Thomann FL-1000 RE Flute

I bought this flute for my daughter who is 8. I have played the flute since I was young boy (it's been 21 years...) and have played in many different orchestras and symphonies over the years. This flute overall isn't too bad for it's price range. The tone is okay for a nickel flute and has alright colour as well. The keys are nicely responsive and have a bit of resistance (which I personally like) this can make it a bit difficult for small and weak hands though. Although a Chinese built flute like almost all flutes available at this price range the build quality is quite nice and I think will survive all the bumps from a young player. The extra bits provided by Thomann are nice and work but new cleaning cloths will most likely have to be bought in the next few months. This flute is quite easily to over blow which is a constant struggle for new players however with a bit of work the flute can make a nice sound most notably in the lower registers. The biggest problem with this flute is the tuning, especially as you go up the harmonics (octaves). Everything gets wonky and it's sharp and flat all over the place... this won't be a major problem for early players but as they move up and begin needing these harmonics. I as a semi professional player can just about squeeze out the first 3 and at a major push the 4th harmonic but after that it all goes haywol and I find it practically impossible. So overall not bad, once students begin working on tone production and flexibility to draw back and increase the sound as well as harmonics they will really being struggling. I'm sure it will do my daughter well for the next 1-2 years. After that a jump to a much more capable flute from one of my tried and trusted brands (Yamaha, Pearl, Altus or Azumi) around the £1600 price point will be necessary for her to continue into grades 3,4,5 etc

This flute is essentially filling the same purpose as a Yamaha 272 -- except that's it's less than half the price of the Yamaha.

Compared to the Yamaha 272, the Thomann is quite significantly harder to handle on the low notes, and generally less tolerant of bad embouchure (I'm thinking of the D in particular which starts very slowly if you try and just lazily breathe on it). It's also, for me, a little bit breathier and more difficult on the high notes. It also seems slightly heavier. Then again, in terms of actual sound, most people don't seem to be able to tell it apart from my 272.

BUT, it's less than half the price. For 200 pounds or so, it's a great alternative -- a beginner might well be better off spending 200 pounds on this and not having to worry too much about how they treat it, and then going for a step-up flute later.

So, I like this flute. But you are getting what you pay for -- it's not as good as a 272 and it's not as forgiving.