A friend of a friend of a friend sent this to me to get the tenons re-corked, all I can find out is that it was made in Ireland and it’s about 10(?) years old. I could play Chinese whispers in the hope of finding out but it’s probably going to be quicker to ask here.
I’ve tried to show the distinguishing features in the photo:
The crown , that’s not an adjustable head cork. the "cork it’self is made from blackwood, lapped with cork.
Edit- the head is part lined.
The tenons are very thin and have nickel silver tips.
That’s the top end of the barrel , the female side of the tuning slide dosen’t extend into the head joint.
It’s a Pratten style flute.
It’s funny, but it has a lot of features that remind me of a Hamilton flute I used to know. Might it be worth checking with Hammy about the various sources of his inspiration?
Looks like a Hammy to me, as well, although I don’t know when he started marking them. My keyed Hammy from 2001 is stamped, a keyless from 1992 is not. There are differences in some of the section lengths when comparing his keyless vs. keyed. The end cap chasing appearance plus no adjuster looks like a Hammy, as do the silver tenon reinforcements, use of cork rather than thread, the partially-lined head, and the barrel. Your pic doesn’t show the other characteristics of the flute (foot, fingerholes, or embouchure), so can’t help confirm further. Pretty darned large holes? Very smooth bore? Long foot with the 2 vents? The Hammy possibility increases. Any s/n# inside the cap end of the headjoint?
My first reaction was Hammilton, I’ve only seen one up close about ten years ago , it was an Eb, looked old at the time and had his name on it.
There’s no lining visible in the top of the head.
Hopefuly you’ll get to see the holes in this pic. For comparison : on the right -one of my Rudals (oversized embouchure)
Centre : Hammilton?
Left: My S2 , loosely based on a (I think) RS Pratten I saw briefly about the same time as the Hammilton Eb, I deliberatly reduced the hole sizes.
The flutes are lying on top of the bag that held the mystery flute.
Yep, still thinking Hamilton. All holes and positions look about right. Hammy does the half-lined head. Not sure how long Hammy has been marking his flutes. Could it be older than 10 years?
He’s on C&F as membername: plamas
You can PM him, or reach him at http://hamiltonflutes.com and ask him to take a look at your photos.
IIRC, Hammy’s been making flutes since the late 1970s. My Hamilton (an Eb) had a wee tiny oval blowhole and a super-undercut chimney and an almost paper-thin blowing edge.
This is a totally out-there idea, but at one point I heard Paul McGrattan was making flutes, and I think he learned from Hammy. Wonder if it’s a “Paulmilton?”
BTW, still can’t see the end of the footjoint. Note that on a recent Hammy, there is a rounded off bit of wood at the foot end beyond the ring. Not so on an older keyless.
