Hey all,
Can anyone help me with identifying the possible origins of this flute? It appears to be the “Meyer system”, possibly Nach Meyer? Anyone able to point towards possible manufacture year range, country of origin, or maker?
There are no markings. It plays best around A=430, but can be brought up to A=440 with the slide in all the way. It has 10 keys which appear to be nickel silver, with leather pads.
The head cork was dry and crumbling, so I replaced that. The tenon cork similarly was not sealing, so I replaced it with waxed hemp. I also replaced most of the key pads as most were leaking. I can get all keys to play except the low B.
Overall, not a bad flute considering I paid less than $100 for it!
Scale and some tunes: https://youtu.be/2NplRYiQFaw
Probably a German “Nach Meyer”, i.e. in the style of Meyer. 1880s - 1910s (appx)
Thousands were made, most play pretty poorly; some are okay. It’s cool that you have the case in fairly good shape.
Check for a signature or logo in the wood.
http://www.originalflutes.com/german-flutes/nach-meyer-flutes.html
This will get you started:http://www.oldflutes.com/catalogs/sears/index.htm It is from Rick Wilson´s Historical Flute Pages.
These instruments were all over the place for quality, and following Sear´s ¨Good, Better, Best¨ merchandising scheme, you got what you paid for them. You may have got one of their better ones, and seem not to have paid too much for it.
Having said that, they are not much in demand for today´s Irish Flute market.
Bob
Interesting! Thank you both. Looking at the House on Earth and Sears catalogs, because this flute is a 10 key it seems to be the second-to-highest priced flute on the lists.
Not planning to sell it – it’s a fun, relatively quiet flute.