Questions & Answers

We are deep rooted in the Japan flute manufacture business. All our technicians are trained by one of the major flute makers. Your flute will be set up by a specialist in that particular instrument. Our UK agent Premier Flutes has been established over 10 years, and has an excellent reputation in Europe & Asia. Premier Flutes UK deal with our customers on our behalf, so you are dealing with a native English speaker when you contact us. However your flute will be sent directly from Japan.

We use EMS service from Japan, it usually takes about 1 week to reach you in OZ, or please ask us for other worldwide locations. OZ CUSTOMERS - we've found that most flutes go through to you without customs asking for a payment. If the flute is particularly expensive, we can send it free of charge in 2 separate packages. One will contain the headjoint, one the body and footjoint. This way the value of each package is halved, and you'll be very unlucky if customs charge you.

We can send you a PayPal Invoice, so you ca use your bank account or a card. Otherwise if you do a direct bank transfer to us on wise.com (we give you the transfer details), we give you 4% discount as we have no PayPal charges. All payments for our retail business are processed by Spencer at Premier Flutes in the UK. You can also call him on +44 1253 670147, as Premier Flutes manage all our worldwide sales.

Definitely fully serviced and play checked. Pads that are not too old. Warranty. All our flutes come with a 4 month mechanical warranty.

Like cars, once you take a new flute out of the box, it loses a lot of value. We have many used flutes that are at least 80-90% as new, but at about half the new price! Why waste your money?!

No, it’s not essential, but you will get a more rounded tone in general, and more response for the player. See our Yamaha BRAND INFO page for more details on this. You can access the page from the YAMAHA FLUTES FOR SALE page.

This is a mechanical system on the flute that closes of most of the left centre tone hole when you play the high E. This makes the note easier to play, and so is particularly popular with students.

A piece of plastic or metal that blocks off part of a tone hole to make the high E easier to play. Often fitted to flutes without a Split E mechanism.

The two center keys (G) are either in a straight line with all the other keys (inline), or they stick out 5mm or so which makes it easier to play for students with smaller hands. Beginners should generally buy an offset G flute.

Rather than focusing on the age of a flute, focus on its current condition. A 30 year old good quality flute that has been well looked after could be a much better buy than a two year old flute that has been played to death and not serviced! Many earlier Yamaha student models are almost identical to the current versions, they've hardly changed. So there are some real bargains there. Ask us about them.

We recommend MADE IN JAPAN Yamaha student flutes, as the production lines are the best, and the flutes come out consistently good. Stick with 211S and 311 models as opposed to 212, 312, as their production has been outsourced to other countries.

Always over 10, sometimes 20! The only dealer in the world to have this amount. We have a direct supply from Yamaha type schools of music in Japan, so the flutes are mostly pristine and hardly used.

No, focus on the condition of the pads and mechanism. If cosmetic use doesn't bother you, save some money.

Just down to the amount of wear on the surface of the flute, or maybe a small ding etc. If this is the case, or the pads are quite well used, we explain this clearly.