Years ago I had tried out a Flute made by Glen Schultz. He of course is known for his Whistles, But I believe he made a number of Flutes at one point. Does anyone have one and if so what do you think of them?
Ben Shaffer
There’s one on eBay at present - is that what’s impelled your query? Afraid I don’t know anything about them save for Shultz’s general reputation.
Rare those are.
Pancelticpiper has one.
In fact I saw it last night as he was sitting next to me in session. It’s strongly built with a nice little ivory inset on the crown. The emb is rather small. Smaller than the smallish round R&R for reference. I didn’t get the chance to play it though it certainly had a great sound. The only complaint he gave was that usual Cnat alternate fingerings were not as useful finding that OXOOOO worked the best. Hopefully he will check in and give us a full report.
I had one of Glenn’s flutes for several years. It was the first flute I bought; I believe it was from his last batch. He was kind enough to send me two, one of cocobolo, one of Honduran rosewood. I kept the coco, which I thought was far and away the better flute. When it was young, it was one of the prettiest flutes I’ve seen, but the coco darkened considerably and I could barely discern the lovely grain after a few years.
His flutes were nominally based on a Rudall and Rose model, however they definitely had his spin on them. They’re a narrow bore, I think around 18.5 mm in the head, with less than “normal” taper, around 12.5-13 mm at the narrowest. However, they have large toneholes and also quite a stretch. (In the end I sold it primarily because I was having hand issues.) I found the playing much more like a Pratten-style flute than a Rudall-style flute. I had problems with the lowest notes and with octave flipping, which for me are much more common with Pratten-style flutes. The sound was wonderful when I hit it right – easily modulated between loud and soft, pure and dirty.
Damn – I had a few tunes played on it loaded on Clips and Snips, but they were stored on my old internet accound, so they’re gone. I’ll see if I can dig them up and put them on Box.
I think that’s the one that is currently available on e-Bay. I suspect that Ben is not the only one of us watching it.
Best wishes.
Steve
Based on Aanvil’s description and the one on ebay, I suspect Glenn’s design changed somewhat between when that flute was made and when mine was. For example, my embouchure hole was 11.5 mm by 10.1 mm (cf 11.7 by 9.9 for an Olwell Rudall and 11.5 by 10.3 for an Olwell Nicholson).
Yes that’s mine and I did take it down to the session to see how it measured up soundwise against other flutes (luckily it was an all-flute session for a while).
It’s a curious design in a way: small embouchure but larger fingerholes that one might expect given the embouchure size.
The embouchure (crudely measured with a ruler) 11.25mm x 9mm.
The bore (likewise crudely measured) 18.5mm ID at the top of the body joint, 13mm ID at the bottom of the lower joint. (There’s no footjoint.)
It’s a nice player. Surprisingly big sound given the small embouchure. Volume is more what you would expect from a Rudall & Rose rather than from a Pratten.
The intonation is perfect when checked against an electronic tuner. The Cnat is a bit odd, as the fingering oxx ooo that I usually use is very flat, oxo xxx is much better but oddly oxo ooo is best (at least the way I’m blowing it… keep in mind that I haven’t played flute for several years).
When I was playing flute regularly it would take my “lip” about a week to get the most from a new flute. I don’t want to play this Schultz very much because it’s been sitting unplayed for several years. I lightly oiled it and have played it for very short spells every day or two.
By the way I posted a “FS” post about this flute and about the Ralph Sweet Eb flute on the flute forum here but I don’t see it now.
[ There’s no recent record of that post. - Mod ]
So I’m glad that this thread is bringing some attention to that Schultz. Thanks, Richard
Very strange, the thread was titled something like
FS Glenn Schultz D flute and Sweetheart Eb flute
and for whatever reason it never made it… it was on the day I listed the flutes on Ebay or the day after, in other words about five days ago.
Anyhow there’s one day left on the Schultz and the Sweetheart.
Sun Jan 27, 2008 12:06 pm
Sweetheart Eb flute questions
Thu Aug 12, 2010 6:21 am
SOLD - Aulos Baroque, Sweet Ren. Flute and Sweet Eb Piccolo