Anyone tried the new Pearl 165 piccolo?
If you have what do you think of it? Comapared to the Pearl 105 do you think it's worth the extra £500? Would it be better to buy the Pearl 105 and get a wooden headjoint when an upgrade is needed or is it better to get the 165 because of the Omnipads? Looool that was a lot of questions.
Liz
What good questions. I've heard lots of good things about Pearl piccolos and I have tried them (but I can't remember which model(s)). I'm no piccolo expert, but I'm sure their are others around who can advise you - especially Gareth. Come in Gareth!
Gareth
Hello!
The original PFP-105E is a great instrument, it's been bought by lots and lots of flute players. From people buying their first ever piccolo, right through to full-time professional orchestral players, and everyone in between.
Quite a few of the professional orchestral players had the PFP-105E re-padded with cork, vulcanised rubber, or silicon pads to make the seal, and the feel of the piccolo even better - at a cost of normally around £400-£450.
Two years ago I had my own PFP-105E(which was custom made and specially treated with traditional Japanese Urushi lacquer) fitted with silicon Valentino pads - and the difference was incredible! I reported this back to Pearl Japan, and they found Omnipads - which are similar to Valentino pads, and decided to put these into the new wooden headed piccolo.
The end result is the PFP-165E, which I'm delighted to report is absolutely fab!
I first tried it at the Frankfurt Musik Messe back in March and was struck with the clarity and warmth of the sound, and the lovely positive feeling action of the keywork. The wooden headjoint has been treated with the same Urushi Japanese Lacquer that I've got on my own picc, to try and avoid the (sometimes inevitable) cracking that can happen in all wooden instruments - especially if there are large temperature or humidity fluctuations.
So. My advice - go to your favourite flute shop and try both! If your budget would stretch enough to get the PFP-165E I would heartily recommend you consider it, but equally - if you haven't got the funds to cover the slightly increased price (the full retail price is only £325 more expensive than the full retail price of the PFP-105E) then you won't be disappointed with the PFP-105E!
And yes, the wooden headjoint should be available to buy separately by (about) Christmas! So the hundreds of people who have already bought PFP-105E piccolos can upgrade. There's even an extra headjoint space in BOTH of the piccolo cases to accommodate this extra headjoint.
Gosh! That was a long post!
Cheers!
G.
Liz
Thanks Gareth for the perfect reply - now we all know more than we did before!
kangaandroo
Wow, thanks for the thoroughly informative article! I have a plan to be able to afford a new piccolo, but it all depends on me getting offered a job after work experience in July and working through my whole summer holidays, so depending on how much I get paid (and how much I can beg parents for birthday and christmas in December!) I would absolutely adore the 165 but I would be more than contented with the 105, after all I'm not exactly professional! (Just realised if I bought the 165 my piccolo would be worth more than my flute...) Can't seem to find a shop where the difference in price is less than £425 though.
lizziebriggs
The PFP-105E is great. i've got one and i love it. we had trouble finding someone to get one off because we live in the lake district and didn't want to go down to london!
lizziebriggs
The PFP-105E is great. i've got one and i love it. the nearest person who stocked them was in portsmouth though.
bas23
Are omnipads available for re padding other piccolos (not Pearl)? I have a P Hammig and wonder if they would make a difference. I tried Gareth's picc a couple of years ago and really liked it's responsiveness. (But don't have the funds or the justification for investing in another instrument).
Barbara
Gareth
Hi Barbara,
"Not sure" is my honest answer - I googled omnipads and came up with very little...
I believe they're American in origin - although if you wanted a really good piccolo padding job you could do a lot worse than contacting Jan Junker (I'm sure Top Wind will have his number), as he does a splendid vulcanised rubber re-padding of piccolos that is amazingly good!
Cheers,
G.
Sam Banks
hmm... I might get on of those piccolos
Swede (not verified)
Does anyone know when the new PFP-165E will be available in the music shops in Sweden? Or Europe in general? I've been waiting and waiting and I've also googled "PFP-165" without any Swedish hits at all... I've been in touch with one shop and they say they've ordered it but they don't know when it arrives. I've tried the PFP-105 and thought it was great, so easy to play compared to the Yamaha 32 that I'm borrowing at the moment. So I'm very eager to try the new Pearl model. I guess I'm a big Pearl fan because I've also got a Pearl Dolce as my normal flute and I just love it. Pearl is simply the best!
lizziebriggs
i love the sounds the pearl piccolos make
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