FS William Hall & Son 8 key flute

Irish Flute
1

Hello all.

I have a William Hall & Son flute for sale. This is a nice antique American made flute in very good condition. It may be of particular historical interest to US collectors, but would serve anyone well as a flute for Irish music (or indeed other music).

The flute is cocus or rosewood, and has eight silver keys. It comes in what appears to be the original case. Each joint other than the barrel has the following mark which apparently dates the flute in the 1840s-1850s:

WILLIAM HALL & SON
239 BROADWAY
N.YORK

It’s written up by Terry McGee on his website at http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/Hall.htm . As Terry says, it resembles the medium holed flutes made by R&R.

The flute is light, pretty and nicely made. The woodworking is well finished, and the key work and rings are stylish without being overly ornate. The ‘chimney’ depth of the embouchure hole is, I think, a little deeper than some flutes, which adds to the good tone.

I have owned the flute since 2003. A previous owner seemed to have done some refurbishment on the head but not the body – but this is not particularly noticeable, and I’m fairly sure it is a full original. It had been recently repadded when I bought it and I haven’t had any pad problems to date. Someone had done a little amateur fiddling with the embouchure hole. Terry McGee fixed this for me by slightly recutting the leading edge – he did a nice job and the embouchure is quite OK. He also replaced the cork.

I played the flute successfully for Irish music for a number of years. The flute plays with nice tone and good volume, and has good intonation given its vintage. It is not a particularly demanding finger stretch. At the moment though I’m giving another flute a go for a while and I don’t think it is appropriate to have this flute sitting around not being played so much.

The price I paid in 2003 was quite reasonable, and I am just looking to cover that original cost now without allowance for profit or inflation.

Please e-mail serious enquires to mcstone@dodo.com.au . I can send other photos in addition to those on Terry’s site.

regards

Michael Stone

2


Looks like a nice flute! I have one just like it that I am working on, except it has been to the pub one time to much!

3

Cheers Jon! I just couldn’t figure out how to do the photo thing! MS

4

Hi all. In light of the recent review of the present state of the C&F Flute Forum keyed flute market by neilC, I thought it might be wise to post my price as well.

In 2003 the total of purchase price plus the cost of the small amount of work Terry McGee did was Australian $2,300. I’m looking to recover this amount now, or thereabouts. As I figure it on todays’ forex rates, that equates to around US$1,980 or Euro 1,375.

regards

MS