I thought this ad was joking...

fluteguy18 · Post by **fluteguy18** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:49 pm

Mark wrote:
fluteguy18 wrote:I am actually thinking about buying a really REALLY cheap flute to take apart.... just to learn how to unpin mechanisms, and expierament a little....
so find an old Pan Am or Armstrong that way if you get it back together
right you will have something to play on the riverbanks.

oh.. and if you do such a thing, take good notes on where everything is
as you take it apart.

mark

I already know basic dissasembly, but I am going to be trying things out like unpinning it, taking pads off, and putting them back on, and basically taking it as far apart as it can go. But, I will most definately keep everything in order [or at least the parts that I am not familiar with disassembling anyways like pins, adjustment screws, etc. etc.].

flutepicc06 · Post by **flutepicc06** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 11:03 pm

Hey Fluteguy, when you get around to it, let me know. I would be glad to help you out when it comes to the proper techniques for unpinning and the like....There are some important little details if you want the flute to stand a chance of playing again that you would not normally think about.

fluteguy18 · Post by **fluteguy18** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 11:08 pm

flutepicc06 wrote:Hey Fluteguy, when you get around to it, let me know. I would be glad to help you out when it comes to the proper techniques for unpinning and the like....There are some important little details if you want the flute to stand a chance of playing again that you would not normally think about.

Alright. Thanks! So far, I have read all of Phelan's book of flute and piccolo repair, and that was quite interesting, and I learned quite a bit [luckily my flute professor owned a copy of it, so I didnt have to shell out $35... but I will probably buy a copy soon because A it was a useful book to read, and B the photos showing every step of disassembly were very interesting to look at]. So, when I finally find a flute on ebay cheap enough but of a high enough quality [like a really old gemeinhardt or armstrong or something of the like... or perhaps a cheap "symphony" flute, because those hold up reasonably well], I will message you.

flutepicc06 · Post by **flutepicc06** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 11:11 pm

fluteguy18 wrote:
flutepicc06 wrote:Hey Fluteguy, when you get around to it, let me know. I would be glad to help you out when it comes to the proper techniques for unpinning and the like....There are some important little details if you want the flute to stand a chance of playing again that you would not normally think about.
Alright. Thanks! So far, I have read all of Phelan's book of flute and piccolo repair, and that was quite interesting, and I learned quite a bit [luckily my flute professor owned a copy of it, so I didnt have to shell out $35... but I will probably buy a copy soon]. So, when I finally find a flute on ebay cheap enough but of a high enough quality [like a really old gemeinhardt or armstrong or something of the like... or perhaps a cheap "symphony" flute, because those hold up reasonably well], I will message you.

Sounds like a deal! That Phelan book is a very interesting read....As far as repair goes, there is another interesting book out there, but the title eludes me right now...If I can think of it, I will post about it.

finallyflute-ing · Post by **finallyflute-ing** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 11:13 pm

Just to go along with the topic... I saw this in that user's shop... it looks like someone threw up on this flute or something...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Unique-FLUTE-ROSE-B ... dZViewItem

That color is just... ewww...

flutepicc06 · Post by **flutepicc06** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 11:16 pm

finallyflute-ing wrote:Just to go along with the topic... I saw this in that user's shop... it looks like someone threw up on this flute or something...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Unique-FLUTE-ROSE-B ... dZViewItem

That color is just... ewww...

We had a discussion about a flute very similar to that on another forum I'm a part of. Apparently the rose brass has a very real potential to do harm to the player. It's really unfortunate that they've started plating flutes in it.

finallyflute-ing · Post by **finallyflute-ing** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 11:18 pm

flutepicc06 wrote:
finallyflute-ing wrote:Just to go along with the topic... I saw this in that user's shop... it looks like someone threw up on this flute or something...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Unique-FLUTE-ROSE-B ... dZViewItem

That color is just... ewww...
We had a discussion about a flute very similar to that on another forum I'm a part of. Apparently the rose brass has a very real potential to do harm to the player. It's really unfortunate that they've started plating flutes in it.

Wow, really? I don't know much about instrument plating, so the only harm I saw was to, you know, the eyes of the audience who had to watch someone play on anything that color - but that's definately something good to keep in mind when I'm shopping for a flute later this year (not that I'll be buying anything off eBay, mind you...).
Thanks for the tip on that.

flutepicc06 · Post by **flutepicc06** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 11:20 pm

finallyflute-ing wrote:
flutepicc06 wrote:
finallyflute-ing wrote:Just to go along with the topic... I saw this in that user's shop... it looks like someone threw up on this flute or something...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Unique-FLUTE-ROSE-B ... dZViewItem

That color is just... ewww...
We had a discussion about a flute very similar to that on another forum I'm a part of. Apparently the rose brass has a very real potential to do harm to the player. It's really unfortunate that they've started plating flutes in it.

Wow, really? I don't know much about instrument plating, so the only harm I saw was to, you know, the eyes of the audience who had to watch someone play on anything that color - but that's definately something good to keep in mind when I'm shopping for a flute later this year (not that I'll be buying anything off eBay, mind you...).
Thanks for the tip on that.

I'll have to see if I can dig up the thread that discussed this....I'll post a link if I can. I found the thread...It sort of wandered off in other directions, so here's a simple post that pretty much sums up why you should not buy one of these:

"brass
is something you plate onto. In prolonged contact with skin oils you can get
brass
poisoning (really nasty). That's another reason why
brass
mouthpieces are silver or gold plated to prevent that from happening.
brass
player's often check to make sure the plating on their mouthpiece is sound so as NOT to expose their skin to bare
brass
. To plate an entire flute in
brass
(if even possible) is a resulting stupidity.
"

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 2:29 am

flutepicc06 wrote:Hey Fluteguy, when you get around to it, let me know. I would be glad to help you out when it comes to the proper techniques for unpinning and the like....There are some important little details if you want the flute to stand a chance of playing again that you would not normally think about.

Amen to that!

Phineas · Post by **Phineas** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 12:39 pm

I have bought and tried out many of these cheap flutes. They work, but they surely are not durable, and most need at least SOME adjustment.

I have actually had pretty good luck buying cheap instruments. However, my expectations are realistic! If you you want a new $500+ flute, then do not buy a new pink flute for $100 dollars and expect the same thing.

Buying used, however, you could get a FAR better instrument for close to $100.

Phineas

Serpentine · Post by **Serpentine** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 3:23 pm

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0095841344

Hexagonal keys?!?!?!?!

Looks like they just skrewed some skrew nuts onto a crappy flute

And the green one is pretty good too! Means that if you thow up at the sight of it, no one will ever know!

If anyone sees a cheap pink piccilo then give me a ring, i think i could do with one, even if its a rubbish one. Plus it would be good or the hilarity factor!

flutepicc06 · Post by **flutepicc06** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:09 pm

That's not as odd as you might think. One maker produces instruments (of excellent quality) with square keys and toneholes. I would imagine flutes with unusually shaped keys/toneholes would be a major pain to repad, but there's nothing really wrong with different shapes in and of themselves.

MeLizzard · Post by **MeLizzard** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 12:09 am

Those are Lopatin's Square Ones. I played them last summer, and they were good, and responsive, but I'm unsure whether they were any better than his round-tone-hole flutes! All were good flutes. He's also made a Square One alto. Here's the link:
http://www.lopatinflutes.com/square.html

fluteguy18 · Post by **fluteguy18** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 11:20 am

Serpentine wrote:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0095841344

Hexagonal keys?!?!?!?!

Looks like they just skrewed some skrew nuts onto a crappy flute

And the green one is pretty good too! Means that if you thow up at the sight of it, no one will ever know!

If anyone sees a cheap pink piccilo then give me a ring, i think i could do with one, even if its a rubbish one. Plus it would be good or the hilarity factor!

very interesting... but I think just the keys are shaped like that, and the tone hole is still round....at least that is the way it looked in the picture. So, the key cup on the interior probably still has a round shape for a round tone hole, but the exterior of the key is a different shape.

finallyflute-ing · Post by **finallyflute-ing** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 3:29 pm

MeLizzard wrote:Those are Lopatin's Square Ones. I played them last summer, and they were good, and responsive, but I'm unsure whether they were any better than his round-tone-hole flutes! All were good flutes. He's also made a Square One alto. Here's the link:
http://www.lopatinflutes.com/square.html

I just wanna say that the pictureon Lopatin's main page is awesome! While I don't know the playing quality of the instrument, I really, really like the keys. LOL Now that's going to go on my list of things to do before I die, play on a square-key flute.