jNews Module
E-mail
7 Things You Should Know Before You Buy a Flute
 		 xxxxx
How to Spot a Forgery

If someone paints a copy of Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers and offers it sell it to me for a fraction of the price of the original, having made it clear that the painting is a copy, I don’t have a problem with that.
What I don’t like is people who copy the instruments of famous manufacturers, then try to sell them as if they were genuinely produced by that manufacturer. This practice is quite common on Ebay, particularly with Yamaha flutes.
 		   1. Reliability - How Long Will the Flute Last?
2. How to Spot a Forgery?
3. Extras - Which are the Ones You Need?
4. Tone Quality  What Makes a Flute Sound Good?
5. New vs Second-hand
6. Design, Features and Options
7. The Best Brand
     
You can protect yourself from forgers by watching out for the following tell-tale signs:
1. The asking price is way cheaper than you can find from any authorised Yamaha dealer.
2. The seller says that he has acquired it “ at a store closing sale,” or “a liquidation warehouse,’ or ”NEW IN BOX - Never played - Inventory Clearance.” Translation: they got it from a pirate manufacturer in Taiwan or China.
3. The seller refuses to supply you with a serial number, “because they have so many instruments going out all the time.” Translation: the serial numbers are bogus, and we don’t want you to contact Yamaha to confirm this;
4. The seller says that they dropship from their supplier in Taiwan. Comment: Yet the inscription on the barrel of the flute clearly says “Made in Japan!” Here are some photos of what I believe to be counterfeit Yamaha flutes.


 

Can you spot the mistakes?
1. Yamaha flutes do not come with an adjusting screwdriver, nor with grease.
2. The case is wrong. Genuine Yamaha cases have concealed latches. (Ironically, the cases seem to be better quality than the original!)
3. Yamaha never supplies grease for their flutes - see page 17.


4. Real Yamaha flutes are not shipped in cellophane.wrappers
5. The lining of the fake cases is usually black, whereas the real lining is maroon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Genuine Article

 

In the photo of the genuine flute, notice that the latches are concealed, there is no carry handle, and the lining is maroon, not black. I’m sure other brands of flute get imitated as well. I specialise in watching Yamahas, so I know them quite well. A fake Yamaha might serve you quite well, but don’t expect the same level of reliablility or precision as you would get with a genuine one.

My recommendation:
Don’t deal with crooks. If they are happy to risk ripping off a huge corporation like Yamaha, they’ll have no trouble ripping off a single person like you. The quality won’t be up to the legendary Yamaha standard and any guarantee you are promised will be worthless. Get a real one.