Fluteland.com Flute Message Board

You're right - within the US (and most other countries), antique ivory is safe to buy and post. I was thinking in terms of crossing international borders via post - I've heard horror stories of antique flutes held up and/or confiscated when passing into other country (or the other way 'round), even ...

I agree. You do on occasion find unique or rare instruments and they're worthy of restoration. I myself am not an expert on antique flutes either but having worked in a flute shop I've had the opportunity to discuss these kind of flutes with some actual specialists out there and I was merely relayi...

Not really an expert, fluteguy18 - just familiar with wooden flutes in general, some antiques - better at care and handling advice than identifying rare or special flutes. These are interesting - One seems to be a Potter flute, from London (that'd be Henry, not Harry!), but I only looked at the post...

Thanks, all, for your replies. Seems the early consensus is a new flute, rather than an expensive overhaul on a so-so flute; even at its newest/best, I had some issues with it. Regarding open holes vs. covered, no, that wasn't a real issue; of more concern was the silver head "intermediate" embouchu...

Hi - Reading through the 'when is a flute too old' thread (and agreed with most of the subsequent advice), and thought I'd ask a related question. I own an older Armstrong (303B), roughly 20 years old, in desperate need of a re-pad, and, most probably, a complete overhaul. My question relates to the...

Thanks for the clip, Classitar. Here's a nice clip of a bog-standard trad session tune, Ships are Sailing, being played in, well, where else?, a pub. This is a B&S Dulcet 8-key Concert Flute (Late C19th). More like the stuff I play, in any case, and while there are many, many clips to choose from ar...

Although I started on a modern silver flute, I mostly play Irish traditional flute on a wooden conical flute, based on a 19th century Pratten flute, and have for about 15 years. Classical music can be (and was) played on these flutes, too - that's what they were originally intended for. These differ...

I mostly play with old system wooden flutes, both antique and modern, some chromatically keyed, and others not, not Boehm-based systems usually made from silver. Boehm system flutes need far more regular maintenance, IMO, in terms of regular repads, lubrication and adjustments, etc., than simple sys...

You should not and do not need to sterilize a wooden flute, no matter how old it is. Infectious bacteria/viruses are only an issue if someone sick just played it recently and handed it back to you - but that would be just as true with a silver flute. Oil the flute properly and don't worry about bact...

[quote="pied_piper Flutes are (generally) conical wooden flutes, modern or antique, although some players do use Boehm system flutes. Unless you limit your statement to the circle of folk flutists or piccolos, the reverse is true. Today, most Western civilization flutists play metal, cylindrical, Bo...

Oh - I was thinking some more about this... Hamlin - as in the Pied Piper of - was German. There is, to my knowledge (German speakers, please correct me if I'm wrong), no word in German-based language for fife; the fife is called a pipe. That might explain part of the confusion. So the idea of a fif...

Joe is extremely knowledgeable about the flute, but I have to disagree with him a bit on this one. Yes, pipe often refers to bagpipes, but the answer to the OP's question really depends on context. In the Irish tradition, flutes and/or tin whistles are also often referred to as pipes. The tin whist...

You may have also noticed that the Stanesby is pitched in A-415 - significantly lower pitched than a modern flute (A-440 or 442). The lower pitch sounds (IMO) wonderful, particularly on period music, but you will only be able to play with others on instruments in the same pitch. As mentioned above, ...

No kidding! The ITM (Irish Traditional Music) crowd might pay more for a 100 year old flute than a new one! Unfortunately, even adhering to the best of advice, one of my wooden flutes shows breakdown in the embouchure (wood) area, within 6 months of use. I think I've been overexcited playing it, an...

I am still waiting for the maintenance to be finished... In the meantime, I keep looking for good advise about taking care of wooden flutes. Unfortunately, this is no science, there are as many opinions as writers about this subject. But most of them agree on oiling the inside. I also learned, that...