EFL-1

UPDATE: Nearly three months in... I finally broke down and bought myself a Gemeinhardt 3OB because after three months, I had a lot of trouble with certain notes (mid E, F, A, and high C). I had watched several videos that said often, beginners on cheap flutes quit, thinking that they are at fault for the lack of quality. I'm here to tell you... it's absolutely true. So - still 5 stars, still worth it for a beginner, still stand by my original review, but know that once you really start to understand how hard you're working to produce good tone, it may be time to move up into something better. Eastar's flute will have a place in my heart as the start of a great adventure, but after three months, five days a week, one hour a day... I finally had to move up and now? I've got a tone like butter... (or at least beginner butter. Ha ha ha!) Original Post: ... I'm still playing it and enjoying it. A few things I'll touch on, which don't make this flute less than five stars, but are considerations for anyone wanting to buy a flute. 1) If you are acidic, (like me and my wit - ahahahahahaha), expect this thing to begin to tarnish within two weeks (playing ~5 days a week). After nearly a month, the point where my left hand index finger holds the flute is black, the 4th finger key is black, and tarnish is showing up on my lip plate and other contact points and keys. Flutes do tarnish, and it doesn't affect the sound, but it's something to keep in mind as the price of this flute costs less than it will cost to get the tarnish removed. (And yep, I clean it after every use - inside and out.) 2) It is a very bright and brassy sound. This isn't a mellow flute, for that, you're going to have to up your price point significantly. I don't think less of it for that simply because... I got a flute for 75 bucks. 3) It's 75 bucks. Don't think you're going to get a $3000 sound out of it, or even a $300 one for that matter (though watching a professional play this flute on a YouTube video did make it sound maybe $200-ish). Make your peace now. It is fantastic for adults (like me) who are wanting to try out the flute to see if it's an instrument they'd like to continue. It seems like it'd be stellar for elementary school students (4th-5th grade) who are starting out as well. But - if it breaks, you're going to be buying a new one, as the price to repair it will be over the price to just buy another one to start out. So why five stars? Because I was ready for a $75 dollar instrument. That said, it impressed me with the workmanship. It is actually pretty solidly built, which is great. It comes with everything you're going to need to take care of it. It comes with a stand. It even comes with a pair of gloves so while you're cleaning it, you're not just getting fingerprints all over it again. It has a decent sound and, hey, did I mention it's $75 dollars? It is well worth that price. If you're on the fence, go for it. You won't be disappointed.

Before purchasing this flute I read the reviews and compared it to the other low cost options on amazon. I played the flute in high school, and now at age 60 I wanted to play again. but like a beginner I didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on something I may not use after the newness wears off. My nice high-end flute was given to a relative decades ago. I am very impressed with this product. It is an unbelievable value for <$100. I don’t recommend a colored version cuz they chip and the nickel plated version was only a few dollars cheaper than the silver plated version. So I bought the silver open/closed hole version. Note: the open/closed hole version goes both ways. The holes are plugged with small plastic covers that can removed if desired. Personally I prefer closed holes as it is easier to play. The plastic covers are almost invisible and do not interfere with the touch. One could argue that the tone isn’t as good as a high end flute but I didn’t notice anything wrong with the sound. It plays and feels fine to me, although it does seem to weigh slightly less than I remember. But it has fine weight. The joints are very snug, as the are supposed to be. I didn’t have to adjust anything and it worked properly out of the box. It comes with many little accessories that are nice. The workmanship also appears fine but I’m not an expert on this. I have to assume concessions were made somewhere to offer this product at such a low cost. The pads look good and if ever replaced will cost twice the value of the flute. I never had to replace the pads on my original flute. If it’s ever necessary maybe I’ll upgrade if I’m still playing it. For now I don’t need to pay extra for for a premium name. For a child, the risk of loss or theft is high so this price is much more practical. At $100 you can give it away if they don’t take to playing it. I can’t say anything good or bad about the alternatives. My decision was mostly because I wanted the silver plate. It looks nicer, but will very likely wear off with use - probably before the pads wear out.

Exactly as described. Affordable student flute. And so pretty. Sounds lovely surprisingly. Just love my over the hill lil purple flute. 💜

I got it for my daughter, she love it She said is exactly like the one she have a school

This review is specifically for the EFL-2 open/closed hole flute with silver plating, as I don't know if the nickel-plated EFL-1 has the same quality control issues. The first flute I received couldn't be properly assembled, as the fit between the body and the foot joint was too tight. The only way to grip it tightly enough to fully connect the two pieces would have been to wrap my hand around the entire foot joint, keys and all, which would likely damage the keys, rods, etc. Since I couldn't even get it halfway together otherwise, it was pretty much unplayable, especially since it left the foot joint precariously close to just falling off. However, Eastar as a seller was great to work with to get a replacement. This was a painless process, and they were eager to help. Unfortunately, while the replacement flute they sent would go together the way it should, a small piece of cork padding was coming loose from the mechanism that presses down the front G# key when the F key is pressed, leaving such a gap that the G# key wouldn't close the tone hole, which left the F key basically nonfunctional. While I might have been able to reattach the cork padding if I'd had the appropriate, durable adhesive, I didn't want to risk getting any on nearby key pads, since I'm definitely not a flute repair specialist, and even the tiniest goof would have also left the flute unplayable (concert flutes are very delicate and easy to mess up just by their nature). So, I returned this one as well for a refund. Two flutes in a row exhibiting such seemingly minor issues that actually rendered the instruments useless leads me to believe there are quality control issues that need to be sorted out before these particular flutes can be a worthwhile purchase. Until Eastar or the company from which it buys these flutes figures out how to ensure every flute that leaves the factory is properly manufactured, assembled and otherwise prepared for shipment/sale, I can't recommend them, not even at this price, because it doesn't matter how affordable an instrument is if it will serve as nothing more than a tchotchke to decorate a room. However, perhaps others will have better luck with this model than I did, and at least Eastar is willing to work to try to make things right when customers receive defective instruments. As a seller, I rate them highly. This particular product, though, not so much.

My son has found it incredibly useful for his classes and practice. The material feels sturdy and well-made. We're very happy with the purchase and I definitely recommend it for children who need a flute for school. 🎶

Fantastic for my students it’s easy to take a note out. It was easy to carry around. My student said it’s really cheap for beginners and students in the note will be good with it

I have been playing the flute for two years but my regular one is in repair so in the meantime I decided to buy one to use while it wait. The sound quality was pretty good and the color was beautiful. It came in very nice packaging to make sure the flute says nice. It even comes with a stand, cleaning supplies, and a fingering chart. When looking at it, the flute looks perfect and when you play it a few time it also plays pretty well. But after playing it about five times the note quality starts to decrease, some notes become more difficult to play, you start to see permanent finger prints on the keys, and the keys start to make your fings smell bad. The first few notes on the flute sound great, but when you need to play a note that requires more then three keys it's sounds bad or really quiet. This is meant to be a beginner flute but I wouldn't really recommend to use it longer then a month before getting a better one, because it will start to not work well and make you think your doing something wong. This flute is good to see if it's something you want to try, but after deciding that you want to play I suggest getting a different flute if you want a better outcome. Overall the flute it not horrible for the price and I remind myself that you get what you pay for.