I recently bought this lovely Firth, Hall & Pond boxwood flute, the only problem is that the flute is very out of tune with itself.
The problem is that the bottom D hasn’t the best of tone and as you go through the scale it gets sharper, by the time you start hitting C♯ it is at least a semitone out sometimes more.
I’ve tried various ideas like re-positioning the cork and moving the head on the tenon but nothing seems to get the thing any better in tune.
My conclusion is that I may have a bitsa (note the makers stamp), although there are repairs they seem well done and stable.
Does anyone have any better idea? Here are some pics.
There are no leaks, I tested for those on receipt of the flute and again before posting today, and again before this post, the flute is airtight.
One thing that does concern me is that one section has a different stamp to the others, which is clearly shown in the pics, and it is the notes produced from this section that are the problem.
Unless of course you want to play in a different key in which case the other piece is wrong
Hi,
Get a tuner where you can change from 440 to 452 and try the tuning there.
What is the cork setting in the head? the FH&P that I had was in very good tuning, so I am baffled, by your problem…
The stamping is correct, they didn’t put the address on all the sections.
Good luck!
Hi Jon
I’ve tried moving the cork both ways to the extremes and to an average which has had the obvious results of sharpening and flattening various notes and improving/making worse the tuning but still not enough to make the flute play in tune even with itself at any pitch or hz, though I will try your suggestion tomorrow, its a wee bit late to try here and now.
I am very puzzled, I understood F,H & P to be good on their tuning which is one reason I purchased the flute.
Thanks for clearing up the stamp query, I wondered if I had a few different bits cobbled together.
Iain
To build on Jon’s point, in the early 1800’s, flutes sometimes came with two heads. They were for different tunings, which makes absolutely no sense to me – a second left-hand section, yes, a second head, no. I have a Monzani with two heads, and the high-pitch head just isn’t in tune with itself. Maybe your FP&H had two heads and the surviving one wasn’t the one the body was optimized for.
I think first stop is the seller, I bought through ebay, though I doubt I’ll have much luck.
Just to try and clarify what’s happening.
The notes played on the left hand are nearly spot on tuning wise if the flute is Eb.
The notes played on the right hand are again nearly spot on if the flute is D, though bottom D sounds like i’m flutter tonging.
Maybe I just need to write some interesting tunes.
What’s going on at the tenon end of the headpiece? The wood changes colour here from the clear grain that’s in the rest of the flute. Is this a sign that this area has been reworked somehow?
There has been a repair in that area in the past and I also understand the wood has been cleaned and was gradually being re oiled.
I have now been in touch with the seller and they will take the flute back and give a refund, it’s a shame as its a very pretty flute but of little use the way it is at the moment.
Here is a photo of the Firth Hall & Pond that I used to have. Looks like a twin sister!
This one played best at 445 htz, but just required a little lipping or pulling out the head a little. It sure was a nice flute.
