On Cheap & Lesser-known Brand Instruments.

In response to a question on Flute Forum about some cheap but lesser-known brand alto flute and whether it is worth it:

I'll do more than just tell you the answer: I'll give you some reasons to think of WHY people are telling you the answer. I'll also provide you with another useful resource for you to look into to assist your choices as well. I can do that because I'm not completely jaded with these types of questions that pop up once every week... yet. 😅

The keyword here is "online". All musical instruments are very personal objects that extend one's music making ability, and thus the act of physically trying things is of utmost importance.

Not all lesser known brand instruments are bad, but you will never know if you only see it "online" because you cannot try and see what it is really like. Even if someone else has used it and found the product good, you are still not assured that it is CONSISTENTLY good, or if that person lucked out.

Because lesser known brand instruments are lesser known due to much smaller number of people using them. All big name brands begin by being lesser known, but they only become big once they have established a good reputation OVER TIME. The higher price that we pay for quality instruments is for the amount of effort (in terms of R&D and quality control) that these big name brands put into building their instruments.

Also, while price is not a perfect proxy to quality, it is usually a decent indicator. If something appears way cheaper than what one might expect, there could be very good reasons why. Maybe the craftsmanship is inconsistent due to poor quality control; maybe it's a bad batch that the factory is trying to off-load to recoup some costs; maybe it's someone trying to make a quick buck by dumping flute-like objects on the market. It is easier to tell if you can handle the flute and judge the instrument's quality for yourself.

If "online" is all you can afford in your search, the most conservative approach is still to stick with well-known brands. At the very least, you can be confident that these well-known brands will have good quality control on products with their brands on it, because their reputation is worth a lot to them.

If you have more time and less money, consider paying a visit to your local flute tech to see what they have to say about various brands -- their answers may actually surprise you. After all, no matter WHAT flute you buy, THEY are the ones who will be there to support you by expending time and effort, and to flute techs, they REALLY don't want to waste any of those on junk-tier instruments. And if THEY say "Brand X is alright" (for any value of "Brand X"), you can be assured that if you bought Brand X flute, your flute tech can support it.