My Sweetheart flute is really flat. Yes, I do play it with the mouth piece rolled in some, but rolling it out really doesn’t change it. Does anyone else have the same problem, and were you able to fix it by sending it back to have it shortened or something? Thanks!
I used to own a Sweetheart rosewood flute which had the same problem. It also had an embouchure hole which was smaller than most flutes, and which I thought was restricting the tone. I opened up the embouchure hole a little, and this sharpened up the flute and improved the tone. I later sold the instrument to a well-known whistle player.
You would probably want to get the modification done by a flute maker or repairer (maybe by Ralph Sweet). The options would be to shorten one of the joints, or to enlarge the embouchure hole if it is small.
Dave Copley
Loveland, Ohio
Thanks! When I called Sweetheart flutes, they seemed convinced the flutes were all in tune, but they were willing to try and do something about it, so I guess I’ll send it back to them…