Flutes - any advice on a good make for an intermediary flute

[mice]

Hi - my son is just taking his grade 5 and we are looking at getting him a new flute. The one he currently has was mine when I was a child and has done him well - but I think the time is to get him a better one now. He is speaking to his teacher today but I thought I would consult you wise people here for any advice you can give.
I am guessing it would need a silver head joint, open or closed holes?? How much should I be loking at spending? Any advice would be great!

[thirtypence]

Ask at Top Wind - they are lovely (I have never worked for them BTW just spent lots of money with them over the years).

Closed holes are fine for uni/music college. I have never played on an open hole flute and have a Masters in flute performance.

[ShellingPeas]

A solid silver head jointed flute would definitely be a good investment as the tone quality is much better. IMO closed or open holes would be dependent on whether he is likely to continue on towards Grade 8 or higher, and also how big his hands/fingers are and whether they would cover the holes properly. There are some issues on hand position that occur when changing from closed to open holes and it takes some time to adjust between the two. However, having said that, you can purchase plugs to fill in the holes while adjusting to an open holed flute.

Regarding price and makes - minimum £500 and then just upwards! As a student myself, I learnt on a Gemeinhardt solid silver head joint flute with closed holes and sat Grade 8 on that. I then moved onto a Pearl solid silver open holed professional model (£thousands!) for my university study.

Any of the recognised brands such as Trevor James, Yamaha, Pearl, etc will do a range of prices and specs so shop around for the best prices and availability.