There is a nice Wallis flute on eBay, (not mine). I restored it around a year ago. Nice playing flute.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220433151696
This might seems like a silly question, but it’s not for me, being a non-specialist, so specialists: this is the third Wallis flute we’ve seen, but this one has sterling silver metal-work. Does the fact that it’s sterling silver suggest that it’s a better playing flute than the nickel-silver flutes we’ve seen already? I ask because I often think of the fact that Boosey Pratten’s have nickel-silver and yet are loved. So, I wonder if the silver versus nickel-silver debate only applies to early 19th c flutes? S.
By and large the issue of what metal keys and other fittings were made of on C19th wooden flutes was simply one of cost/prestige/self image etc.etc., I would say. There are no mechanical advantages or disadvantages between sterling silver and German Silver. The latter is just cheaper. On most English flutes I have seen there is little to choose in the standards of craftsmanship of keys in either material most of the time. There are differences in standards, perhaps, between different firms/makers, and you find the occasional super-duper fancy finish special commission premium jobbies where extra care was taken, like the acanthus pattern ivory Rudall that several modern makers offer copies of the keys from (Grinter and a couple of others, I think). If you look at the facsimile catalogues on Rick Wilson’s site I suspect you will just see price differentials for the different metal keys, just as today. Ditto for different woods, in all likelihood. The keys would simply have been applied to a flute tube - the makers would not have deliberately made less good bodies for German Silver etc., though just possibly they might have selected the best ones once turned up to fit with silver. Just as is said today about Bohm flutes in precious metals, you might expect the makers to pay closer attention to detail when working in such costly materials and to satisfy customers prepared to pay the higher prices involved, but it doesn’t mean their lower end products are trash. I would not expect a flute picked up at random from a collection to be a better or worse player than another because of the metal it was fitted with.
Thanks for your reply Jem. And by the way, I find this forum really fascinating, even if I have little expertise to offer to it. It’s a real pleasure to see how much information people are willing to share with others who share the passion. Thanks. Cheers! S.
Well, I watched the video…lovely flute, but the tuning seems a bit savage. Could be that the operator wasn’t taking the necessary precautions. Wonder will he get his price?
Rob
This flute has Nickel keys, not sterling. BTW, I have found that a lot of time, the flutes with silver keys are better quality, as they were higher end flutes. Nickel silver, must have been the “miracle metal” back then, polished it looks like silver, cheap, and very strong. They didn’t see it, as we do, broken and covered with green gunk!!
The description says this one has “sterling silver” keys…
Michael Hubbert is credited with the restoration.
well, he started it, and I finished it! 
I am quitting while I am ahead here…
I’m the seller, so I may as well check in and correct a few errors here. I was heading out of town after I put the listing up on ebay and asked Jon to mention it here in the meantime, thanks again, Jon. Is it possible you’re confusing this flute for some of the later Wallis flutes you’ve seen? Like perhaps the ca. 1867 Joseph Wallis 8 key of mine that’s there in your shop awaiting restoration? That one does have nickle silver keys, as I recall (my records say I left it with you 8/9/07). This one with the earlier address has sterling keys and bands, however. When I found this flute about 8 or 9 years ago, I hadn’t met Jon yet and I sent it to Michael Hubbert, which was about a 4 year restoration. After I got the flute back I took it to Jon to see if he could improve the intonation for A=440. He added shellac to the 2 and 3 toneholes, that was the extent of the work he did on it since the flute didn’t need anything else. I did the video after playing the flute only for an hour or so, it’s not my main flute. Spending more time with it would improve the intonation I’m able to get from it, I’m sure. I enjoy collecting antique flutes and checking out how they play after they’re restored, I have a pretty large collection which I hope at some point to put a website together for. In the meantime I thought I’d offer this nicely restored instrument, I thought perhaps a player or another collector out there might be interested. It’s a good example of an early Wallis, one of the more prominent English makers of the latter 19th C. One question I’d like to ask the person who mentioned the intonation sounded “savage”- would you rather not hear the flute played before you get it? It’s possible I’m not helping to sell the flute by playing it, I’m a middling player. Still, I felt it would be better for the potential buyer to get to see the flute in action and hear that all the keys work, including the foot keys. There’s also a 3 day return privilege. I’m trying to give the potential buyer more info than they would typically get, since I’ve never liked being told by a seller that an instrument is in “playing conditon” only to find it needs repair work upon arrival, and the seller is refusing a refund if the instrument is returned. You’ll find plenty of sellers out there that fit that description, by the way, including several you’ll encounter on this list.
To the seller, I think it was great that you provided a video of the flute. (BTW, and sorry to digress here) do you have any “Prowse”-stamped flutes in your collection? I’m trying to find out as much as I can about the “T. Prowse, London” stamp. S.
Hi Thalatta- Thanks for your comment on the video. I do have a Thomas Prowse, one I bought about 8 years ago. It has a single body joint, ala Pratten, and has a mid 4000 serial number which I was estimating at circa 1845. That flute is one that was represented to me as being “in playing condition” by the seller, an American who now lives in Co. Clare. When it arrived it needed extensive crack repair to be playable. I first sent it to Terry McGee for work and then had Terry send it on to Jon C. after he stopped doing repair work. Jon still has it, it’s been at his shop for about 3 years now, I’m still waiting for him to finish it up to see how it sounds and plays. That’s one of the downsides of buying unrestored antique flutes, you could be waiting a long, long time to find out what it might sound like (unless you restore them yourself, which I’d like to learn to do some day). You should probably start a new thread if you’d like to learn about Prowse. He’s an interesting maker, particularly the rare full Nicholson model with all his modifications.
I think I can recall a Don Whillans rock climb once being assigned a grade of “Hard, Dark, Savage and Ugly”. So along with the Hard D and Dark Tone, we now have Savage Tuning. Not sure about the Ugly yet but perhaps it’s the result of the first 3 put together.
Cheers
Graeme
Is it polite to ask how much of the restoration delay is due to the restorer’s workload, and how much is the result of operations that take time to complete, or require a resting/stabilization period?
I would say mostly the restorers work load… It does help to have parts already cut and seasoned!
Well, I’m not planning to get it, so no fear there. Meanwhile, it’s entirely possible to play one of these old flutes in tunes, especially regarding the flat foot, if you know how to do it. Did you consider having a player who has that ability do the video for you? I’d consider that a much more effective enticement to acquire the flute.
Rob
The minimum bid was lowered.
““Nickel silver, must have been the “miracle metal” back then, polished it looks like silver, cheap, and very strong. They didn’t see it, as we do, broken and covered with green gunk!!””
That phrase “green gunk” is exactly right to describe an encrustation I have been wondering how to shift from an old ebay flute! Jon c, I wonder if you’d be so kind as to let me know what is best for shifting said gunk? While I am saving up for this Wallis ( wistful sigh)
Thanks,
Fabien
\
Hi,
I use a ultrasonic cleaner, with ammonia, then I buff them on a buffing wheel. It is highly toxic stuff!
Thank you Jon c I had not heard of an ultrasonic cleaner, but many are to be had on ebay at all prices and I shall add one to my workshop. Must take this chance to say how much I appreciate your generous expertise, and that of other chiffpersons, as I am often here getting info about my flute enthusiasm. Many thanks
Fabien