I’ve been playing a recently purchased, secondhand Tom Aebi 8-key flute. Maybe 10-12 years old, I’m not sure. Love the tone and playability, although I’ve been a little frustrated with the low C# and C foot keys (see other thread here). No major problems with the flute, it plays well in both octaves.
However, in trying to make sure there aren’t any tiny leaks, because this is my first keyed Irish flute and all this “leaky” stuff is new to me. I’ve been testing each section with suck-and-blow tests. One of the things I noticed is the headjoint leaks just a tiny bit at the end cap, with a strong suck test. I tried sealing the end cap at the head joint with electrical tape, and it still leaked. Then I tried sealing the adjusting thread poking out the end, and that stopped it. Okay, so the stopper is leaking just a tiny bit. Maybe not enough to cause problems but I think the headjoint shouldn’t leak at the cap, right?
I’m used to a big fat cork stopper in my Windward keyless D flute. This one is different:
http://ptjams.com/mb/img/flutes/Aebi-stopper-01.jpg
http://ptjams.com/mb/img/flutes/Aebi-stopper-02.jpg
I’ve read some old posts here on C&F about how Tom changed his stopper design, and I think this is the newer one? The face of the stopper is a silver or brass disk. Behind that is a narrow slot where you can see a bit of thread (?) poking up that looks like it was meant to be in that slot. And then some other material behind that. Has anyone heard of a threaded stopper like this? I’m thinking I could try adding some more thread, if this is how it’s designed, but I’m not sure what to do here.
Anyone who has experience with this particular stopper, please chime in. It’s almost tight enough, just needs a little more contact with the headjoint barrel. I thought about just adding a wrap of plumber’s Teflon tape around that thin stopper disk, but I’ve read that this isn’t a good idea in some cases, and could use some advice on that idea.