Well, I recently picked up an old Fentum, figuring I could get my feet wet when it comes to keys and restoration work. It seems to have some potential, but I’m curious about a couple things. The intonation of the B and A are way sharp (20 to 50 cents). Is this just an old flute quirk I’ll have to get used to or could some repair issue be at play? Could a super-glued crack on the barrel be the cause?
Just so folks know where I’m coming from, I’ve been playing a Ward derlin since January. I have to say I’m impressed with how focused I can get the tone on the Fentum, even though the Ward has more power.
Its an old flute and if its out of tune in one way or another its not going to change any unless you get it rebored, when you get finished with all the other repairs, find a violin player and play a few tunes together and see if you can lip these notes into tune, playing with a violin player is the best way to hear if you are in tune, (moreso than any other instrument).
Check the position of the cork, it should be about 11/16 from the center of the tonehole, also if any of the lower pads like the Eb or the F or G# are not seated right it will cause the upper notes to be out of tune.
Does the flute have a tuning slide? If it does, then with it pulled out a little more you could bring the A more in tune, and the other notes would be a little flat. Then it is a matter of blowing the other notes in tune. If it is just the A, then you can put a little sealing wax in the offensive tone hole on the upper side. this will flatten the note and not damage the flute. The barrel crack shouldn’t effect the tuning, it would effect the bottom notes volume.
Good luck!
Jon
I play a Fentum myself. It is a cocus, eight-key flute made in 1849 or 1850 by Francis Fentum. Both the A and B have cork insets to improve tuning and intonation. This was done before I got the flute ( it was restored sometime in the 19 eighties).
I use an Olwell head joint though (it also came with the flute).
It plays very well with its own head joint but plays great with the Olwell head joint. It has wide silver decorative bands and would definitely play like a Rudall.
A lot of Rudall contemporaries made exceptionally fine flutes.
Hey, good to hear there’s another Fentum owner out there! Thanks for the idea of the cork inserts. Not sure why I hadn’t thought of that before–I’ve done it a number of times on some old saxophones. Sounds like our flutes are pretty similar. I’m not sure if mine is rosewood or cocus though. It’s got those wide bands. Would you happen to have any pictures of yours? I’d like to see how much cork are in those tone holes.
I’ll be ordering some pads and sheet cork today to get going on the bulk of the work. Using Jon C.'s suggestion of a compromise tuning has helped a bit. I’m able to get the A’s and B’s better in tune, but it is still a struggle. If I can get everything working smoothly, I may eventually get a new headjoint for it from Terry McGee.