Sax on the Web Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Forums

Something good and cheap for doubling. yfl 22s?

Jump to Latest
16K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  Corgi  
#1 ·
Hi!

I've been playing sax for couple of years now, and I'm thinking of starting to learn flute. Since instruments in my country tend to be rather expensive and sax is to remain to be my main instrument, I'm looking for something cheap but still good enough to last me a lifetime. I want this to be one time investment (not counting the repairs).
To make matters worse, I want something versatile... good for rock, jazz, ambiental, oriental and for all sorts of weird stiles mixtures. And it would be great if it has a good action and sturdy mechanics...as much as pro-like as possible.
Good news is, I'm in no hurry. So if it takes me 5 years to find something...well, I'll probably get inpatient, but it's cool.
So please give me your suggestions. Good brands and models?! Best bang for the buck? I'm thinking it's best to go for something used. Is it?

I've found a cheap yamaha yfl 22s. It's a discontinued model. New model equivalent is yfl 225s. I'll be trying it out in two weeks. What can I expect from it? Is it good for what I'm looking for or should I save more money and go for something better? If so, suggestions, please!

Thanks...and sorry for my bad english!
 
#3 ·
Yamaha's YFL-225, or older equivalents, are fine flutes, used by many doublers. Anything made by Yamaha tends to be engineered and built very well, and intonation is usually very good on all their flutes. Plus, its a very common make, so techs are used to seeing them and like working on them. Its hard to go wrong with one. I double on a YFL-221. Like it a lot.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#4 ·
Any Yamaha 20 or 200 series will be fine - they're very well built and sturdy instruments with excellent mechanics and are very easy to work on provided they haven't had any serious damage done to them. Look out for any 211S, 211SII, 221S, 221SII and the much older 21S or 22S (the 'S' being in silver plate as opposed to 'N' being in nickel plate which isn't as nice). The 22 and 221 flutes don't have the split E mechanism so high E may kick a bit and you can use the RH3 trill key to stabilise it whereas the 21 and 221 flutes have the split E mechanism fitted which allows for the correct venting when playing high E with the usual fingering.

Later on if you plan to upgrade, just upgrade the headjoint for a silver one as that will be less expensive than upgrading to a silver bodied flute.
 
G
#6 ·
"...whereas the 21 and 221 flutes have the split E mechanism fitted..."

A typo. It is central digit of "1" that indicates a split E, eg 211.

I endorse all that has been said about the suitability of Yamaha. The models with only 2 digits in the model number, eg 21 rather than 211, are pretty old now,. so expect more work to be needed on them. has
Also you may come across F100 model, which may be cheap because in USA, not many people know that it is the same as 221 or 225. That was the model marketed around the Pacific rim.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
Sax on the Web Forum
posts
3.4M
members
83K
Since
2003
A forum community dedicated to saxophone players and enthusiasts originally founded by Harri Rautiainen. Come join the discussion about collections, care, displays, models, styles, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Word games Misc. Saxophone Discussion Sax Repair, Maintenance and Modification Tenor mpc General Mouthpiece Discussion