In London this week so I made my way to Tony Bingham’s shop, within walking distance of where I’m staying.
He had a pile of flutes and let me play whatever I wanted. But nothing grabbed me. Some needed a lot of repair (bad cracks, missing keys) and he was selling them “as is.” None were by famous makers, though. He had an English flute c. 1840 that was probably the best of the lot, for 300 pounds, but the cross-fingered C-natural was very sharp, and the overall sound wasn’t as good as my borrowed Murray (which I have admittedly left at home for fear of cracking; I’m traveling with my M&E).
There was another English flute with maker’s name on it but not one I’ve ever heard of and can’t think of now (began with a “W”). It had two head joints, for some reason. One sounded fine, the other rendered the flute unplayable for some reason. It had keys for the low C# and C. No price on it. I’m a bit curious and may go back.
If anybody has any advice, I’m here for a couple more days!
Sorry, neither of those Ws is ringing a bell. I’m kicking myself. I went prepared to take notes but since I didn’t like any of the flutes as much as my Murray I didn’t write anything down. And I probably won’t go back.
Met an English guy here whose parents are Irish. He’s got his father’s flute, that he doesn’t play. I was afraid to ask what it was! Potentially too upsetting.
could be a Wylde.
If so, likely a pretty good flute worth saving since he was one of the key makers for Rudall & Rose before going off on his own.
However, he often marked his flutes as: “Wyle/from Rudall & Rose”
Interesting eBay flute.
Odd, though, the mark shows"Wylde/London"
but Wylde usually marked his flutes as “Wylde/from Rudall & Rose/London” so I’m not sure about this one.
Too, the foot keys are different than what Wylde normally made. However, it might be an earlier model.
Interesting nonetheless.