Maintenance of Professional Flutes eg Altus 1307 up

[pied_piper]

Yes I have repaired straubinger repadded flutes, no I have not done his course, the pads are hard and over-rated, the fact you need to do a course to be able to set his pads properly speaks volumes of the product.

His course is $1500 last time I looked and you get a certificate at the end of the week, regardless if you finished repadding one flute or not, so saying your straubinger certified IMO means nothing.

I know some very competent people who have done ""the course"", and its not about fitting the pad its about the flute needs to be almost mechanically perfect for the pads to work, otherwise they will not work at all. They are not forgiving pads at all.

America is different to Australia, America has training schools like red wing / allied and so on, In Australia there is not a single training school for instrument repair. So those people that usually exist here are self taught. Very few have a back ground in repair.

Servicing is good yearly, but realistically you can get away with it until the pads start to make a smacking sound, this usually indicates there is a rather large biological buid up on the pad skins which needs to now be removed

I wish you luck, if your willing to pay those exorhbarant prices then thats your call.

I largely agree with your opinion of Straubinger pads. You are correct that they are not forgiving and the flute has to be in absolutely perfect mechanical shape. Any key play or irregularities of the tone hole surface, and Straubingers will not seal. Of course, any flute will play better when it is in perfect mechanical condition regardless of the pad type. I find the Straubingers a bit noisy for my taste.

Like you, I did not attend a repair school. I too have worked on a few Straubinger padded flutes but I have not been to the course and I am not Straubinger certified. I have successfully recovered a few of the pads though. On one such flute I repaired, the pad failed because the original installing tech left a slightly sharp edge on one tone hole and over time it cut the pad skin. So, yes, Straubinger certification does not always guarantee a quality pad job. A dedicated tech though is always looking to improve his/her abilities to be able to provide superior service.

[mirwa]

Yes, Im sure david meant well we he tried to re-invent the wheel. (that is come up with the straubinger flute pad design),

However IMO, any flute taken to the mechanical precision requirements as that required to make a flute play with these pads, will play fantastic with almost any pad fitted.

If someone was going to come up with a brilliant product, then for me it would have to be a pad that is so forgiving it will play great in a flute in the worst possible condition it could be in. Not the other way around - "that is" the pad will not work unless the flute is in better condition than the manufacturer supplied it in.

It makes no sense

[flutego12]

Apart from COA, would not a flute this subject to extreme annual and intraday temperature variations require more adjustment, compared to a flute in moderate climate that does not vary as much. Surely this would have implications on service requirements.

[JButky]

Apart from COA, would not a flute this subject to extreme annual and intraday temperature variations require more adjustment, compared to a flute in moderate climate that does not vary as much. Surely this would have implications on service requirements.

Not necessarily. Most of the need for maintenance is player induced. The amount of service needed is highly dependent on the playing and handling habits of the player. One player may need service every 6 months, another every 3 years. There are a lot of factors that determine how often and the type of services any flute will require in the hands of any particular player.

[pied_piper]

I agree with Joe's comments.

While the sudden transition between extreme temperatures may not be beneficial to a flute, most often the harm comes from how the player treats it. Extreme heat, such as leaving a flute inside a car during summer months, can soften hot melt glues used to install certain pads (i.e. trill keys). If the glue softens, the pad(s) can shift and then leak. The simple cure for this is not to leave the flute anyplace where it will be exposed to temperatures that hot. A good rule of thumb is that if the temperature is not comfortable to a person, it's not so good for a flute either. Simply use common sense...

With wooden flutes or piccolos, sudden extreme temperature changes can cause the wood to crack. Most often, this occurs when a very cold instrument is played without a gradual warmup. In that case, warm, moist air blown into the instrument causes the interior to expand faster than the exterior and the result is a crack.

I've often seen pad skins torn by overzealous polishing. With repeated rubbing along the edge of the key cups, the polishing cloth also rubs the pad. Over time, this cause the skin to wear and eventually tear.

Pads also deteriorate much faster with improper or no swabbing. For example, a lot of repair techs love it when players store those fuzzy sticks inside the flute body in a closed case because that contributes to premature pad failure. In that context, I've heard them referred to as Pad Destroyers. They are fine if used to dry the flute and then store it OUTSIDE the case to dry. If left inside the flute, all it does is hold moisture against the pad. Even better, use an ordinary cotton or silk swab with the tuning rod. Again, store it outside the case to dry.

I also see mechanical problems caused by improper assembly of the flute. Bent keys or other key alignment and adjustment problems can be caused by grasping the keys while assembling the flute. Sometimes the pressure is not enough to cause an immediate problem, but when done repeatedly over time, crucial adjustments and key alignments can be affected.

[jrbrook76]

I love the comment about the "fuzzy sticks" . I take them from my students and toss them directly into the trash. I've also cautioned every seller I've seen them at to just stop selling them. "Pad Saver" = "Pad Ruiner" . You might as well stick a dirty dusting cloth into your flute/sax/clarinet.

I'm on the fence about Straubs. My Powell occasionally needed them replaced, but my Brannen has been going strong for years and the straubs have never needed to be replaced. I made it 2.5 years before the first COA. When they're done right, they're great. If they're not...well, there's bound to be more frequent adjustments/replacements. I'm more curious about schmidt pads. Might put them in my trill keys, and my b, and c# trill, and Ab keys.

[zummerzet_lou]

OMG ... I've just come across this thread and I'm shocked!

All these years, I've used a "fuzzy stick" ... I swab my flute out thoroughly first with a cloth (which is then stored outside of my case) .. and then put the pad saver in.

Have I really been doing more harm than good? (given that my flute is pretty dry before using the pad savers so only a miniscule amount of moisture should be soaked up?

[pied_piper]

If you swabbed it first, there is probably no harm, but there is no advantage to keeping it either.

[fluteguy18]

I've heard (though I have no experience to verify this) that some of them are poorly made and that the fibers are easily dislodged and get in the mechanism causing it to bind. It was on that basis that I refused to ever buy one or let any of my students keep them. Not sure if that's completely true, but I could see that becoming a problem under the right circumstances.

Pad Ruiner... Ha!