Review of new Grenaditte Flute

LimuHead · Post by **LimuHead** » Thu May 10, 2007 1:59 pm

I've had a little over a month now to get acquainted with my new Guo
Brothers Grenaditte Flute. Here are my impressions:

Make/Model: Guo Brothers Grenaditte Flute (I have #53)

Cost: $2000-$2600

Dealer: The only dealer in the USA is Robert Strouf of www.theflutefarm.com I bought mine on an ebay auction for the introductory price of $1995. Robert is a knowledgeable, friendly dealer, and I’d gladly do business with him again.

Specs: made from grenaditte, a man made composite (the composition of
materials is proprietary so I have no idea what the ingredients are),
made to resemble instruments made of grenadilla wood. I understand
there's a piccolo out there made of the same stuff, though I've never
seen nor played it. Comes in your choice of black or black. In-line
G. Low B foot. Gizmo key. It's much lighter than any silver flute
I've played.

Extras: Aluminum case with plastic sides (very cool looking),
zippered carry bag with shoulder strap, wooden cleaning rod, cleaning
cloth.

Sound: I will start by saying that I absolutely LOVE the sound of
this flute. When I play a silver flute I spend a lot of time trying
to overcome the "silver sound" -- that high-partial, edgy, bright,
silvery-ness that many flute players favor, but I find annoying. The
Grenaditte Flute, like wooden flutes, will not make that silver sound,
no matter how hard you try; it's just not there. For me this is a
good thing. You do get a fat, rich, beautiful, almost wood-like
(actually better than wood if you ask me) tone. The lower octave
speaks securely and loudly all the way down to low B. The middle
octave sounds very sweet. The third octave notes speak much more
easily than any silver flute I have played.

Mechanisms, etc.: The action of the keys is very light on closing,
and quick opening. They seal extremely well. The keys look like
plastic but aren't. I'm not exactly sure what they're made from, but
they are a joy to play.

Intonation: Impeccable!

Overall impressions: I love the fact that I don't have to spend a
whole lot of time wiping this flute after playing. The black
composite material is such that fingerprints don't show up, so people
like me who have acidic sweat don't have to worry about tarnish or
wearing through the silver plating. It mainly just needs to be swabbed after playing. Another bonus is that this flute won’t crack like wooden instruments – and you never need to use wood oil.

This flute has become my main flute. (I just took it on an 8 day
cruise I was performing on, and it responded beautifully.)
Microphones seem to love this flute. I performed with it through
condenser and dynamic mics and was always pleasantly surprised at how
good it sounded when amplified.

I can hardly stand to touch my silver flute now, even though I just
had it re-padded and cleaned. I find my 'ideal' sound (described
above) easily on the Grenaditte Flute.

Some things to be aware of: This flute has a thicker outer diameter
than the silver flute does, so some adjustment in hand placement will
be necessary - especially for the left hand.

I did have a little trouble with the right hand countering the
tendency of the flute to roll inward. I bought a thumbport for the
right hand, and that took care of the problem. Because the Grenaditte
flute comes in a custom fit aluminum case, there's enough room to leave
the thumbport on the flute when storing it in the case - another thing
I really like!

The only thing I wish was included or offered as an add-on is a D#
roller. I spend a lot of time playing in the lowest register (I play
low B way more than most flutists), so slurring from low Eb to low C
(or low B) is a bit awkward. A D# roller would make the move a lot
easier.

I've let four or five other good flutists play this flute, and it
seems the default sound when you first play this flute is a very sweet
mezzo-forte with a strong fundamental and very few perceptible
upper partials. It will take a couple of days' embouchure work to
gain a consistently fat tone on this flute. After a couple of days
practice, though, a full range of tone colors becomes possible - from
the 'default' sweet tone, to the big, in-your-face, fat tone that
traditional Irish players strive for.

All in all, I'm in gob-smacked serious love with this flute.

Aldon Sanders (LimuHead)

Cubitt · Post by **Cubitt** » Thu May 10, 2007 2:48 pm

What brought you to this particular flute?

Had you ever played one before receiving your own?

What kind of music do you play? If ITM, why a Boehm-system?

Congratulations on getting the flute of your dreams. It's a great feeling to have just the right instrument, what?

Cheers.

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Thu May 10, 2007 6:30 pm

I think that the grenaditte flute is attractive, but judging from the textured appearance of the flute surface, it looks like a molded polymer (plastic). If the grenaditte flute is lighter than a silver flute, then its similarity to blackwood may be in color only. Do you think that it is possible to have a carbon fiber flute body with a similar textured surface?

LimuHead · Post by **LimuHead** » Sat May 12, 2007 12:00 am

Cubitt wrote:What brought you to this particular flute?
Had you ever played one before receiving your own?

I had been looking for a new Boehm flute for a while and was coming up frustrated that nothing fit what I was looking for. This flute came up on ebay and since the seller lived so close to me I asked if I could stop in and give it a try. I bought the flute that night, and well you know the rest of the story.

Cubitt wrote: What kind of music do you play? If ITM, why a Boehm-system?

I make my money playing Hawaiian music (guitar, ukulele, and flute) - that's what I was playing on the cruise. I do love ITM and play a lot of it on pennywhistle. While trying the Irish flute I found that the stretch for the right hand caused me too many problems, so I decided to concentrate on Boehm flute. I did have my eye on a couple of wooden Boehms but found the cost prohibitive. My wife and I are also the flute section for our churches orchestra so I play the legit stuff too.

Cubitt wrote:Congratulations on getting the flute of your dreams. It's a great feeling to have just the right instrument, what?

Thanks! Yep! I'm surprised my wife hasn't banned me from exclaiming, "I love this flute!" every time she comes in while I'm playing. (Maybe I should start adding, "But I love you more!"

)

I'll put some sound clips up next week sometime. I'm busy with gigs this weekend.....

Aldon

LimuHead · Post by **LimuHead** » Sat May 12, 2007 12:08 am

Doug_Tipple wrote:I think that the grenaditte flute is attractive, but judging from the textured appearance of the flute surface, it looks like a molded polymer (plastic). If the grenaditte flute is lighter than a silver flute, then its similarity to blackwood may be in color only. Do you think that it is possible to have a carbon fiber flute body with a similar textured surface?

Yep, it sure is purrty.

I don't think it's just a molded polymer. If you give the flute a flick with your finger the resulting sound has a definite 'crystaline' sound - somewhere between the sound of metal and glass.

I'd like to try a carbon fiber flute, but haven't had the opportunity. From what I have seen, carbon fiber instruments have smooth surfaces. I'm curious, too to know if it's possible to texture carbon fiber.

Aldon

Tom O'Farrell · Post by **Tom O'Farrell** » Fri May 18, 2007 3:34 am

My understanding is that the composite is a metal mixed with a plastic.

mitch_i · Post by **mitch_i** » Sat May 19, 2007 11:10 am

Tom,

I think that's right. Grenaditte is an extremely durable material.

I have a Grenaditte headjoint that I use with my silver flute, and I like it a lot . It's very responsive (less effort than a silver headjoint) and offers me a nice alternative to the silver sound.

I'd been looking for a wooden headjoint, but I think Grenaditte offers most of the sound characteristics of wood.

Mitch I.

Tom O'Farrell · Post by **Tom O'Farrell** » Mon May 21, 2007 5:27 am

Mitch;
Interesting. I play Boehm silver flutes. Where did you get your headjoint?
Is it a GUO?

Sillydill · Post by **Sillydill** » Mon May 21, 2007 8:24 am

Hey Tom,

I came across this Wooden Boehm Flute Head on Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0122752551

"Wooden headjoint made of palisander wood reinforced by consealed carbon fibers."

???Don't know what this means, I can't see the fibers inside the bore! ???

Just something different!

All the Best!

Jordan

Tom O'Farrell · Post by **Tom O'Farrell** » Tue May 22, 2007 4:58 am

One of the problems that come up when buying a headjoint for a silver flute is fitting. The diameters have to be within very close tolerances and flutes vary a bit from maker to maker. You can make a headjoint fit messing around with it but I won't buy one unless I can also get the headjoint maker to do the actual fitting. Which means sending the flute to them.
If I bought a grenaditte headjoint it would have to be this way or I would not buy one.

mitch_i · Post by **mitch_i** » Fri May 25, 2007 8:26 pm

Tom,

Yes, it's a Guo. I bought it at the convention of the National Flute Association in Pittsburgh last summer. I can find out where to get one if you're interested.

Mitch I.

robgandara · Post by **robgandara** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:17 am

if anyone is interested I've been making carbon fiber tapered flutes and whistles and am about to announce my 2008 irish flute on my website www.pipemakersunion.com

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 6:34 am

Rob, ya might find a bit of interest here

given to understatements, are ya?

robgandara · Post by **robgandara** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:44 pm

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Aanvil · Post by **Aanvil** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:29 pm

robgandara wrote:[/img]

Rob I really would like demo that.

I'm a fluter first and foremost.

Your Low D got to me today and I am liking it so far as I had about 5 mins to play it... but first impressions and all you know.

It should look good while I'm sitting on my Barcelona chair.

Chiff and Fipple Forums

Review of new Grenaditte Flute

Review of new Grenaditte Flute

Grenaditte

carbon fiber flute

ok here it is!

Re: ok here it is!