Side by Side Comparison of: Broadway vs GLORY vs Mendini

I gave this to my daughter for a gift. She played the flute years ago in the jr. High school band. She loved it. The six inch flute and case are very well made. It even comes with a stand to display the tiny instrument.

Lovely miniature.

The case is bigger than this picture shows. It's very nice on display.

Pretty neat item, got it for a friend. For the price good quality and detail. May get a few more for myself.

This made the perfect gift for our niece when she graduated. We added this to her display table and it was an adorable addition at her grad party. I thought it was very well crafted and the display and case was a bonus for the price.I was thrilled to find it and appreciated the fast shipping too!

My 11 year old decided to forgo band this year and we turned in her very expensive flute. She decided shortly after that she still wanted to play as a hobby. I was able to find this pretty little gem for her. I was skeptical of the price and what I would be getting. When she opened it we were both pleasantly surprised. It was a lovely shade of pink and sounds just like her expensive one! It was in a nice case too! We would purchase this one again!

Can't believe how great this flute is for the price. Yes, a pro or intermediate model would be a better instrument overall, but we just needed a starter flute for us to learn how to play and enjoy it's presence in our house. It looks and feels like much more expensive models we tried at music stores. Highly recommended for anyone young and old who wants to learn for the first time or needs a spare flute for travel.

Very nice flute! I played a very long time ago and am relearning. Don't know too much about higher priced flutes and their quality, but this is great for beginners and for someone who just wants to play for fun and not want to spend a lot on flute. So there's no guilt when I haven't played it in weeks.

Awesome sound and comes with all the things that it tells you in the picture! I love the color and the floral design on it too. Super neat nice packaging and soft on your hand to touch and feel

Great flute for my daughter, she is a beginner, and we wanted to start her off with a good quality flute. The case seems very durable, which will be great for taking to & from school every week. Comes with everything you need

My mind is blown. I've played flute practically my whole life. I wanted a practice instrument that I could leave at my city condo so I didn't have to keep carrying my Yamaha with me. I saw this and couldn't believe the price. But I really don't have hundreds to spend on another instrument that will just be used in my practice room. I thought the colors would just be cool.When I received it and took the case out of the box, I looked at the cheap, soft-sided case and, well, I wasn't expecting much. Well I was in for a shock. I put it together and just stared at it. The metallic blue body and brightly polished gold-colored keys were dazzling. Very cool indeed.Now for the real test. I put it to my lips and ran two octaves of scales up and down a few times. Wow. Crystal clear, smooth tone, excellent, effortless vibrato. The pads all seal tightly with the lightest of touch. The keys all work flawlessly. I expected my finger's muscle memory to have a problem with the return spring tension. Not so. Closing my eyes, I can't tell the difference between this little mind-blower and $3000 Yamaha.I played a little Irish ditty. I played a little Bach, a little jazz and a little Jethro Tull. I certainly found a good practice instrument! If you have a good ear, especially that of an experienced flutist, the difference in sound between a really fine instrument and this is very distinguishable.Bottom line... Need a really decent, inexpensive practice instrument? Look no further. Have a child interested in learning the flute? Here you go! For incredibly minimal investment, you could start your child down a path that can provide a lifetime of enrichment. Or, did you play flute in high school or college and just want to see if you have any of that talent and skill left? Here you go! Get one and some music and go play in the basement. You'll be surprised how wonderful it feels to have one of these lovely instruments in your hands and how genuinely fine the sound is.

Great for parents on a budget!!!

My daughter is very happy,thank you.

daughter so excited says it sounds even better than the one before and loves it but thought it was inline and it's actually offset but that we can live with

All the way around great! Great product for the price, and speedy delivery,

A++++ quality and excellent customer service! Highly recommend!

This Flute is excellent quality and fantastic sounding. My daughter is really enjoying learning to play it. All the accessories are also of good quality and really an added bonus. The cost is well worth the product!

This is a great beginner flute, as it works perfectly. The only con about this this that once playing this flute for a while, the metal becomes blackened due to the heat of the skin and the quality of the metal.

It is wonderful to be able to buy something like this that would have been impossible to get in the past. The only issue is that my daughter (who is using it to learn on her own so far and she is 8) says that one of the notes seems off as if it is not built properly, but the other notes seem fine to her.

have finally figured out a few notes.. as i''m teaching myself, youtube has been a great help in figuring this out. i bought this one because i felt it was a good price for someone just messing around and wanting to learn the flute for casual play.

Decently playable. I am a music major, percussion and trumpet are my main instruments. I've started collecting instruments and saw this deal and figured it was worth a shot. Could be better, could be worse. For a beginning flute, it'll do just fine.

At first, I thought it was great. Then as time went on, the lip plate's (on the mouthpiece) paint began to wear off. It wasn't too big of a deal, as it wasn't very visible, especially when playing. Then I noticed tarnish begin to appear on my lips. Turn out I may have had an allergic reaction of some sort to the material (probably the nickel silver).My solution was to order lip plate patches, and I'm optimistic about it, so everything should work itself out. Otherwise, it's a great flute, especially for its low price, so it was definitely worth the buy rather than spending $300+ at other places.

I am a professional flutist and was looking for an inexpensive beginner flute to recommend to beginner students. I tried it out and it plays in tune, has a great tone, and looks beautiful. I was surprised by the quality of the flute for the price. This is not the cheap-o quality flute here. It comes with the cleaning kit which is exactly what every flute and flute student needs, the case is decent and it comes with a shoulder strap too.I purchased this flute from this seller for $69.99 in May 2015, the price has gone up a little bit since then. Considering it is a flute under $100 it is a fantastic deal.If you are looking at this flute - you'll see that it has an offset G and a C foot. This means that the Key named G for the left hand ring finger is a little distance away from the flute instead of inline with the rest of the keys. This is a BONUS feature, as the inline G is tough to reach especially for beginners. I have the offset on all my flutes both Intermediate, and Professional. This is a nice extra bonus for this student flute.The other feature of this flute is the C foot. There are only 2 options here, either a B foot or a C foot. C foot is standard on student flutes. It basically means that the lowest note this flute will play is low C, aka middle C on a piano. This is an appropriate choice when you consider the music that the beginner flutist will learn for the first 3-4 years of playing will not go any lower than this C. The B foot makes it possible to play the low B, one note below C, aka one note below middle C on the piano. The low B note is commonly found in more Advanced levels of music. I know other professional flutists that still have opted to keep the C foot, and not use the B foot.I don't know how long it will stand up to a beginner flutist's tendencies to be rough (dropping, banging it into a music stand), but honestly for the price it is far better than renting, and better than a school-rented instrument. If handled with clean hands, clean mouths so there is no sticky spit put into the flute, gets cleaned with the provided swab-cloth, and fingerprints rubbed off with the cleaning cloth each time the instrument is used it could last for many years before needing a tune-up at the repair shop.

Updating my review - This flute to my ear has a decent tone and acceptable intonation - but my ear is suspect. Response is frustrating at times but that may be more my skill level than the flute. I played sax in community college jazz band and concert band and played flute in community college orchestra years ago for the record. I'm having fun with this flute so far. I went to a beach the other day and played some and a passer by said "sounds good" which was nice (I don't think it was sarcasm). As far as durability time will tell. Whether or not this flute would be acceptable for elementary school band I don't know. By the way it does look nice. I'm not sure what the coating is. Bottom line for 55 bucks which is what I paid (prices on these flutes seem to fluctuate I've noticed) I'm happy with the purchase and I may buy another down the line.

Updated: changed rating from 1 star to 4, due to earlier problem, otherwise would be 5. After assembling and disassembling a few times, the issue went away, somehow the fit loosened up. I did not need to call about the warranty to have the flute replaced.The flute cannot be properly assembled, one part is too tight and does not fit well. A flute repair shop refused to repair it and said the repair would cause more damage. I could not return the flute because kid's lesson started 1 month after I bought the flute, we only discovered the problem once the lessons started. It didn't occur to me that there would be an assembly issue.

Reasonably priced.

Everything was great, except the strap on the bag on one side was not stitched properly. I had to get it stitched. But other than that it was a very nice product. I would deffinately recommend this supplier to my friend and family.

great

My grandaughter will be using it soon!

its cute but very small, put it where it wont be touched or bumped because it falls off the stand too easy.

The item was much larger than I thought it would be. The picture is deceiving as the case shown next to the flute is shown as much smaller than the actual instrument. I have had to readjust my project (shadow box) to accommodate the larger item. Time does not allow me to return the item so I will make do, and try to watch more carefully the next time I order something on line.

Can't speak yet about the quality of sound yet; however, we ordered the blue flute and were unpleasantly surprised when we opened the box to see a plain silver flute. Unfortunately, we can't return it bc we need it for band class this week. Annoyed.

This instrument is a good one especially if you're a beginner however it lacks in quality and durability. Mine only lasted for three month before the key pads started to malfunction. However, I would suggest investing in this only if you're wanting a temporary instrument or just a beginner.

in overall good for the price payed

A little airy sounding, but perhaps I am still getting used to it. You can tell this flute was cheaply made, but it's definitely a good flute for the price. I would recommend this as a great starter flute, but not so great for advanced musicians.

You get what you pay for on this one. It sounds fine but is very difficult to get it to make noise with normal breath output. I would go another route if you are looking for something long-term.

After a few months, the flute had some major dents in it. After a year, the flute wouldn't play. But it stuck together for the whole year, so I'm givng it a three star.

Good flute for a beginner. Unfortunately one of the keys on mine doesn’t close properly over the hole. Make sure you check yours thoroughly!

Went the first time I played the b note it worked great but 6 day later it won't work. Also the case already have bad part.

Great instrument for the price.

So, I ordered this flute to see if I could get back into playing- it's been 12+ years since I've played and I've been considering picking it up again. While this seems to be ok for my purpose, I think it's a bad flute for most people. I can tell it's cheaply made, the mouthpiece is poorly designed, the foot and headpiece aren't fit well into the main body, and the sound isn't the best quality. The pads were already sticky when I opened it, which there's no reason for if it's not been played. The stand that came with it doesn't fit into the flute itself, so I just threw it away. Mine also came with a stick of 'pad grease'... which I've never heard of nor used on my flute before (and I played for 9 years), so that seems like it's to help put the Poorly designed body pieces together. Something with the case isn't right either, though I can't really put my finger on why I don't like it...Here's a quick list to hopefully help you decide.Do NOT buy this if any of the following are true:1.) You (or the intended user) will be playing this flute several times a week, such as multiple practices. This will break easily with prolonged use.2.) You intend to play a flute at a concert. If that's the case, please get a better quality flute for a much better sound.3.) You are getting a flute for a beginner. They will likely get frustrated with this flute and may be discouraged from keeping up with the flute. I'd look into a flute rental, or ask your band director/teacher if the school may have one to borrow.You may consider this flute if any of the following are true:1.) Like me, you used to play and want a cheap flute to start back up with, will full intent to get a better flute if you decided to stay with it.2.) You are a band director and perhaps want a cheap backup flute to keep on hand in case one of your players forgot their flute or has their flute in the shop.3.) You only intend to play a few times, such as wanting to participate in an alumni band event.

When I got the flute it was perfect, but after like 1-2 weeks the note "F" started getting really hard to play and really wouldn't come out.I might recommend this flute to a 5th grader, but it's not worth it in like middle school. But the colors are amazing!!!

I purchased this as a christmas gift for my daughter (purchased around Thanksgiving time). She received it on Christmas day and it was falling apart. Had to send for a new one and it's better. I understand that things may have issues, but I'm finding myself returning too many items on amazon.

It wouldn't play some of the notes, I had to return it.

This came broken.

I've only had this flute for a couple of weeks but it seems that some of the key pads are already leaking air so that some of the notes will not play. I already need to get it repaired. It's worth investing in something more expensive to get a higher quality.

Very poor quality flute. I purchased this for my daughter, who has played flute for two years. After receiving it, we determined the F key did not work. This has been something that is noted in many reviews. I didn't notice them until too late, though. Upon contacting the seller, they were not helpful at all. Their statement was to just return for a replacement, but by the time we decided to return it, it was too late. If you're considering buying a flute, my recommendation would be to save your money for a better quality flute.

although this flute is beautiful and when we first got it , it seemed to be just right. But my granddaughter has not had it a year yet and she has lots of trouble with it. It will not play, you can not get sounds t come from it, at least not one that you want. This is such a sad thing because she loved this flute. now she is the only one in the school band that has a horn that sucks...... She is using a school horn. I can not recommend this item any longer. It does not last any time. I am sorry to have to do this. But an instrument should have more of a warranty than 1 month....

it's was packed very neatly, yet the thing was so rusty! After cleaning it for like 30 minutes I began to play and it just didn't feel right. I had been playing the flute for 8 months and been using a Jupiter Flute until recently. I wouldn't recommend this for if you're planning to play in band or for anyone looking for a cheap alternative. Instead, buy/rent a Jupiter or Yamaha flute. This is more like a practice flute you see at Walmart.

the flute is great, but the case has a horrible smell, like something died inside of it.

It didn't impress me. There were some metal that had already scrapped off.The foot joint took at least five minutes to get off from the body. I struggled so hard (but gently) to get it off the body. I only had it for 30 minutes and assembling and removing took awhile.I got it today after ordering it two days ago but now I'm returning it.

It's not really that bad but it's not the best.

Very nice, my grandson enjoying it. I order it for his 6 grade band class.

This item is defective. The notes would not yield the correct tune or no tune at all. Replace this order because of the defective G note and had to return the replacement because the A and B notes were the same. We like the accessories, but did not like the sound of the flute. This why we graded it two stars...

I am a returning student (played during middle school, which was 20 years ago). I still have my old flute, but it is in pretty bad shape (stuck in a closet for 20+ years). I thought I'd get this just to see if I was really interested in playing before investing in a better flute. My old, beat-up, and in need of repair Gemeinhardt flute plays better than this one and is more comfortable in my hands. Something about the alignment and weight of the Mendini is off. Plus, the Mendini arrived with the headjoint not properly fitted. What a pain. I'm returning this one and am off to my local music shop to rent a better flute until I'm sure I'm going to keep playing.Parents, if you're getting this for your students, you may find that they quit playing earlier than they should out of frustration. It is immensely more difficult to play this "instrument" than the real deal.

Doesn't look good

it's very expansive for the quality 9not good quality)

That's the first time I've been scammed

Poor quality and was unable to return due to the company's return policy of only 30 days.

Some of the keys were stuck and wires holding them together kept popping out. My daughter cut her fingers on it.

Terrible product. Lasted 1 month and now doesn't play above C unusable, but past the return limit so we are stuck with it. Not worth a penny! do Not buy this.

The flute will not play a F natural, and the B flat isnt right, no E. Very hard to play in a concert when a brand new flute wont play.

Do not buy!!!! Had this flute for two weeks and the paint is chipping and the end piece is so loose that it just falls off while playing.

Cannot make quality sound come through. Total waste of money.

Would not produce sound!

We have barely touched this instrument, her teacher noticed one of the notes was off, sent it to repair, they said this brand is so cheap , you can't get parts, they fall apart, and cost more to fix than to buy them. Repair companies will not touch them. CRAP CRAP CRAP. now my daughter is broken hearted that her flute is junk.

product is cheap and does not work properly. The cost to retune this item is 2 x the cost. Do not be sucked into buy cheap made product

Broke after 1 month

Didn't work, returning for refund.

The lacquer scrapped off the second day of use. Screws also fell out of the flute making it unplayable. After I contacted the store who sent me replacement screws, repairing the flute was still impossible. My music teacher told me that it wasn't just the screws but pad leaks as well.I recommend saving money for a higher end flute instead of wasting money on this.