wooden flutes from china (ebay)

DaveAuty · Post by **DaveAuty** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 2:45 pm

I have just been browsing ebay for wooden flutes and notice it seems to be swamped with nice looking instruments from Beijing, China. Has anyone out there purchased one of these flutes and if so what is their general opinion?

Cheers,

Dave.

Cubitt · Post by **Cubitt** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 3:38 pm

I know there are many that will disagree with me, but I say never, never, never buy a musical instrument that you have not played. If you do, you take your chances.

A reputable maker or seller will let you return an instrument that does not please you.

meemtp · Post by **meemtp** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 3:49 pm

They make great lamps...

I'd refer you to the sticky thread at the top of the page.

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:46 pm

Dave, perhaps you can give us a link to the ebay flute(s) that you are referring to. I did a quick search on ebay looking for "Irish flute" and "wooden flute". I didn't see any wooden flutes where the seller said that they were made in China. The low-cost ebay wooden flutes that I have seen so far are most likely made in Pakistan, however, I am expecting to see Chinese simple system transverse flutes in the near future.

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:54 pm

Doug_Tipple wrote:Dave, perhaps you can give us a link to the ebay flute(s) that you are referring to. I did a quick search on ebay looking for "Irish flute" and "wooden flute". I didn't see any wooden flutes where the seller said that they were made in China.

I searched Musical Instraments for Beijing China and came up empty...a link would be helpful

Aanvil · Post by **Aanvil** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:58 pm

If the ad says something like:

Beautiful useful musical wind tool

Chances are its from China.

pipersgrip · Post by **pipersgrip** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 6:58 pm

the ones from pakistan suck, but i would never buy a flute that isnt made by a high reputation artisan.

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:07 pm

The chinese flutesmay get good.

Aanvil · Post by **Aanvil** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:14 pm

jim stone wrote:The chinese flutesmay get good.

They just might.

I had a complicated vintage electonic device replicated for me over there.

Not only did it work but I had a really hard time telling it a part from the real thing.

Had there been a patina of any kind I could have been fooled.

rh · Post by rh » Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:19 pm

jim stone wrote:The chinese flutesmay get good.

Indeed, you can see a number of good-quality musical instrument lines coming out of China. Eastman mandolins, for example, have a good reputation at an attractive price point. They are also pretty responsive to the market. A few years back, it was not very common to see any lower-end makers putting out oval-hole mandolins; once they started to become popular, Eastman was right there, filling a niche market for people who may have spent their wad on a high-end F-style and were looking for an inexpensive-but-good-quality oval hole. So i wouldn't be surprised if within the next few years we see good-quality economy-priced timber flutes aimed at beginning players or Boehm or sax doublers who might be looking for something that won't set them back too much but isn't a piece of junk.

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:31 pm

Yeah, I think you can count on it. Asia is figuring out that there's a market for quality instruments at competitive prices. Cort guitars, in S. Korea, is turning out some remarkable stuff. My 'Parkwood' (Cort) guitar cost $500 and rivals the Gibsons, Martins and Guilds that I grew up with. In some ways I like it better. I tell myself they treat their workers fairly, and I'm trying to believe it.

Guinness · Post by **Guinness** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 8:04 pm

crookedtune wrote:I tell myself they treat their workers fairly, and I'm trying to believe it.

Probably not, by Western standards. OTOH they probably prefer a factory job to working in the fields. And in a few decades, the pay will be better over there.

Aanvil · Post by **Aanvil** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 8:32 pm

Guinness wrote:
crookedtune wrote:I tell myself they treat their workers fairly, and I'm trying to believe it.
Probably not, by Western standards. OTOH they probably prefer a factory job to working in the fields. And in a few decades, the pay will be better over there.

I just found the motto for a mainland chinese flute company.

Your satifaction is assured!

我们做好长笛或我们杀害我们的工作者!

Jon C. · Post by **Jon C.** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 8:42 pm

Cubitt wrote:I know there are many that will disagree with me, but I say never, never, never buy a musical instrument that you have not played. If you do, you take your chances.

A reputable maker or seller will let you return an instrument that does not please you.

You should have told me that 30 flutes ago..

Actually I onl regretted buying one flute and it was from Pakistan, the other 29 turned out okay.

pipersgrip · Post by **pipersgrip** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:12 pm

Jon, those Pakistan flutes do suck real bad!

what a waste of money, those guys dont know what they are doing.