I have a nice used Seery large hole Pratten. Sounds great, honks, barks and plays well between octaves and friends. However, the bore looks unpolished in areas and the tone holes are not under-cut.
Should I follow the “if it ain’t broke; don’t fix it” axiom? Or, should I VERY carefully under-cut the tone holes and/or polish the bore. If I were to proceed, I was figuring on using ultra fine steel wool for the polish job.
My thinking is that these mods might improve responsiveness without altering the tone.
Take it from someone who’s experimented with an inexpensive Lark in the Morning flute–you start messing with the tone holes and the bore, you will completely change the flute. I actually consulted with Skip Healy in person about this topic–a great idea: talk to an expert before doing anything or have the expert do it, preferably the original flute maker. You can make modifications that don’t permanently alter the flute by using blue tack or tape on the holes.
If it plays great, don’t mess with it. Slight, miniscule modifications can make huge differences.
Undercutting the tone holes is going to effect the intonation of the instrument.
I debated whether to put in my 2 cents given the previous comments, but since the statements do not mention why one might not want to undercut I thought it important to give a reason.
I agree that you shouldn’t start messing with something that works well! My Seery seemed to have been oiled when I first got it, so I ocassionally oiled the bore. That made a subtle but noticeable difference in the way it played.
If it works, don’t muck with it. Wthout experience you run the risk of ruining it.
I want to see scientific proof that a polished bore translates into a better flute. Have yet to - and most claims are just repeating the opinions of others going all the way back to Rockstro.
I find that a little bit of matte finish gives a flute a little more resistance which may be a good thing. Again, if it works well, acceot that and don’t try to improve it unless you want to risk ending up with firewood.
I’m glad to see Casey chime in. My Burns flute has a less than polished bore, and I always wondered about that. It plays like a dream, so I’d never even consider smoothing it, but I always wondered. The proof, it seems, is in the pudding. And how can you get any pudding if you don’t eat your meat?
I understand that regularity becomes more important with older flutes.
So gluing a dime to the cork did what? Maybe I could handle that. I would like to thank you all for all the good info. As I stated in my initial question; “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”; seems to make good sense.
Rest assured I will not alter one Delrin molecule. The last thing I would want is to change the sound. Cheers, Cyril.
Seriously, try the Olive Oil! A thick liberal coating will smooth out the bore an effect the tone. If you don’t like it, just scrub the flute out with warm soapy water.
The dime on the cork, will improve the response and brighten the tone a bit. You can also paint the cork-face with nail-polish or supper glue (Just don’t put it back in your flute till it dries! ).
These are simple flute acoustic experiments that are “reversible” if you don’t like the results.
I would like to thank you all for all the good info. As I stated in my initial question; “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”; seems to make good sense.