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This piccolo looks, feels and plays/sounds like wood, but since it's grenadite it's much sturdier. Conical bore, pointed key arms. You may find the embouchure configuration a little strange, but it plays very well from the low D thru the highest Bb. (I cannot get the high B nor C.) I tried this instrument against a professional friend's set of Haynes and other costly (up to $5K) piccolos; there was not that much difference in tone, intonation and responsiveness. Bottom line: this is a good bet. Also: true to their word, WW/BW did not post the charge to my account until I'd had the picc for 30 days.

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Ok, I am fairly new to the piccolo but a long time flutist and flute teacher. However over the past weeks as I am learning a proper piccolo embouchure and sound control I have had the opportunity to play an old silver Haynes, a gold-plated Venus off Ebay that actually played pretty well but with stiff key action, a silver plated Armstrong, a composite Armstrong, a Yamaha YPC 32 and a couple composite Gemeinhardts including the P4 which I also bought. This Pearl is extremely beautifully made. The silver plating on the very comfortable and ergonomic keys seems heavily coated with a deep silver shine. The key action is even, smooth and precise. The tone deep, focused and full (quite wood like). The intonation is surprisingly even up the scale. Although still developing a piccolo embouchure I was easily able to get the very high Bb to speak. I could not get this note on all the other piccolos I have blown over the past few weeks but again I am new to piccolo playing. A great buy at this price without the hassles of wood maintenance or warping.

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I bought this Pearl piccolo this past year when it first became available. I needed a piccolo for outdoor venues that sounded as good as my wooden piccolos. I was quite pleased with it and have started using it for my indoor venues, too. The upper notes come out so cleanly and in tune. A few people have said they could not reach their top Bb, B, and C but I never had that problem with this Pearl. In fact, I have an easier time reaching them on this piccolo than I do on any my Emerson Boston Legacy or Roy Seaman. I literally have played the Pearl every day for the past 10 months and the mechanism and action are still as perfect as it was the day I got it. Usually after two months of playing, I have to send in my piccolos for adjustments and repairs. I am very pleased with the quality of this instrument!

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I have played flute and piccolo for years in numerous bands and shows including the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and Les Miserables in Chicago. As a doubler, this piccolo served me very well in the shows I have played. The embouchure switch between flute and this piccolo is very easy and it doesn't throw me off like with other instruments. As a doubler, I was drawn to this piece for the price and the features (having numerous instruments for shows can be very expensive). In my orchestra, I played this instrument for Beethoven's 5th, Rite of Spring, and Daphnis and Chloe 2nd suite to fill in for some sick players. I received so many compliments on my performances that were done on this instrument. The sound is easy to control and very sweet. My high notes come out very easily (some people seemed to have a problem with this instrument in the high register but I didn't). Overall it's great for a price. True it's not a Powell or Haynes custom piece, but it serves its purpose. My advice is to play on a different headjoint than the one this comes with. From my experience, wave headjoints make the mid-register difficult to control. I use a wood standard Burkart headjoint with mine and it sounds beautiful and smooth. The low notes aren't as loud, but that is a small sacrifice.

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Owning a Pearl flute, I thought this would be a great companion, especially for outdoor performances. And it is a very nice instrument for the most part, except for the highest notes - beginning at B flat & up, the notes just don't play!! And I am so disappointed. Apparently, this is not a problem unique to Pearl - I've tried other instruments and have also heard this from other players with many years of experience that some of the new piccolos they have tried don't seem to easily reach the high register notes (even the Powell piccolos - and this remark came from two experienced players!). This Pearl piccolo is great in the lower registers in both intonation and tone quality, so it is perfect for use in symphony performances. However, if you want to reach the high B flat on Stars and Stripes in the concert band (a pretty important note in that piece, don't you think?), then this may not be the piccolo for you. However, I liked the rest of what this piccolo offers so much that I bought it anyway and am working on alternate fingerings for the high notes.