GLORYSilver Plated Intermediate 16 Keys Open/Closed Hole C Flute

This review refers to the silver plated 165 Dols Glory flute I bought because of its B foot so as to better play violin pieces where the low B pops up quite often. Although it remains to be seen how the flute does in a few months, I am very surprised about the quality of this low-price instrument. So far I used a Pearl Flute bought about 45 years ago with a silver head joint and a C Foot. I also briefly used a very expensive silver-gold alloy handmade Natsuki with a C Foot bought about 25 years ago. Although it sounds ,unbelievable, I do better on the cheap Glory "marching band" flute playing classical pieces. I still have problems with the low B though, because I am simply not yet used to it . I also have problems with the last two highest notes (B and C) .The B and C at the very top as well the lowest B, hardly ever occur. I never met them in the 4 or 5 years of my playing primarily Bach and a little music of the classical era. For this reason I hardly practiced these notes. It is surely not a problem of the flute but me. In violin music to which I now turn they do occur occasionally and I am confident the Glory will do justice to them with sufficient practice.. The flute does extremely well on the most frequently used tonal range and one may play it softly very easily. After a brief warm up, I could play the Glory so softly that next-door neighbours would not notice me at all . Well known problem tones of the flute such as C Sharp, 2nd octave sound pretty good on it. I guess for reasons of physics a perfect flute does not exist. Some tones naturally come beautifully and some are tough to produce. Given that, it seems a good idea if flute makers to compromise on notes that hardly occur. As to price I am not so keen on expensive handmade flutes because I want to play without worrying constantly about theft. Given todays technology and mass production, I tend to trust a custom made flute more than a handmade model, (unless I had very specific needs, that may not be mass produced) . 'As to metall, yes you do hear the difference. Gold silver, coupro -nickel, wood sound different. But it does not mean that you get a poorer sound on a cheaper metal, the sound is not worse but simply different. Most flutes whether, gold, silver , wood or coupro nickel sound gorgeous if the player does justice to them. The cheap models seem to sound more tender, light and fragile .It seems hard to produce a real broad, volumous sound on them which I do not mind since I wanted a flute and not a trumpet. Also, if you are a hobby player like me, a tender sound is better since you do not want to be noticed by neighbours. 'All in all I am so far very happy with my new flute. It looks pretty solid. If it lasts one year it was worth it. Padding an expensive flute after one year costs more than a new cheap flute. 'This flute seems an excellent option (at least for a hobby player that does not play in a symphony). I tried to put the silver head joint of my Pearl onto the Glory flute that one did not work

This is an INTERMEDIATE flute, with a LOW B foot, and OPEN HOLES and most of the bells and whistles expected and wanted.PROS:- It's a really nice sounding flute!- Packaging and case are nice. Comes with all the basics. You do have to remove some little red wedges that keep the mechanics/keys in place during shipping, but it's not hard.- It's pretty! I really like the engravings and decorations. Many complained that the engraving on the lip plate is off center, but actually it is exactly where I rest my lip to line up my embouchure to the air hole/riser.Quirks / CONS:- I did have some of the springs that had popped off their pegs during shipping and had to adjust a couple of the keys that got mildly misaligned during the whole ordeal that shipping is. A quick search of YouTube and that was taken care of in no time. Anyone that has had a flute will already know how to do most of that.- There is a period of "breaking in" / getting to know you phase, but that is to be expected with any new instrument.- The alloy that this is made of is a bit temperamental about pitch and tone if there are a lot of temperature fluctuations. It seems happiest and most stable around 75 - 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Some days are just finger workout days, and that's really not a bad thing.My story:I always wanted to play the flute but never had the opportunity/time when I was younger but life opened up to a point where I had the time to learn. I was hesitant to buy a used flute after the pandemic. I also didn't want to spend almost $1K for a new "name brand" flute and be stuck with it if I decided that it wasn't for me. After a lot of research I found this one. It was in my "hobby starter" budget, and had all the features I would need/want to learn the flute well, and if I messed it up or quit, I wouldn't feel bad about turning it into a lamp or something. I also decided on getting the intermediate model so that if I did decide to stick with learning the flute, that I would have the option to keep playing and learning while I saved up for the upgrade w/o hitting that wall. And when I did get the new flute I would have this one to use as a back up or travel flute.After a year, I am still playing. I leave it out most of the time on an instrument stand so that reminds me to play, or pick it up and practice finger movements. My SO calls it the silver fidget widget. 😂 It's still pretty. I still love it. I still don't think it's something for an 8 year old first time player.Who I think would be happy with this model:-It would definitely make a nice instrument for someone in junior high or high school on a budget.-Someone wanting something with a little bling to it.-Someone that plays outdoors, or in pubs where theft or damage might be an issue.-Someone that wants to restart the flute, or an adult that wants to learn.