#i say this as if im actually guaranteed to have a kid interested in flute

[abandoned-as-mustard]

What NOT to do with cheap instruments....

For the first time I've actually inspected the cumulative damage on my poor 15-year-old flute resulting from my own laziness and carelessness 🤦‍♀️ musicians get ready to cringe and know what NOT to do.

90% the damage is because a flimsy piece of card inside the case lining's velvet between the headjoint and the footjoint collapsed, allowing the headjoint to constantly slide into the footjoint, resulting in dozens of long delicate horizontal scratches (which admittedly aren't that noticeable unless up close) and a thicker vertical scratch encircling it that marks the exact point it finishes sliding in. There are chips showing darker material on the back. And for some reason, a tiny bit of plating has worn off the front of the lip plate, leaving a bit of the darker material, that probably got slightly worse when I tried to scrape it off thinking it was dirt 🤦‍♀️ (which in all honestly actually bothers me the most because I can see it playing in the mirror). The keys are a little sticky because I can't remember the last time I actually used tobacco paper on them, and oil? Ha! I forgot that even existed. (Back in the day, I used to care about that stuff, but I clearly forgot as the years went on. Plus, I always stored the damp cleaning hanky inside the case because it didn't have a bag, but didn't think anything of it). There is also a missing trill cork (added along the way bc it didn't come with any, even on the pinky finger), though it isn't much of a deal because, well, trills.

I can only dream of how much nicer it would look if I'd actually bothered to maintain it throughout my teenage years. The most I ever did for it is clean it. I used to shove it in my locker on its side or an angle, not bothering to use the school store room, because it was so small. It truly has been through a lot. It would cost more to fix it than it's worth, but it might be worth doing if a future kid wants to learn.

But then again, there are nicer-looking beginner flutes on the market that cost only slightly more, so 🤷‍♀️