Newbie on Artley Wilkins -- what headjoint?

[crgrbrts]

Like so many these days, I'm an old guy returning to the instrument after many. many years of inactivity. I was taught originally by my father (first chair clarinet with The Chicago Symphony, sideman for Jimmy Dorsey doubling on flute and even a couple of youthful seasons with the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus band -- he was no slouch). At any rate, I crawled out from under his shadow as a young man and pursued a military career as a Naval Aviator and, for the past few decades, as a Capitol Hill reporter here in Washington, D.C.

Well. there's the introduction - now to the heart of the matter. I own two flutes, a 92 year old Haynes and a newly acquired Artley Wilkins model. The Haynes is nice and a sentimental favorite, but it's tuned to A435, which makes it tough to play in ensemble work (not that I dare torture anyone else with my slowly recovering skills yet). The more modern Artley Wilkins came as a surprise. It's a very capable instrument -- much better than I expected. It has a gorgeous lower register and a nice middle octave, too -- though not as darkly sweet as my ancient Haynes. The upper register is extremely responsive, but is metallic and harsh rather than musical. I'd like to correct that with a new or modified headjoint (without spending three or four times what I forked over for the flute itself).

Has anyone tried an upgraded headjoint with the Artley Wilkins? (I realize the number of Wilkins players is pretty low). For that matter, has anyone had a headjoint re-cut to warm it up? How did that work out?

All the best!

Craig

[magnoliarose]

I have a 1960s model of the Wilkins. I love that thing! But mi e seems to be a different animal than my friend's Wilkins which is newer. Mine has a rich, earthy tone to it whereas hers bothered her. My much-trusted repair guy told me not to ever change my head joint because of that lovely tone. Mine is a bit harder to play because the embouchere home is large, but I adapted and love it.

[fluteguy18]

Lets discuss it like a car. You're effectively comparing a Maserati to a Kia. And now you're wanting to put a Mercedes engine in the Kia, or have the kia engine rebuilt by someone so it runs more like a high end car. It doesn't make sense. Opt for a nice Lexus instead. For the amount of money you would spend on a new headjoint, you could buy a good intermediate level flute that will play circles around the Wilkins.

As for recutting... a lot of things can be done. But those of us who do that sort of thing can't work miracles. Odds are that the cubic volume of the embouchure are too large to recut anyway.

Buy a Lexus/nice mid-range 'vehicle' and save yourself a lot of frustration.