Gemeinhardt Flute (2SP)

I purchased this flute for my middle-school child who has been practicing flute for the last 2 years. She previously had been using an Etude flute, which is a great beginner flute, however, was having some issues holding certain notes due to wear and tear. Bottom line, my child needed something a step up, and this flute was not only affordable, but was absolutely perfect, right out of the box. Very professionally made, actual cork, and beautiful sounding notes. My child’s music teacher at school is very happy with the selection and so far so good, a month into use. The flute comes with a very nice carrying case and registrations paperwork and a fair warranty. Cleaning kit sold separately.

This flute is in HORRIBLE condition! Look’s NOTHING like the pictures displayed. NOT worth what was paid for it at all ! It’s scratched all over and has a couple of dents on it it’s very tarnished as well … VERY disappointing to say the LEAST!

So our daughter is doing band this year in school and she chose to do the flute. The school recommended a rental place to get music equipment at, but most stuff was out of stock by the time we found out and the cost, with the mandatory maintenance, would have easily cost a few hundred a year. With most new flutes at retail stores being close to $1000, and the local used instrument stores having mostly beat up junk, we decided to go with the Gemeinhardt flute here off of Amazon. We paid a bit more ($377) for a ‘new’ one. We figured as long as it lasted a year, we broke even versus renting. We opted for the 2SP since it seemed to have decent reviews by people for beginners.

We got our flute a couple days ago and I had some immediate concerns. The outer brown box was generic and just said FLUTE on it. The flaps were also open and not sealed in any way. The case inside was kind of beat up a bit on the sides that were exposed and a little dirty too. Similarly the case has zero markings that it is a Gemeinhardt flute or from the manufacturer. The flute inside of the case did look new and was inside little plastic bags. I checked the condition, as best as I could for someone with zero musical knowledge, and they did look new, so that was a plus.

My bigger concern was that this just didn’t look authentic. While the flute has the company name on it, etc., the serial number looks completely different than other ones I found online. What I mean is that the font is smaller and closer together than any other picture of the same model flute. Granted some of those pictures are older, but the font is the same on flutes I found from 5 years ago and 25 years ago. This has me concerned that it is either a counterfeit product or sourced from legit parts but unofficial and stamped by someone outside the factory. I did register the flute, with the serial number it has, at Gemeinhardt’s website, but their website looks like it hasn’t been updated in a decade and I could probably put in ABC123 for the serial and it would take it. No validation or confirmation email other than a ‘thanks for registering’ after I clicked submit.

Since none of us, including our daughter, know how to play the flute (yet), it was impossible for us to verify if it even worked. I could barely make a sound come out, though I knew enough to know I would have had the same issue on a $10,000 flute. However, the next day our daughter brought it to school and had her band teacher test it out.

That’s where we get to the good news. She said he played on it for about a minute, testing every note, and said it was actually a very good flute and he was surprised we got something this nice on Amazon. He actually went so far as to say it was probably the nicest flute in the band, though that is likely just because most people opted for a bit cheaper/used/etc. flutes for their kids. So, assuming nothing falls apart or breaks between now and the end of the year, I think it was a good purchase. I’ll update if that changes.

I still have a suspicious something is off with this flute being 100% authentic and authorized. But at the end of the day, it is a basic beginner flute. As long as it lasts us a year or two, I’ll be happy. By then, either our daughter will switch to something else, or maybe want a more advanced/better quality one. While I would be a bit more concerned if I had paid more for it, I think the price was worth the apparent quality of what we got.

Bought this flute for my daughter after showing the amazon offer to her band teacher. His jaw dropped at the price for this flute. He said it is definitely a good student flute and a wonderful price for it. He said the only thing to possibly consider is that this is a closed hole flute as opposed to an open hole, which is a bit more challenging and has a slightly different sound. When she needs an open hole flute, she borrows it from the school. The flute has a lovely sound and responds well to my daughter playing it. As her band teacher said, “She can really make that flute talk.” She used it for her solo competition and received superior marks. It is much nicer than her rental flute (which had an air leak and therefore not a rich sound like this flute has) and now we don’t have to pay the monthly fee we had been paying for the past two years. This should get her through the rest of this year and high school band.