Hi all,
this is an “emergency” sale to fund a flute I’d like to get. If this flute is not sold in 6 days, I’ll have to withdraw it. It’s a great opportunity to get a great flute at a great price.
I have for sale a lovely antique flute in cocuswood with 8 nickel silver keys made by Scottish maker Thomas Glen around 1850. It comes with a half lined headjoint and barrel in blackwood made specifically for this flute by Sam Murray in March this year.
Thomas “MacBean” Glen is a big name in the Scottish bagpipe world: http://www.thebagpipeplace.com/museum/page257.html
And here’s Sam Murray’s website: http://www.murrayflutes.com/home-2.html
It has been my main flute since I bought it a year ago. With the original headjoint it has a very nice mellow sound, but it required quite some effort to be heard properly in session. This is the reason I decided to get a new one from Sam, and what a difference it made. It has now a very wide range of dynamics, going from mellow and lovely to strong and powerful, being at its best somewere in between. I tend to play more often with the second approach, and people have often commented about its great tone and loudness. Sam himself was very happy with it, and he’s usually very critical about flutes. Keep in mind that modern flutes with bigger holes and bores (such as Pratten style ones and some of the bigger Rudall style ones) are capable of being pushed more than this one. I’d say that it’s more of a “mellow power” than a “harsh power”. A great flute player from Cork commented favorably on how Rudall-y it sounded (he owned quite a few original Rudalls apparently). It served me very well and has been played in session every day (I’m living in Galway).
The holes are medium, which makes it very comfortable to the fingers and suitable for smaller hands. The bore is a bit smaller than average I think. It is also very light (I’ve tried some keyless flutes that were heavier), requires little air and it’s easy to blow (a beginner/intermediate player was surprised that he was able to play it well enough right away, as he usually needed more time to make some decent sound out of a flute he never tried).
Pads, cork and threads are all new. The original barrel has a repaired crack, the rest of the flute is in pristine conditions. All 8 keys work perfectly well. Bottom two keys (being metal on metal) work better with a drop of oil every once in a while.
When he made the new headjoint, Sam decided that a larger bore would make the flute louder and more flexible. This resulted in a barrel a bit larger than the original one, and to fit tightly on the body he had to add one more layer of thread to the tenon, so the original headjoint doesn’t fit anymore. If you wish to switch between the two, taking off one layer of thread takes a few seconds, and to put it back in place it takes a couple of minutes.
Tuning is good for an antique flute, with A being just a bit sharp and F# a bit flat, low D is spot on (and loud). With the original headjoint it’s in tune at 440hz with the slide opened about 1,5 cm, and with some lip (and maybe cork) adjustement it plays quite well in E flat (!) with the headjoint pushed all the way in. With the new headjoint it’s in tune with the slide opened about 5 mm.
It comes with a lovely wooden case made for it to fit both headjoints. The inside of the case was a bit of an experiment, I got it lined with this very nice shiny yellow velvet. I was aware that it was a bit of a risk, because being light in color it would have probably got dirty after some time, so it was attached with double sided tape, that it could be undone with not too much trouble. It did get a bit dirty, but it’s not too bad anyway.
I had in mind to sell it for more because I think it deserves it, but this being an “emergency” sale I’ve put the price down a bit. I’m asking 1400 euros + 25 euros of tracked worldwide shipping.
Here are two videos (first take without warming up, didn’t play it for two days because I’m testing in session the German flute I have also for sale):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yct5nCyxdFw&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrRnb3GDzCg&feature=plcp
And a few pictures (click to make it bigger):
Lorenzo
