I’ve been thinking about buying an original Rudall for some time and would like to see if there might be anyone being interested in selling one, or knows someone who might. I know that this might be a silly question but you never know…I’m not aiming to get a super duper deal and am prepared to pay an adequate price. Furthermore I’m not in a hurry (nor do I have the funds available to buy one right off the shelf now), just want to check the market, so to speak.
Here the requirements…I mainly need the flute for measuring and research, but also for performance use. No alterations are planned, only repairs if necessary at all.
serial number: preferably > 5000, but am interested in lower numbers as well
would prefer big (huge) finger holes
material: don’t mind, boxwood would be nice, but cocus or blackwood or any other rosewood works as well
would prefer a non-patent headjoint due to simplicity
flat foot or not doesn’t matter that much, would just be nice to know before buying
all eight keys present
general condition doesn’t matter, I’ll take unrestored ones as well (if there are any…), cracks or broken blocks aren’t a problem neither
There’s one for sale at Hobgoblin Machester in the used instrument page. Price seems a little high but it looks
to be boxwood and largeholed doesn’t say much about the condition. It may be long gone as they don’t seem to
update their pages all that much but it’s a relatively new listing. Cheers, Pat
The embouchure hole is bushed with ivory - nothing especially odd about that - it is something that wandered (and equivalents still wander) in and out of fashion… and could well be original. The photo is poor, but other aspects look pretty OK to me - plain hockey stick C#/C keys and what appears to be a straight long C touch suggest earlier rather than later (the pretty large holes can be quite early too - are not necessarily an indicator of lateness), and the wide silver bands and crown and foot cap-ferrules together with the bushed embouchure suggest a bespoke set-up. As for price, as a retail outfit Hobgoblin tend to price on the high side - and IM opinion/experience they often have absolute rubbish way over-priced - but assuming it is genuine and in good condition, I think they’re likely not far adrift of reasonable on this one given what value David might put on/ask for a good boxwood R&R.
been very difficult getting fresh photos from them, though.
i’ve spoken with them about the flute. I think the price is high, especially with what appear to be flat key cups, a plug Eb key, and a band on the head, indicating a crack…but…
Ah, I hadn’t spotted the flat key cups due to the poor picture, but I think you’re right - another indicator of not too late a date, then…
The hole dimensions as well as the flat keys are very reminiscent of #3621 (see this thread), though that has a PH and a roller on the C/C# set-up as well as an up-turned long F (different) - but also has a plug Eb and straight long C (similar)…
I don’t really see why the flat keys should knock the value down??? They seem to have been fitted with cork “pads” originally and those work just fine on #3621 - though they’d likely work just as well with leather discs as on Baroque flutes. I agree the band may indicate a crack in the area of the slide in the head - where the boxwood must be pretty thin and crack-prone - looks like (so far as this picture allows) a well done and possibly long-standing thing - could even be an original reinforcement (that wouldn’t be deemed necessary in cocus?), and note how it is carefully in proportion - the embouchure appears to be exactly half-way between the nearest edges of silver fittings.
Have you got the serial # from Hobgoblin, David? I’d bet on it being in the 2000s-3000s
