Greetings to all,

I just started playing a few months ago, and am already desiring to upgrade to a better flute.

I currently own a Jonah Thomas Turtle flute (Am) and a Butch Hall Little Bird (Bm)

I guess I'm looking for a bit deeper tone, and something that is a bit more artistic. I'd like to keep the price around $200 or less if possible.

Would anyone be willing to offer advice on selecting my next NAF?

Thanks in advance,
Bob Jones

Looking around the forums, you'll see a few makers listed again and again as putting out high quality flutes. Most of them price their flutes at around $225 and up.

Off the top of my head:

Geoffrey Ellis (Earth Tone Flutes - host of this forum)
Colyn Petersen (Woodland Voices)
Ed Hrebek (Spirit of the Woods)
JP Gomez (Heartsong Flutes)

I'm not sure about Geoffrey, since he's not currently taking new orders, but the others offer a bare bones flute for around $200 for a mid-range (G or F#).

Colyn has the Essential Flute, Ed has the Simply Cedar flute, and JP has the Sedona Canyon Spirit flute.

If you look around on the forums for these makers, you'll find plenty of positive reviews. There are also many other makers to consider I'm sure.

One more recommendation I've seen for good flutes on a budget are Kuzin Bruce flutes.

I personally haven't tried flutes by any of these makers. However, I'm thinking of getting a new one for Christmas and have been doing a bit of reading about them.

I have a High Spirits Golden Eagle and it's a very nice flute for the price. However, many more experienced players here on the forum would probably recommend one of the makers I listed above if you want a good flute for a reasonable price.

Jason

Bob, Under the Newbies Q & A section scroll down to June 21, 2008 and check out the "Newbie Question" from Clinton. This has a fairly comprehensive discussion of different flute makers.

Thanks, Jason - I'm definitely checking out the makers you've recommended.

Nokeys, thanks - I missed that thread as I was doing my original search - looks like a lot of valuable information. I appreciate your input :-)

Safe travels,
Bob

Try looking here:

http://forums.fluteportal.com/index.php?showtopic=441

Maybe some of that will be of help.

Agree to Jason. High Spirit flutes were extensively discussed lately see http://forums.fluteportal.com/index.php?showtopic=693

Gerard

John Stillwell's (Ancient Territory Flutes) Craftsman line of flutes are all under $200.00 Stillwell does beautiful woodwork and his flutes IMHO are spot on perfect tuning with full voices. One word of warning, his F# has 1.5" spacing on the bottom hole so if you have small hands you might have a problem.

John Ellis (Turtle Mound Flutes) makes lovely flutes that actually sound better than they look. All of his flutes are in your price range.