Jean Paul FL-430 Intermediate Concert Open-Hole Flute - Silver-Plated

For someone who hasn't played flute in a really long time i was undecided on which to get. Until I decided to buy this over and never been upset on my purchase! For someone who didn't play much on the flute, this one has been really good to me, sound and playing wise! Update, i didn't know what's going on but my E key seems to go down together when i finger F, hopefully sometime can help me out to get that fixed because i actually like this flute and have very little time with it.

The flute is the answer to my dreams of playing again. This is a replacement for a flute that I played for many years. The quality of the finish (silver plating) is beautiful. This instrument is very easy to play, good tone and has great response to changing notes. Lower register is rich, and high register easy to play and bright. I know I will enjoy playing this instrument for a long time to come! I would recommend this to anyone from beginner to the more experienced player. Great quality for the price point.

I haven't played the flute in nearly 50 years. It was something I picked up during my college days. I missed playing one and bought the Jean Paul flute. I will admit, I am rusty at it. But, it is slowly coming back to me. There are differences with my college Gemeinhardt , and perhaps my lost skills. The action seems a bit sluggish but notes are clear and closed holes do not leak. The mouth aperture seems to take a bit of getting use to. But again, I'm calling on skills and memories from a long time ago. As for comments about the finish wearing, keys sticking and other listed problems; I'm sure this occurs but it is worth keeping in mind, these problems are mostly with young beginners. The greater care given to any instrument will help to prolong its life. If you seek "perfect," you need to spend more. A lot more. Right now, I am happy relearning this instrument.

I had read all the reviews, went on line, and watched the You Tube videos about this product, before giving it as a gift to someone whom had played in high school 50 years ago. She picked it up and was instantly playing. My friend is very happy with this flute, and continues to play daily. I am also a musician, and I think it sounds beautiful. An excellent value for an intermediate flute.

Unfortunately this was not a good option for me. I am a beginner and struggled from day one with the ability to play high notes and with the keys sticking and not responding to the fingering. I had the flute cleaned and they fixed the top cork and some of the key pads (the flute was new) and the sound and challenges improved for about 2 weeks and then everything restarted. I was about to give up thinking it was me when I tried my daughter’s school flute and realized I was not experiencing the same challenges and things were easier. So and I purchased another flute for myself and have had no more struggles due to the flute and malfunctioning of keys and sound.

It plays well . You can hear the difference versus some of the other cheaper student flutes for a more advanced student. The fact that it’s an open flute. However you still have the coverings which can be used over the holes until the student is more comfortable and then you can remove them .

Learned on plateau or closed hole flute keys. Historically the French school adopted open holes, and my flute teacher of Blessed Memory had an open holed V Powell flute. Symphony performer, huge tone, her phrasing was like butter. Already have two closed key Yamaha’s and decided to give this intermediate J Paul a try without breaking the bank. Silver plated, adequate fit/finish, lacks neoprene key feet, and QC perhaps isn’t quite equal to the Yamaha 222 Chinese or Korean clones. Tone is fine, keys springs were stiff upon delivery, didn’t bother with the included joint grease. My flute tech wasn’t familiar with this brand, declined to make adjustments, though showed me how to soften the key springs. Push them out of their key slots gently away from you w/ a toothpick dowel for less tension, play/test til you find the right action. Open holes definitely force you to use good finger technique to seal the keys while pressing. It adds another learning curve to the mix. Can’t say whether open holes produce a better sound- though they’re good for slurring notes in half steps for effect. J Paul advertises a lot about their readiness and affordability for band students.

Super bad! I needed to put 5 stars so it gets on the top of the reviews! Please do not buy any instrument in this place! We bought a flute a couple of months ago. It arrived on time and everything seemed perfect. And my daughter didn’t say anything but she started complaining about headaches every time she would be playing. On one point the teacher played the instrument and saw that she had to BLOW far TO HARD to get out a tune and that there was no difference in the tunes. ALL SOUNDED THE SAME! I trued to get in touch with anyone. They were hard to find. Costumer service referred me to the technician. He told me to please send in the flute to repair. So I had to get back in touch with costumer service to get a shipping label. They started refusing my emails and when I finally got in touch they told me that I was already to late for a refund! Several emails later they told me that I had to pay for the label and several emails later they told me that I even had to pay for the repair in case there was any! No quick customer service! At all! Very defuse information!!! And since I purchased they didn’t want to know anything else.

I loved the flute and also delivery was 5 days before expected date. I am not a professional musician and had not played Flute in 10 years but I found this flute to have great key response and sound. It comes with a beautiful very good quality case. I am really happy with the product.

Very good packaging, no adjustments needed before use, great instruments plus essentials

Former provincial youth orchestra oboe player. Didn't have the money to buy an oboe so tried out this flute (played 1 year in middle school) to get back into playing music after a 7 years hiatus for university. Found the transition from oboe to flute very easy since fingering is very similar. This flute has served me very well, I have absolutely no problem from low D to 3rd octave A. Low C is playable but finicky and haven't been able to play 3rd octave high B although it's very reliable up to 3rd octave A. Nice sound for the price and am still able to play most of Borne's Carmen Fantasy (except for the parts with the high B and low B) and the 2nd movement flute solo from William Tell with it which is great for a flute under 400$. I will still need to buy a upper intermediate flute soon to be able to play more technically challenging advanced pieces but for a beginner with no music experience or people who won't be playing those kind of pieces or people who prefer melodic intermediate to lower advanced pieces that doesn't ask those super high or low notes this flute should be a good instrument for a while.

For a beginner I think this flute can be useful but you’ll reach a point where the instrument cannot give you what you want. Also, it comes with leaking pads (C#) but you can fix it. Overall, this flute doesn’t cost so much but it is limited in term a sound and control development.