I just bought this great flute at an estate sale. It sounds absolutely heavenly. Can anyone help me place its orgin - i.e., where it came from/when it was made/who made it?
As far as I can tell, and I looked it over carefully, there are no maker’s marks. The lowest note it plays is B flat, with all holes closed. There is a crack in the headjoint, but as it is fully lined and does not affect the embouchure hole, it plays just fine. The lining appears to be copper, but the socket into which the tuning slide fits is silver-colored, so it was probably nickel plated. The wood is nice and dark, with no light spots, so is some kind of black wood; it has a dark red sheen in bright light. The rings are silver-colored metal, as are the four keys, which have nice tight (copper?) springs. The pads are still nice and tight, although obviously quite old; the tone arms are pointed and nicely curved.
Any help would be most appreciated!
Thanks!
The flute is probably German, made in the late 1900’s. It is a band instrument. The liner is brass and the keys are Nickel silver, or “German silver” it is a form of white Brass that contains no silver. The wood is probably Madagascar ebony.
Looks like a nice little flute.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for the info!
It pretty much confirmed what I suspected, and now I feel so smart!
It’s very responsive too, so I can actually play it in tune. Now I just have to learn to play written music as if it were on a bass clef and add four sharps
Hi Jack!
Oh, you’re so far away, you’ll NEVER get to see it! HA!
Just come to Riley’s Hat practice on Wednesdays, alternately at my house or at Peddler’s Daughter (this week at Peddler’s).
