Worth Purchasing?

[donb1975]

Hello, everyone!

I'm hoping someone might be able to offer me a bit of advice. I found a xiao for sale that is really quite beautiful. It is Northern style, with a root end.

Two things concern me, though. First, there is no makers mark. In fact, the only marking on it is the key. Second, the mouthpiece seems to be a bit roughly made, as you can see in the photo.

Plus it's online ~ so I can't test the sound before I buy.

The seller wants 169 dollars for it.

Should I go for it?

Thanks!

Attachments:

[edcat7]

Don, I know nothing about xiaos but there are one or two vendors I would avoid. In my experience David knows his stuff and if he says go to Eason it's probably because he's had loads of experience buying from others and think that Eason is the best.

btw. A useless fact I've just found: since I speak Cantonese and not Mandarin I've just discovered that Xiao is my surname in Mandarin

[Flolei]

169 USD for this? No way, far away from tjis seller. The embouchure seems to be damaged, not only bad made.

[ziman]

Avoid. The mouthpiece/notch of a xiao has a very large influence on how well it plays. The fact that this critical part of the xiao is so poorly made bodes ill for the workmanship of the rest of the instrument.

[Blue]

btw. A useless fact I've just found: since I speak Cantonese and not Mandarin I've just discovered that Xiao is my surname in Mandarin

Actually, I knew one year ago partially because one variation of the spelling in Taiwan is Siew and there was once a Taiwanese Vice President whose last name is spelled Siew in English, but we all would say "Xiao/Hsiao." But I decided not to raise it up because you don't play that instrument.

[Blue]

Anyway, I concur that the mouthpiece in the photo looks awful.