Hi everyone!
I have been shopping around and expanding my flute collection. I recently acquired a set of the Yamaha recorders (300 series, Sopranino all the way to Tenor). I like them pretty well. I also took a gamble and ended up winning an auction on a wooden alto recorder. I’m not sure who made it, but there is also a good chance (by a freak stroke of fortune) that a set including another alto, tenor and bass will end up in my possession.
The recorders are all labeled ‘Wesner-Superior’ and are marked as being made in West Germany. So I know that they definitely have some age on them. They’re all in good shape and play well. They have a dark orangey-brown color. I believe they were probably stained that color before the varnish was applied. They are of the Baroque Fingering variety and have cork joints. Does anyone have any information on these? Any ideas on who could have made them or when? The auction for the alto is ironically through someone who found it in Goodwill, and the set of three have been passed around from person to person because no one knew how to play them!
Any words of advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.
I can find anything on them, sorry. But in the final analysis all that really matters is what you think of them.
The goodwill auction alto recorder came in yesterday and it’s a dream. It was brand new, hadn’t been taken out of the box or anything. The paperwork and everything was inside. It retailed for $34.00 in the 1950’s (about $300 today, so the $16 purchase price was a steal!). There wasn’t a scratch or crack on it (a miracle seeing as how it is about 60 years old!). 440 pitch, decent scale… I’m oiling the bore and breaking it in gradually.
The other set of three recorders are still in my possession but it’s still in question whether or not I will get to keep them. They need some TLC (bore oiling, and corks refitted), but they’re still little gems.
You dog! I wondered who outbid me! I was afraid to go higher - I won one once that had a split in the windway blade.
Pat
Haha! How funny! Sorry, I just really wanted a matching set. The alto in the set of three I came to realize was in a condition that couldn’t be fixed. The body and foot were fine, but the headpiece was ruined (some idiot CARVED off the finish with a knife… I thought perhaps the windway was fine making it usable, but it wasn’t-- the tone was too spread). Seeing as how I will probably end up keeping that set of three (alto, tenor and bass), I really wanted to have a decent MATCHING alto. So… considering that I already had a butchered identical alto in my possession (that still played really well), I was willing to bid quite a bit more than I won it for.
There are still a LOT of really good flutes on there though. They just tend to be of the classical or plastic type…
The chinese dizi might be worth looking at though. I’m not planning on bidding on it at the moment. I just wonder about how worn the finish is and whether or not damage might be the reason it was donated. You can get membrane and adhesive fairly cheaply. So… who knows?
I bought a dizi from Goodwill a couple of years ago… When it arrived, I found out it was completely unplayable - longitudinal cracks that were not mentioned in the auction. With Goodwill, you may or may not get lucky - that’s why I never put in a high bid. Oh yeah, they offered to refund my money after I sent the flute back. I told them “no way I’m going to let you sell it to some other poor schmuck!” (or words to that effect) and I destroyed it (that was kinda fun, actually). They DID, however end up crediting me my money back. I have had a few experiences such as that with them and they are always very accommodating. Great to deal with, but be careful!
Are these splits repairable?
I have a warp in my old one, but it doesn’t seem to be troublesome - or at least not as troublesome as the rest of the recorder 