Chiff and Fipple Forums

alibaba.com is a Marketplace, much like eBay, and has its share of scammers. One of the payment methods mentioned is Western Union, often not safe. The previous poster is not even pointing to a specific manufacturer there, or their physical location at all.

Of the current listings for "Flutes", manufacturers and retailers:

China (mainland) (584) Pakistan (78) Taiwan (30)
United States (27) Kyrgyzstan (24) India (22)
Indonesia (18) Singapore (12) Peru (10)
United Kingdom (8) Czech Republic (7) Hong Kong (5)
Malaysia (5) United Arab Emirates (4) Egypt (3)
Germany (3) Ireland (3) Netherlands (3)
Switzerland (3) France (2)

Specifically for "Irish Flutes":

Pakistan (31) Ireland (1) United Kingdom (1)


Kevin Krell

Hi, a newbie here... I just wanted to thank all you guys for this thread... It really saved me a lot of grief. After reading all of the posts, I decided to buy a flute from Doug Tipple, & I couldn't be happier, & it is all thanks to every one of y'all

Much Grass Homber
Much Grass!!

Alan wrote:

Tintin wrote:How about a "sticky" at the top of this forum warning people away from Pakistani ebay flutes? The question seems to come up fairly regularly, and there's only one answer!

Pakistani flutes cost $80 in Pakistan, greed ensures they are sold for $350 in many music shops around the world, they are not sold as Pakistani flutes, advertised as six key blackwood irish flutes, those music shops should be avoided,,,,,, one flute on ebay said to be a irish flute turned out to be one from the factory in Pakistan,,,,

fleadhcheoil wrote:

Alan wrote:

Tintin wrote:How about a "sticky" at the top of this forum warning people away from Pakistani ebay flutes? The question seems to come up fairly regularly, and there's only one answer!

Pakistani flutes cost $80 in Pakistan, greed ensures they are sold for $350 in many music shops around the world, they are not sold as Pakistani flutes, advertised as six key blackwood irish flutes, those music shops should be avoided,,,,,, one flute on ebay said to be a irish flute turned out to be one from the factory in Pakistan,,,,

$80? Some of the flutes from Pakistan on the earlier link were $15, keyless. Maybe you're thinking about the 8-key flutes? Also, watch out for the eBay auctions where the shipping is $70-$80.

kkrell wrote:alibaba.com is a Marketplace, much like eBay, and has its share of scammers. One of the payment methods mentioned is Western Union, often not safe. The previous poster is not even pointing to a specific manufacturer there, or their physical location at all.

Of the current listings for "Flutes", manufacturers and retailers:

China (mainland) (584) Pakistan (78) Taiwan (30)
United States (27) Kyrgyzstan (24) India (22)
Indonesia (18) Singapore (12) Peru (10)
United Kingdom (8) Czech Republic (7) Hong Kong (5)
Malaysia (5) United Arab Emirates (4) Egypt (3)
Germany (3) Ireland (3) Netherlands (3)
Switzerland (3) France (2)

Specifically for "Irish Flutes":

Pakistan (31) Ireland (1) United Kingdom (1)


Kevin Krell

the maker of the Pakistani flutes---- Suleman Sajjad-- Sulshiinternational. http://www.sulshi.com,
address--- Govt Murray College Road Siakot, Punjab , Pakistan they can supply 100 six keyed blackwood irish flutes every week, they cost $80 each, I expect the workers get $1 a day, so why are they selling at $350 in the US

These things get ever more amazingly ridiculous! Has anyone else spotted that the two "6-key" concert flute models lack the Bb and Eb keys, if the pictures are reliable? Just what is the point of that!????????????! Craaaaaazy! And some poor suckers are bing paid a pittance to waste their skills making such, and other poor suckers will buy them, be it middle-men with or without understanding or ultimate consumers who don't know what they're looking at......

is this one?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

bramble wrote:is this one?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

Yes, it sure is. It is one of the "Glenluce" type sole by Hobgoblin et al. See this thread for the tale of a similar flute. These are not too bad - it should be playable as is and with some judicious tweaking could be quite decent, but still treat with caution and don't spend too much on it if you decide to bid. It could (possibly) make a decent (and harmless) starter/1st improver flute. But I'm not actually recommending it and we don't know how consistent or otherwise their quality is. Unlike many of the things from the Indian subcontinent sold as "flutes", these do deserve to qualify as real musical instruments IMO, but, but, but........

thanks Jem, great knowledge.

I stumbled upon this Amazon listing today
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002LKR6C2/?tag=shopamato-20

I notice that the seller has the cheek to quote exactly from Terry McGee's website on the nature of Cocus wood, word for word, only adding that tacky marketing line "that makes this flute a great buy".

Ofcourse it's utter sh*t.

How can you say that? The same seller carries disco balls. Disco Balls!!!!

Got to actually try a pakistani flute finally at a shop in Westport I think it was. I couldn't make a sound out of it. I looked at the embouchure and I couldn't understand what I was looking at. The seller said he didn't really like that one and showed me another. It I could make a sound out of but not a pleasant one.

Thank you all for your well intended comments, advice and equally what I consider to be constructive criticism to help us improve ourselves.

We do realise and endeavor to do the `little extra' recommended by the few of you to get our quality to the next level and be the manufacturer that you can safely and happily recommend to all for our budget line of flutes, etc (incidently we manufacture/supply unmatched 5 lines of ready to use, out of the box products that very few companies even consider handling, in our small small scale cottage industry production model - almost all of which are well known to be the best from the subcontinent. These too are being constantly upgraded and new products added on).

Do direct your comments and recommendations to me directly at ceo@synergyhouse.net for our D flute that clearly needs some more work as we would like to sort out the remaining glitches with this product (I am aware that our flute's foot joint and keys need better finish/spacing alongwith perhaps a better case. Pitch really isnt a real issue/problem as this info can be googled by those who arent aware as to how flutes are usually pitched a notch higher i.e. D in reality is Eb etc.

Additional ideas/suggestions are most welcome.

Also greatly appreciate your finally clarifying the distinction between our particular product and other `junk' from the sub continent.

Thanks & Regards.

Vikram.

http://www.synergyhouse.net

p.s. my apologies to jemsflute for not corresponding adequately to discuss quality etc concerns/queries in the past - I usually do not handle retail queries but since this is to do with our product and thus our reputation and credibility, I will be more than happy to personally discuss and resolve product improvement to sort this matter out once and for all.

Well, thanks for the contribution, Vikram, and the more receptive attitude. Welcome.

I do think one thing stands out from your post - the issue of pitch. It is NOT normal to consider a note named D or, thence, a flute named as a "D Flute" to actually be an Eb! (This is a separate issue from that of "transposing instruments", where the 6-finger note is called "D" whatever actual pitch it plays.) As I think I wrote before, I strongly suspect your original model was a High Pitch flute - a Boosey Pratten style 8-key flute tuned at A=455 would closely approximate to an Eb flute at A=440. You need to re-scale your product and get it playing in true D at 440 to make a seriously necessary improvement - and to stop misleadingly advertising your current model as "in D" when it is not, so far as modern western players at International Concert Pitch are concerned (i.e. virtually all of us!). I disagree that a simple Google search will enable a beginner with no experience in the field to find out about and understand this. When they see a flute in a music shop or on eBay they will not know what questions to ask and will take things at face value - and probably buy a product that is not actually suitable to their wishes, however playable in its own right unaccompanied. Their ensuing dissatisfaction cannot be good for your business!

I see little point in merely improving the quality of an Eb/HP flute. Produce a flute that truly is in D at 440 and with properly made keys and a decently cut embouchure (and no burnt rubber smell!!!) and you'll get much better sales and a massively better reputation.

Jem, just an idea here, but it seems to me that Vikram might be a good prospect for one of your newly refurbished flutes.