Side by Side Comparison of: GLORY vs Hal Leonard vs KJOS vs Amazon

I have played clarinet for many years in a variety of ensembles, mainly community & professional bands, orchestra, chamber music, a few small ensembles (nothing like nerding out with a clarinet octet) and pit orchestras. After subbing for a couple of shows in a pit orchestra for a local musical, I decided that I wanted to start doing more of this playing and so I invested in a few new instruments for doubling purposes. So far, I have been playing this flute for the last 6 weeks and loving it! The easy of range, the clarity of tone and the basic instrument machines are very good. Intonation seems to be getting better as I become more familiar with this instrument and it plays pretty consistent from the lower to the higher registrars. After a short period of time I removed the plastic tone-hole covers and found that this brought an even warmer sound – I’ll never go back to a closed hole flute again. This instrument is a big improvement over my previous flute and I find that I am truly enjoying myself as I explore my new sound.

Glory Silver Plated Intermediate Open/Closed Hole C Flute Bundle with Case, Tuning Rod, Polish Cloth, Joint Grease, Pair of Gloves and Screw DriverThis is the first flute I've owned and so far I'm loving it. I've played an 18th century military fife off and on for almost ten years. The fife is about the size of a piccolo, in the flute family, has no keys (hence some notes are not true), and plays in a high register than is unsuitable for indoors except for the very lowest octave. Having experience with the flute family, I decided it was time to upgrade to something that was more sophisticated and easier on the ears. On a tight budget, I was happy to find a flute for under $100 that wasn't just a student flute and had good reviews. So far I am very pleased. There was one flaw that it came with: one of the keys was missing a pad on the back finger that rested against the flute body, so the glue where the pad was supposed to attach too made the key stick. I simply cut out a thin sliver from an old cotton T-shirt and pressed it into the glue and now the key works just fine and the flute body isn't any worse for the wear. Other than the missing pad, it seems sturdy enough (handled with care as all flutes should), sounds great, and came with everything I needed to get started (except for a fingering chart, which you can look up on Google). I especially wanted to get an open holed flute, since I was used to playing the fife open holed (since there aren't any keys on it). Good thing the flute comes with plugs for the keys, because it's a lot more sensitive open holed than I imagined! Once I get used to the fingering position (much wider than on the fife) I'll take out the plugs. Meanwhile, I still have to get used to the changes in fingering and breath sensitivity compared to the fife. The flute is more finicky than the fife, but that is because I'm used to the fife. The flute should become less finicky in short order with practice. Very happy with the flute and wouldn't mind playing it for an audience, even though it wasn't several hundred dollars! Of course being cheap there are inevitably flaws in the build quality, and if I ever get a professional level flute I'll probably see the difference very quickly. However, it sounds as good as any other and with enough care it should last a good long while.

As is it was ready to play with good sound, but with a little tweaking it easily beat most of the flutes that I have played in the past.

Husband surprised me for Christmas....very nice flute! Haven't played in 42 years but can still get a nice tone...thanks to the hole covers that came with it!

So far it has been an excellent purchase for my son's first flute.

Ordered this instrument to determine if I still can play one (used to be intermediate player ability back in the 1970's). Tonal quality sounds good and the very bottom-end "C" is easy to "reach". Very good product, very well made. Am pleased and wonder if I'm up to the quality of the instrument. Excellent work, Glory Music! I shall treat this instrument with great care!

Great for beginners. Had all the accessories needed minus the music books for my daughter's band class. Thanks Amazon!!

xmas gift for daughter and she says the flute works very good. now she is practicing during winter break.

It's great. Its tone is beautiful

Basic and good entry level flute.Great for any school band!

I've just recently recieved this flute, and was super impressed by how fast it shipped.I do say, compared to higher priced flutes, this works very well. It's got my thousand dollar armstrong beat.I will warn you that it does scratch easily though. I'm not the most careful person in the word, and it already has recieved a pretty decent scratch on the headjoint.Other than the scratching easily, it seems like a pretty solid flute, and plays extremely nice, especially for the price.

Seems built well and of quality. Time will tell how it holds up and this is why I only gave it three out of five stars.

Some of the keys need pads under them

great Flute. Cheap and great for marching band. Thank you. :)

I bought this flute for my middle school daughter. It sounded great, but will not work now, just 6 months later. I'm disappointed that I'm now stuck with a new flute that doesn't work.

I have a number of years of playing flute under my belt, but hadn't played in a few years and wanted to buy a cheap flute to get back into it.I knew that the price for this instrument made this a risky choice- bottom line, it costs a lot of money to make a quality instrument. The brand was also not one I recognized, which is another red flag. But given the decent reviews and the low price I figured I'd give it a shot.This flute is significantly lighter weight than a higher quality flute. It is hard to achieve a decent tonal quality, and if I had never picked up a flute before, it'd be hard to play at all. Upon further examination I discovered that the materials used to make this flute (like the key pads) are also cheap and flimsy, making them extremely likely to break. I can play it... But I'd be very hesitant to perform with it as it just doesn't have that pure sound quality a flute should.Frankly, I wish I'd saved my money and just waited to buy a better quality flute. Instruments are an investment; a cheap instrument like this one will surely cause headaches!I just want to note for the parents out there looking for an instrument for their kids, this one is not worth it. I understand not wanting to fork over a ton of cash for an instrument you're not sure your kid will play, but I can pretty much guarantee that a child with a poorly constructed instrument that won't play properly will get frustrated and is much more likely to give up. You would be better off renting, or buying a used instrument from a reputable seller.

Perhaps I got a bad one. I found it difficult to play, maybe leaky. It was impossible to play with the plugs in. Better without. Airy, and unable to play low C with any ease. Also, it tended to be sharp, and the tuning slide did not move. I'm sending this one back and trying something different. You might try it. Like I previously stated, maybe I just got a bad one.I've been playing since 1976, so I do know how to play. I bought this one to have an inexpensive horn to carry around and play wherever.

Keys started leaking within two weeks of buying this flute. I wouldn't recommend this product to anyone, especially a beginner.

Button stick after my daughter had it for a month its giving her issues.

Not a playable instrument, it was not set up properly. I returned it and sprang for a used Gemeinhardt.

Purchased in October, My daughter was very excited to open this gift at Christmas. Plays in school blues band & all school band. It is now Jan 17th. Having problems w/ clean sound, took in to be evaluated at reputable instrument repair shop. Result 3 keys have leaks, cork has shrunk & needs replacement. Minor repairs yet inconvenient & with only 30 days of use.It is without warranty & passed 30 days of purchase. Even though it didn't it was wrapped & not used till Dec 25th. Disappointed. Would not recommend!

My daughter started having problems with it after 2 days. There were problems with the keys so we returned it.

It arrived on time, looked beautiful, til 2 weeks later after she started playing it in her school band. The name director states it's our if tune (and it's not my daughter playing it wrong) and some of the glued pieces are coming off along with keys. It's a nice mantel display but not meant to actually be played. Very disappointing.