I seem to have an abundance of flutes and so I’ve decided to sell my extra blackwood Chris Wilkes headjoint, instead of letting a great flute headjoint sit idle.
I bought this headjoint from a fellow chiffer in 2003, and played it on my Gilles Lehart keyed flute for a couple of years, which really improved the tone for me.
It was made in 2000 as a headjoint for a custom original Rudall & Rose flute. It is lined and exhibits every quality of meticulous craftsmanship that Wilkes is well-known for. It has been well cared for – and includes a hand-turned screw mechanism and endcap!
It has a classic Rudall embouchure, which when you hit that stream, takes a flute to a new level of tone. To order a new flute from Chris, or have him make a custom headjoint takes I don’t know how many years now.
I’d like to see this go to someone who will use it and love it, rather than make loads of money.
The barrel opening measures 23.5mm across and 27.5mm deep. It has fit, with some wrapping adjustment, Lehart, Wylde and Rudall and Rose flutes.
Offers in the region of £200 please plus actual shipping costs.
Gosh… Thanks to those who have PM’d me. Given the amount of interest I’ve had all at the same time, it’s impossible to be fair … so I’m going to put the headjoint on ebay:
Item number: 7420882109
Good luck everyone - I’ll post the item number, pay the fees amd leave it to you. For those of you who may not have used ebay before, it offers both buyer and seller a good level of consumer protection.
Well the headjoint went for 327 British pounds!!! I put in a mad bid at the last minute thinking I could use the headjoint on a Martin Doyle keyless I have (the headjoint & barrel of which split all the way top to bottom right through the embouchure too in the Swedish winter of 1998).
Chris Wilkes headjoints & flutes are always worth having, they are simply the best - great instruments. The new owner won’t be disappointed. All the best Pamela by the way thanks for putting it up - It would have been an interesting journey for the headjoint though, from Herefordshire to Shanghai to Scotland and then to Sweden (if I’d been lucky)
“How does this late bidding thing work? Nothing happened for days, and then … bang.”
I usually keep a low profile and wait until the last 2 minutes and then let fly with an outrageous, over the top amount, and hope for the best - works sometimes unless there’s some mad Chris Wilkes head joint collector out there who’s even more mental
