FS William Hall & Son 8-key flute with additional Chris Norman headjoint

Irish Flute
1

I’ve decided to sell my William Hall & Son 8-key flute in cocuswood with German silver keys and fittings. This flute was fully overhauled by Chris Norman in late 2021, who also made an additional head for it in stained mopane with a sterling silver liner (fully lined). The overhaul included:

  • clean & refinish all keys, bore and exterior
  • clean, adjust, repad, and restore all keys
  • replace cork on tenons (at my request), except the lower joint on the upper body which was rethreaded because
  • restore cork on flute body for key stops
  • fill and blend low C block (stabilized a previous repair)
  • reamed 0.5 mm from the footjoint to improve the resonance of the low notes (E to low C)

This flute has a smallish bore and medium holes. It is quite powerful and resonant, especially when coupled with the new headjoint made by Chris, which plays more easily and with less effort than the original headjoint. (The original headjoint plays well too, but it requires a firmer embouchure.) Two different voices for a single flute :slight_smile:

The flute plays very well all the way down to low C, with very good intonation. Like most American antique flutes, it plays at A=440 without any flat foot syndrome. I only added a small amount of epoxy to flatten the B, which was a bit sharp. (It can be easily undone if the new owner so wishes.)

As you can see on the last two photos, this flute has the usual cracks in the barrel and (original) headjoint; the latter doesn’t go through the embouchure hole. These cracks were repaired before I got the flute and have been stable.

I’m asking $2,800 USD + shipping (+ transfer fees if any). I’m happy to answer any questions.

Some photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjALVQv

2

I’ve had several of these American flutes, which have all been consistently good 8-key flutes. Easy to play with quick articulations. As flutern says, they have good tuning. Also, they play easily to the high G note, so they are a great choice for playing other genres like classical or brazilian music.

For me, they aren’t as loud as some of the English flutes, but Eric (Jayhawk) was able to get a powerful reedy tone from the one I sold him; perhaps because he has a strong reedy embouchure. In terms of hole size, they are equivalent to a medium-ish hole Rudall.

Regarding a flat B note…
I have found that using this fingering - “XOX OOO” improves the B note on my R&R which has a slightly sharp B, and it is quite easy to adapt your fingers. For that matter, playing A with “XXO OXX k” can result in a more resonant note because it provokes the high-E harmonic. Both of those adaptations result in nice poppity rolls.

I wish I could try this one with the Chris Norman head joint. That would be a very interesting experience.

3

Here is a nice discussion from a couple years back on these American Flutes:

https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/firth-flute-6-key-demonstration-and-rudolf-tutz/104734/1

4

Thanks for the link! For reference, holes #4 and #5 on this flute are 7.7 and 9.2 mm, respectively.

5

They can for sure honk, and the tuning is usually quite good! I’ve had three over the years, one F&P, an E. Baack and an FHP. All excellent flutes.

Eric