It pains me to have to write this review as I played someone else's FH-900 J at a jam session last year and was blown away by the beautiful tone, amazing intonation and ease of playing. Having placed an order in Dec 2017, I waited with patiently for the instrument to arrive back in stock and ship in April 2018.
Sadly, when it finally arrived, I found the flugel played significantly flat across the entire range, even with the tuning rod pushed right in. I had no option to return the instrument to Thomann and request a replacement. However, I was then informed by the service department that the entire batch suffers from the same issue (even though they continue to be sold as I write this review) and hence a replacement was not a viable option. They offered to shorten the mouthpiece receiver but I was informed this would only partially alleviate the problem. Alternatively they advised using a cornet mouthpiece, which is clearly unacceptable as the dark flugel sound requires a good flugel mouthpiece! So, with reluctance, I have accepted a refund.
Other than the tuning issues, the instrument was basically fine. The finish was not as stunning as in the promotional pictures, a uniform unlacquered colour rather than the subtle variations between different pipes in the promotional images. But it basically played well, ever so slightly flatter in the upper register (not unusual for a flugel).
But the bottom line is that, however good the flugel is in other respects, if it plays consistently flat then it is useless for ensemble playing, hence my overall rating.
