Side by Side Comparison of: Gemeinhardt vs Hal Leonard vs Herco

Fabulous flute for our 14-year old daughter. She loves it, and it is a beautiful instrument to look at and to listen to. And the case is perfect.

This item was exactly as we expected and it came quickly.

I've only had this a few days, but it's really a beautiful instrument, and the sound and tone is great. I am just relearning the flute. Like many, I played as a child, and now have the desire to relearn. I was amazed at how quickly I was able to pick this up and start playing. I think it's great for the beginner to intermediate.

I cannot believe I found this flute at the price I did. My daughter was taking a music class and was using her grandmothers flute. When my daughter said she wanted to continue I saw this and bought.

I was looking for a decent flute for my beginner and didn't want to spend a fortune. Tonal quality is beautiful. Great find for this price.

Beautiful flute and sound for a decent price.

Will include clean kit

Sounds OK good price, my 9 years old love playing it.

This is right in size and amazing. Worth purchasing .

I was surprised with the sound of this flute. More than expected for its price.

The flute was okay.

After reading positive reviews for this flute, we purchased it for our beginning player as a replacement for a rental. Within a few months after using it, 2 of the notes stopped playing. We paid to have it repaired, since we figured this kind of "maintenance" wouldn't be covered under warranty. After a few more weeks, the same problem reoccurred (rods that went out of adjustment) and we needed to have it repaired again. The repair tech told us that Gemeinhardt had been sold to a company that doesn't use the same quality materials that the original manufacturer did. He said the 1SP (made in China) is constructed of brittle metal and that we should have at least purchased a 2SP or considered a higher quality brand.

I haven't yet contacted Gemeinhardt about this but I'm sure I'll probably get a response that "this type of problem isn't covered under warranty." Wish me luck!

My Granddaughter loves this instrument.

Under the item description it says repair technicians approve of this flute. I have a hard time believing that. I am a repair tech and this is obviously a new Chinese made Gemeinhardt, which is made from inferior materials and will not last very long. The Gemeinhardt brand is generally very good, if you buy "real" (non-Chinese) Gemeinhardts. Anything under $4-500 is always crap.

I got this two months ago, and have been having problems with it being out of tune. It is too flat, even after the headjoint is pushed in all the way. I took it to a music store and the owner said that there were problems with the manufacturing. It was not made correctly. The return policy is one month, so I can't return it now. I just thought initially that the flatness was due to me not having "broken into" the instrument yet. Nope, the flute itself is flawed. Be careful when buying this particular model.

I bought this for my daughter and had to bring it to be serviced after only 4 weeks of play, because her music teacher realized that there wasn't enough cork under one of the keys. I brought it to an expert to have it replaced and he told me that the missing cork was the least of the flute's problems. He showed me how the inner tube of the head joint was split and peeling in two different areas. He told me that this type of damage was not normal after 4 weeks of playing and careful handling of an instrument. He further demonstrated how with minimal effort he could compress the tube which demonstrates that the metal was very thin. He showed me another flute that was used that did not flex the way that this flute did. I was shocked because I thought that the name Gemeinhardt ensured that I was getting a quality flute. Come to find out, there are different levels to denote the quality of an instrument and that often times on-line sellers will buy up the lower quality instruments that were demos, seconds, or not the normal quality and sell them cheaply on-line. I was very disappointed with this instrument, but luckily amazon was willing to refund my money. My father always said that if a deal seemed too good to be true - it probably was. Just because it is a good price does not mean that it is a good buy. Go to a reputable music store and get help selecting an instrument.

We will be returning the flute for another that will hopefully hold the lower register notes better than this one. My son's flute teacher, who has an older Gemeinhardt, says it should not be this difficult. Here's hoping.