VOSS flute? ? ?

[Silversorcerer]

Dose anyone know about a maker or brand called VOSS?

I lucked into what looked like an odd but well made antique flute (looks like silver plated nickel silver) marked ( VOSS ) on the barrel. The only other identifying marks are a "0" on each of the pieces. It has no country of origin marks that I can see, but some odd features might give away the origin. My guess is that this "0" is the serial #? The location of the "0" on the head joint is right at the edge of the tenon, so it can't be seen when the flute is assembled. The "0" on the body and foot is located under the keywork on the ribs. Now for the less usual features:

The body tenon that fits into the foot is slightly longer than 1.25 inches and therefore must have a large hole in the tenon for the first tone hole of the foot.
It has a threaded fitting that would accommodate a palm rest.
It has an unusual key linkage that appears to allow some variation in the linked keys in the right hand, but the way it is set up now, the function is unclear. See the photo.

The pads and corks are all good, linked keys well adjusted, and keys and springs nice and tight;- plating shows little wear anywhere. It's in fantastic shape for a vintage flute and sounds really rich and focused. The keywork has a really nice feel also;- solid but smooth.

Anyone heard of these? European perhaps?

[pied_piper]

I've never heard of Voss, but I've seen a few flutes that have the long foot tenon like that one. The key mechanism you were asking about is a split E that makes the third octave E speak easier.

[Silversorcerer]

Thank you for explaining that mechanism. My other flutes don't have that. This is a great playing flute although that palm crutch lug gets in the way. Either I'll get a crutch for it or have that removed.

The only other model with the long foot tenon design I've seen was a Haynes-Schwelm Goldentone from around 1920. This one might be from the same period.

One other difference I noticed is the shape of the embouchure hole;- it is not squarish but a rounder true oval. It speaks quite easily with a very focused tone. The overall construction is a bit sturdier than typical student flutes. The more I play these keys, the better they feel. They have large very smooth dimples. I guess VOSS is obscure, but this one is definitely a well made vintage flute.

[mirwa]

It does not, to me, look really vintage, on top of this the case is too good for a vintage instrument, no staining etc.

Why do you assume its vintage from like the 20's

[Silversorcerer]

Vintage it certainly is, but vintage is relative. The case is very warped wood covered with an early imitation leather. It is plausibly the original case because it has space for the longer tenon. If it was a more contemporary instrument, it would most plausibly have a hard plastic case.

The exact period is more questionable;- notice I said it "might" be from the same period as the Haynes-Schwelm Goldentone. I am not really assuming anything about the age except that it is old;- relative to what we might consider contemporary, because things that earmark a period in one country do not necessarily in another. Two features that would support manufacture from at least the mid twentieth century or before are the lug for the palm crutch and the extended tenon with the hole in it. The palm crutch mounts persisted in some European manufactured instruments beyond the time these had been dropped from American made flutes, so it is plausible that it could be from a few decades later if it is European, but it is still old. And I've never seen the extended tenon except on the Goldentone. But the Voss very well may be European.

The keys are also heavily made, but not crudely made. The undersides of keys that are usually mostly corks in this case are mostly metal with only thin cork rests. That kind of key construction is usually on older instruments. This gives those keys a much tighter feel. The logo engraving style is also distinctly vintage.

The numbering system of an Amati C-177 also used single digit match numbers, but also had a separate serial # on the body. The Voss "0" could be a single digit match number and not a serial number. Perhaps the Voss was an open batch stencil with no serials, or a rare maker? The Amati also has the lug for a palm crutch, but most likely is an instrument from the 40's or 50's. It is not the later Amati types that are more common these days. I have seen the split E mech. on a German Keilwerth flute. Is that a common mechanism on any USA made flutes?

The Voss was apparently well cared for all the time. There are some stains in the case, just not visible in the photo because these are under the flute. The pads are not originals in good shape, but some were replaced more recently than others and it got must have had a thorough tune-up. It plays as easily as any flute I've played.

Checking the intonation against the tuner in GarageBand, with the head pulled about 3/16", it has spot on intonation from the low C all the way up the keys. Apparently this was built to the 440 Hz standard.

Another interesting characteristic about the embouchure hole is that in addition to it being more of a true rounded oval, it is also steeply undercut all the way around. This apparently favors a slightly different angle for the embouchure. The flute speaks very easily even in the lower register. I'm not sure if that would have anything to do with the embouchure shape and undercut? I think I might substitute the head onto some other flutes and see what happens. The more I play this one, the better I like its' quirks.

[mirwa]

Do you have any better photos, these photos look like the one's that some one used to sell a voss on ebay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Voss-Flute-/171 ... 7675.l2557

Any chance of getting a better photo of the logo

Curious design,

It has a split E, Offset G, Split G, Support post For trills, Crutch brace, Extended Eb tenon, Round embochure hole, Adjustment screws for E/D but F to F# uses cork.

If not for the logo, and someone asked me to guess, I would suspect some sort of a link to a Buffet stencil.

[Silversorcerer]

Those are the seller's photos that I linked to. They are sharp enough to show the instrument overall. I'll try to get some close-up details of the high quality keywork and logo details and the "magic" oval embouchure hole. I did find a reference to another VOSS instrument, but it is a saxophone. At least it appears that someone can identify the maker(s), who might have been a pair of Keilwerth defectors named Dorfler and Jorka. I have seen a Keilwerth that had the split E mech., but that is where the similarity ends. The VOSS saxophone has a Western Germany mark, which would place it early post-war. By the 60s it was more typical to see simply "West Germany".


Here is a link to the saxophone discussion:
http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread ... 7-VOSS-Sax