinking "I love this Altus, it is amazing and I want it" then it might be worth getting that How does it compare with the old flute/new headjoint combo?

Also, what model is your current flute?

Well, I'm a tad biased here, but if the Nagahara is an option then I'd go for it. The headjoints are superb, and I would have thought the headjoint alone would keep its value as well as any. I play on a similar headjoint with a Murumatsu EX body, and I love it.

I've currently got a Miyazawa P102(?) or something like that!

Flute prices have shot up a lot the past 18 months because of rises in metal prices and poor exchange rates. I am incredibly lucky that I upgraded last summer because the flute I got is now retailing for over £1,000 more than I paid. I wouldn't want to make any predictions on what will happen with exchange rates and therefore flute prices in the future - they could go either way.

Any of the three options you give would work - it's a question of what you feel happiest with. There is another option though, which is to keep your current flute for the moment and then wait to see if prices come back down again or if you can stretch your budget a bit more in a few months time. I've had a quick skim of prices on websites and, based on current prices (which could of course change!), stretching your budget by around £300 gives you a lot more options. This does of course run the risk of prices going up further - but we'll only know whether than happens once we have the benefit of hindsight.

Do you think that the new flute (the Altus and Pearl models you mention) are noticeably better than your current Miyazawa? If they aren't going to offer any real improvement on your current flute then there's no point getting a new flute just for the sake of it. How much difference would an overhaul make? How much of an improvement does the Nagahara headjoint (which you sound like you liked) make to your current flute?

I wouldn't want to say that the Altus or Pearl were better, they just played with a different tone (and probably more the kind of tone I want now). The people in the shop were convinced that an overhaul of my current flute would bring it back up to the standard it was new - they could do things like replace the pads, straighten out the dent, generally clean it up, and probably most importantly stop it deteriorating any further. I felt that on balance, the Nagahara made the most noticeable difference to the sound and it played very well. If I was forced to choose then I probably preferred that sound over the new Altus, and I probably preferred the new Altus over the new Pearl. On that basis, overhauling mine and buying the new headjoint would seem the best option, though I'm still not convinced that going to one more place wouldn't be worth it just to make sure (and maybe they'd be more helpful!)

I think it is probably important to be 'sure' before you buy - otherwise I suspect (from what I know of you on here) that you would still have doubts even in 2-3 years time.

In terms of the 'helpfulness' of the shop, if you went to the place I think you did then I found them good when I went last summer, but maybe you wanted more input from the staff than I did. For me they looked out suitable flutes, and periodically came back with alternatives for the ones that had been rejected straight off, but they also gave me plenty of time to play and explore the instruments without uneeded interference (which is what I wanted). I spent 3.5 hours there the one day and 2.5 the next and they didn't try to hurry me into a decision at all, but were happy to give advice when wanted and answered questions honestly. They also sent an extra flute up by courier when I discovered that the two I'd taken on trial didn't suit the rooms I normally play in as well as they had the shop practice rooms. The only thing I had which was even vaguely approaching a 'problem' with them was when I wanted to take the flute back for it's end of year warranty check and had problems communicating with the lass in the workshop via the phone - but that was because we had difficulty understanding each other's accents.

Hi David
Did you consider a second hand flute? It is worth a thought. I would either buy from a shop who provide a guarantee or factor in the kind of overhauling that you are talking about for yours.
Flutes have gone up recently I'm afraid. At least you can set the whole amount against your tax.
Dora

Worth thinking about - no one has suggested that yet (probably because the shop will get more out of selling you a new one!)

They get a fair amount of commission on secondhand sales - believe me! All the main shops have their used instrument lists on their websites, so you can see what they have available. (But I still think you won't find anything better than the Nagahara hj.)

After a very good afternoon in Croydon, I came away with a Sankyo CF201RE. I tried lots, and the chap who helped me was really very knowledgeable. We tried lots of different flutes, and lots of different combinations of headjoints / bodies! He really understood what I wanted, and the dilemma I faced as to what was the best way forward considering the rise in prices. I liked a Burkhart too - it had a B foot joint and a lovely lower octave, but I thought the high notes weren't so good. The Sankyo was the opposite - good high notes, but not so good low notes - we solved this by adding a B foot joint, and the change was very noticeable. I'm happy with it .

I left mine there to be sold, and brought my new baby home. Trouble is, I'm just too exhausted to try it tonight...

Thanks for all your help and advice.

I love a happy ending. I hope you really enjoy your new flute once you have the time and energy to play it.
Dora

Glad you've found your flute, David.

I've found Just Flutes in Croydon to be an excellent (if financially dangerous ) shop.

Better to buy now before VAT rises again in the new year. I know it will only be a 2.5 increase but I can imagine that will give lots of opportunity for prices to rise more than that. Wondering if they ever really came down......

Glad you've got your Flute David.