I note that Murray headjoints come lined and unlined. Mine is unlined.
I wonder whether lined are uncommon. Any opinions as to which sounds
better, etc?
(of course my flute has a slide, but most of the headjoint is wood alone.)
I was trying to find this out a while back. Where did you read/hear that some of his flutes have lined heads? (I don’t doubt you; I’m just wondering where you were able to find this out.)
Well, mine is unlined, and I saw and briefly played one at the St. Louis Tional that
had a lined head. My speculation (nothing more) is that these are less common.
i tried lined and unlined murrays, and place order for unlined, although lined are more common choice IMO.
difference between unlined and lined head was described in previous posts about that topic.
unlined have more woodier, natural sound, and lined have maybe more focused tone.
about power in tone between unlined and lined head i think it same, although general opinion is that lined head have more power.
but, when i listened michael clakson live,his tone from unlined murray was big, fat tone.
if you search in you tube with keywords- michael clarkson san benedetto in alpe you will find few clips where he played his unlined murray, although his new boxwood murray is with lined head.
as i know,barry kerr used to play unlined murray, but recently he switch to another flute.
marin
thank you. Anyone know which Harry B. is playing on ‘as carelessly I did stray’?
Jim, mine was the lined one you played in St Louis. I was wondering about that too. I got mine used and didn’t know the former owner but maybe Sam made it specifically for someone who wanted the head lined. It would be interesting to play an unlined one and compare. I may be at the Tionol this year - if I am let’s compare! 
rose
Listen to Michael Hynes ripping it up on his unlined Murray…makes you wonder what the liner was supposed to be for.
Rob
The lining is there for facilitating cracks, and keeping me employed!
I play an unlined Murray…beauty.
lol ! Good one! Was just going to mention that lined head joints have been known to crack because of the rate at which the wood moves in temperature changes in relation how the metal moves…
I like the sound of both…
Humidification or lack of it, for sure. As wood desorbs, it shrinks. With the lining - an unmoving metal barrier - to shrink inwardly against, let that shrinkage get to such a point, and pop. Crackola. Barrels seem to be typically the first to go.
I’m iffy on the temperature theory. I’m not sure but I seem to recall that it was either the very Casey Burns himself who conducted temperature extremes experiments on some sacrificial lined/unlined headjoints, or he reported someone else’s findings. It was a few years back. Anyway, the upshot was that temperature extremes seemed to be a non-event having no causality in cracking, which was very interesting and, frankly, altogether counterintuitve to me. I hope Casey will chime in to either verify this, or correct me of a hyperfertile imagination.
But here’s a true story: last session, a fellow borrowing a flute for a tryout must’ve had it in his car all day, because when I got my hands on it just after assembly it was literally as cold as ice. No cracks, no nothin’ (other than my own knee-jerk dismay). I would never be okay with such a thing unless there was no help for it on heaven or on earth, but it played just fine and no damage done. I dunno.
At last we have a Pooka, one that plays the flute!
'According to legend, the púca (Pooka) is a deft shape shifter, capable of assuming a variety of terrifying or pleasing forms, and may appear as a horse, rabbit, goat, goblin, or dog. No matter what shape the púca takes, its fur is almost always dark. It most commonly takes the form of a sleek black horse with a flowing mane and luminescent golden eyes. [2]
If a human is enticed onto a púca’s back, it has been known to give them a wild ride, though unlike a kelpie, which will take its rider and dive into the nearest stream or lake to drown and devour him/her, the púca will do its rider no real harm. The púca has the power of human speech, and has been known to give advice and lead people away from harm. Though the púca enjoys confusing and often terrifying humans, it is considered to be benevolent.’ wiki
Terry McGee…ovens & freezers
Yep, yep. McGee it is. Took me a while; you search better than I do.
My only defense is that for some reason I continue to confuse Burns and McGee when there’s no good reason to do so. My apologies to both.
Somethin’ about Dave Copely pouring boiling water into a headjoint, too! Man. These guy don’t mess around.
Casey is workin’ 
If you make it yer allowed to destroy it!
I think it’s really a matter of personal preference; in my case it has to do with how it feels to play. Both my Murrays are partially lined (with slides, like Jim’s) and I can’t imagine liking them any better. In fact, I must be used to partial linings – when I got this fine and handsome Olwell flute it came with an extra head because the previous owner was exploring getting a lined one. So I got to try both lined and partially-lined heads for a couple of months on the same flute; I played both in gigs, made other people listen, recorded myself playing the same tune on each head, etc.* There was some difference in sound but not huge; the real difference was in feel, and I ended up preferring the partially lined head and since then have never looked back.
That said, the previous owner had been leaning toward the lined one, so there you are.
*There was also a very slight difference in embouchure cuts, but very, very slight; to me the unlined’s blowhole appeared to be a shade smaller oval than the partially-lined’s.
well, my question about which sounds better is a bit silly, obviously.
I really want to know what different acoustical properties, if any, they gave the flute.
I sometimes compare the murray with the byrne rudall, which has a lined head and also a narrower
bore and smaller holes. Apples and oranges but interesting. I’ve tried to record a comparison
but it wouldn’t upload onto YouTube. May try again.
Thanks to all for the info. my impression remains that unlined Murrays outnumber lined.
Could you expand on this difference in feel, Cathy?
Glenn Watson words:
The lined head and polished bore will definitely improve response. The lined head will also increase the chance of cracking in the head this is why I usually only partially line the head.
Well, that is my instrument (8 keyed, blackwood and still waiting…)
We recently had a lively discussion about flute reviews which shed doubts on any comparison of flutes if the reviewer’s embouchure, amongst other things, is underdeveloped. Well how is this any less applicable in the case of un/lined heads?
To clarify, my question really is about the Murray in particular. I have a pretty good idea of the difference lined headjoints make in general. The unlined Murray flute has a perfectly lovely and interesting sound that seems to be pretty unique. So I wondered what happened to the sound when one adds a lined headjoint.
Here’s what the unlined Murray sounds like in my hands, anyway.