Tweaking my New E-bay Flute

Irish Flute
1

I had Santa order me a flute from an importer–the only possible way I could get wooden flute at this time. It’s a beautiful rosewood 8-hole, with a tuning slide, threaded tenons, lined headjoint, conical bore and is nicely balanced in the hand. :slight_smile:

I knew what I was getting in to, though, and sure enough, there were a couple of minor problems that had to be dealt with… :astonished:

First, there was no cork–none–on the endcap. A piece of scrap wood had been inserted instead, and was just not doing the job. :really:

Secondly, the foot joint was half a step sharp, from F# down to the low D :cry:

I didn’t panic, though. Pioneer whistle tweakers and champion pvc flute builders from the C&F forum inspired me to improvise, adapt and overcome. :thumbsup:

Fix #1 was a new cork. Too easy, really. Once I got the wooden plug out, I discovered that the endcap itself was pre-drilled with a small brass fitting for an adjustable cork assembly. One polished-off bottle of wine and washer/nut/bolt later, I had my new cork assembly in. :stuck_out_tongue:

Fix #2 was a little more creative. I grabbed a small piece of 3/4" pvc stock, cut and finished a 1 cm slice, and slid it over the footjoint tenon before assembling the flute. Voila’–flute is instantly in tune! :laughing: Wo0t! The pvc even looks like it’s meant to be there–actually adds to the appearance of the flute, so that’s a bonus! :smiley:

Now, I’m in the process of breaking it in–very carefully :slight_smile: ! Looks like I got lucky! My thanks to the many folks who have gone down the road before, and have posted their experiences, tips, and tricks! :thumbsup:

2

Congratulations! Sounds like you received one of the “good” ones.

I think Rod Cameron has taken these and tweaked them into good players, so you’re in good company.

Eric

3

Sounds very cool. Can you post some pictures of the thing now? I’m interested in seeing the pvc slide solution.

Cheers and best of luck!

4

Where I live, saying “paki” is like saying “nigger”. Are you sure that’s the impression you wnat to be conveying?

5

Where I live, saying “paki” is like saying “nigger”. Are you sure that’s the impression you wnat to be conveying?

Simon, if I was the type of person who would knowingly throw racial epithets around, I’d be a member of another forum, with a decidedly different agenda.

Where I live, the term “Paki” is used on a popular web forum to describe cheap E-bay flutes of unknown origin. It has been established that many of these come from the country of Pakistan. That is the meaning that I had attached to the word itself, and hence my useage of the word.

To my knowledge, this is the first mention on this forum of the word “Paki” being considered a word that would leave a negative “impression.” Additionally, I live near and work in the city of Los Angeles, and in my profession, I’ve heard them all–and had them directed at me, with feeling, simply for doing my job. The word “Paki” was never amoung them.

Nevertheless, the responsibility is mine. I offer my most humble apologies to any members of this forum whom I may have offended.

Regrets,
John

6

Simon is right. It is a common slur against anybody who appears to be of Indo-Asian ethnicity in the UK and throughout the Commonwealth where that population is a more significant minority than in the US.

Though I’m sure you meant no harm, John since you were referring to a product and not a person. Still, the word is a bit “charged.”

But that’s great about your success with the flute. I look forward to further posts on your progress.

Cheers,
Aaron

7

I’m mortified. My usual litmus test of the vernacular is if I’d be concerned to say something with my family present. I knew of nothing negative surrounding this particular word, other than its use to describe cheap-o flutes. I have edited my original post and tag line. Again, my apologies.

8

I had no idea that Paki had become a forbidden word. I have never before heard of anyone that have been offended by it.
It’s a fact that most of these flutes comes from Pakistan. Paki is short for Pakistani. Where do we draw the line?
And besides, I have never before heard anyone here use the word in terms of describing a persons ethnicity. Or is it that we have started thinking about what we call our flutes? Are there racial differences between them? Should they all be equal?

It might be good that someone raises the issue, but I really don’t think you can blaim anyone for using a word which has been wide spread to describe a certain kind of flute because it is used in a bad mannor in your neck of the woods.
I mean, all flute porn aside, somewhere we have to draw a line where we make a difference between flutes and humans. “Paki” in the flute world is not a word we use to describe a group of people in a bad way. It’s just a flute!

Cheers

9

I’m certainly not blaming anyone, nor ascribing any racist motive.

However, it’s probably worth knowing that in some parts of the world–Canada, the UK and other commonwealth nations–which recieved substantial immigration from northern india, bangladesh and pakistan, the term has come to be one of abuse.

For instance, in the bad old days of Thatcherite england, “paki-bashing” was a major activity of the racist end of the skinheads.

~~

However, this is a distraction from john’s triumphant post about his new flute, and how he’s managed to make a player out of it.

When you get a chance, john, I’d be interested in seeing a pic of the plastic extension you made for the foot–I’m having trouble picturing it.

10

I hereby vote we call flutes of such make “Stans.” It’s pretty neutral, and even sounds a bit cuddly (since these flutes often wind up as sort of stuffed toys anyway). :wink:

Congrats on your tweaks; I too am curious about the PCV idea!

11

Leave it to you, Cathy to diffuse the situation (can I say diffuse?) with verbiage and a chuckle! Ha ha! Stans! :laughing: I’ll second that one-good job Cathy.

John, congrats on your new “Stan”! It just shows that where there’s a will do make something happen, it does-good for you too!

12

People who use the word ‘nigger’ will be pleased to learn
it’s like saying ‘paki.’

13

My name’s Stan and i really don’t want to associated with cheap Pakistani flutes.

If it’s a Pakistani flute, call it a Pakistani flute. And then no one gets the huff. :stuck_out_tongue:

14

It’s a bit of a stretch to get in a huff about using
the abbreviation ‘paki’ in the context of talking about
flutes from Pakistan. Pretty plainly an innocent abreviation
in context, that conveys no impression of racism or
ethnic hatred–unless we have a PC axe to grind.

I’ve spent lots of time in the UK, known Asians there
who complained about ‘Paki-bashing.’ But they didn’t
object to the abbreviation ‘Paki,’ which is why they
used it. Jews would not complain about ‘kyke bashing.’

One thing that saddens me about PC stuff about words
is that it 's way too easy on racists and bigots. Feminists
used to complain that calling a woman a ‘chick’ was like
calling someone a nigger. The idea that calling a woman
a ‘tough nigger’ is like calling her a ‘tough chick’ is way too
easy on racists. The idea that calling Jews ‘kykes’ is like
calling Appalachians ‘hillbillies’ is way too easy on
anti-semites.

15

Some good points, Jim. I agree that making mountains out of molehills doesn’t do a lot to ease racial tension. By making something tabu, we just give it more negative power.

But there are times when I’m comfortable with the risk of offending people and other times when the risk doesn’t seem worth it. If the bigots benefit from my attempt at politeness, am I contributing to the circle of hate?

16

At the risk of being post-structural, I’ll chime in.

It seems to me that everyone is doing their best to be egalitarian and respectful while showing healthy persnickitiness about language. That’s why I love you guys. :smiley:

In my part of Canada, there is an extremely small Pakistani community. The predominant south asian group here is people of Punjabi descent, who are (mostly) of the Sikh religion. My indo-canadian friends find it awkward to be referred to as ‘paki’ or ‘hindu’, and those terms are working their way out of the vernacular here: ‘Hindu’ is just plain innacurate, and ‘Paki’ carries a racist sting along with its innacuracy. I’m not a big fan of absolute taboos, but contextual good manners are always nice. If these words are polite in your neck of the woods, then fill yer boots. I’d rather not see them here, but I have no say in the matter.

Actually, I’d rather people here felt free to write. Forget my delicate constitution on the matter.

BTW, which is easier to make playable for ITM: a bad antique German flute, or a flute from Pakistan? I’ve been tempted by the Empire Brass ABS model, sick puppy that I am.

17

Hmm… All this talk of PC kind of makes me want to paki my bagi and take a taxi to Cincinnati.

Seriously, folks, it’s been my experience that offense is best found where you’re looking for it. The original statement was made innocently. I’ve never heard of South-Asians being called a paki, although I’ve heard many other, much worse things. My personal opinion (and worth what it cost ya) is that folks should generally live and let live, and that most of the PC problem is because people are wearing much too thin a skin. I wear glasses and have since I was three. I’ve been called four-eyes, coke-bottle-kid, and lots more over the years, because of something I couldn’t do anything about. Did I become bitter and carry around a chip on my shoulder because of it? No. I did what my dad advised… Learn to ignore it. Insults are tossed around to get a rise out of someone. If the rise doesn’t come, then the insult has no effect and the insulter is left looking like an idiot. My advice (again worth what it cost ya) is to follow my wise Dad’s advice: “Get over it.”

Additionally from what I’ve been able to dig up on the internet, the offensive use of the word is chiefly a British thing. One such definition can be found here. So the chances are that the original poster had no idea that he was insulting anybody.

There, I’ve probably ruffled enough feathers to give people something to talk about for days.

Happy blankety-blank New Year. Sheesh.

Grumble, mumble pc bullsh*t, mutter blah blah blah.

And another thing! Congratulations on tweaking that “Made-somewhere-else-than-the-western-world-by-less-than-gifted-craftsmen-of -indeterminant-nationality-and/or-ethnic-history” made flute! :smiley:

18

Isn’t that in itself an infuriating (at least to me) PC attempt at avoiding saying ‘jesus’ lest someone should be annoyed at using the name in vain?

19

Chiffed - isn’t that Empire Brass flute the ebonite model with keys? If so, it’s not really a D flute like we think of it…you only get a D by having the bottom tone holes (on a standard flute the C# and C) closed.

I’d personally tweak an antique german flute myself, and there are plenty that sell on ebay that look to have good potential (I watched a nice looking, crack free 4 key sell for about $260). I think the German flutes, while not perfect, were made to actually play. The Germans played them, and Americans who bought them from the Sears catalogues played them.

In contrast, can anyone provide evidence that the Pakistani and Indian made flutes (not bansuri, but those ebonite flute) are widely played and respected in their countries of origin? Pure export items, not used by the locals, sound like a bad choice to me.

Eric

20

Well, there you go. I’ve insulted myself without even knowing it. Now I get to have a talk with my son about breaking the Third Commandment. Never even heard the word growing up. Consider it changed to “Gee-Willakers,” or as my wife is fond of saying “Poodle-Toots” (she informs me that the term is, indeed, hyphenated).