Too Many Flutes (5)

When I decided to buy a Western flute I went to a small shop run by Charly Elbaz, in downtown Jerusalem (he has closed it since then and doesn't deal in used instruments anymore). I've known Charly slightly for a long time and he's repaired my instruments now and then. He had a small selection, some for 800 sheqels and some for 1000 sheqels - not a lot of money.
I bought a used flute manufactured by the Blessing company, which no longer makes flutes - they specialize in brass instruments today. I couldn't really try the different flutes out at the time. Charly had to show me where to put my fingers on the instrument. The one I bought probably wasn't much worse or better than the others at that price.
There are literally hundreds of used student-level flutes on the market at any given time. Just check on ebay or on the Goodwill Industries web site. Lots of them cost less than $25, but they're probably not worth fixing up. There's something sad about that.
I struggled with the Blessing flute for several months, trying to figure out how to play by watching instructional Youtubes. I figured (arrogantly) that I had enough experience with woodwinds, that I didn't need to take lessons, and, in a way, that was right. By trial and error I could have reached some level of proficiency and left it at that. But I was dissatisfied and frustrated, and I wanted to play flute as well as I can play saxophone. So I sought out a teacher and ended up with Ra'anan Eylon, a master teacher with decades of experience, who has worked out a sound method for turning beginners into musicians.
As I advanced, I discovered the shortcomings of my first flute and traded it in with Charly for a slightly better one, an old Armstrong flute. Charly, being a gentleman, gave me full credit for the Blessing flute, even though I offered to accept less than the 800 sheqels I had paid for it.
I played the Armstrong for a while. It was a reliable, solid instrument, quite easy to play, but limited in its responsiveness. But I was outgrowing it and got Ra'anan's approval to look for a better flute. He wouldn't authorize me to upgrade until I reached a level that required it. When he finally told me that I had progressed enough to reward myself with a better instrument, I started looking.
On a local web site that I found that someone was selling a new Di Zhao flute for 3500 sheqels (if I remember right), or approximately $1,000. Coincidentally, the man who was selling the flute was a young student at the Jerusalem Academy who, in partnership with Ra'anan, my teacher, had imported half a dozen flutes by Di Zhao, a new Chinese company established by a craftsman who had worked for the Powell Company in Massachusetts (I believe), making head joints for them. So Ra'anan had no problem in recommending the Di Zhao flute, which I played for a couple of more years.
The Di Zhao flute was a good instrument, made with care, and I played on it for a couple of years. If I wasn't sounding good, it was my fault, not the instrument's.