I’ve been helping a friend of mine revitalise his Siccama flute (serial number 735 or 736, as far as I can make out), including replacing some of the pads. Clarinet pads (which I use for my Morvan flute) seem to work fine for the “normal” keys, since the seatings are quite prominent and in good condition. But I don’t know what type of pad would be best for the two normally-open “special” Siccama keys. I am wondering if a softer pad would be needed, since it’s a bit more difficult for normally-open pads to bed down properly., as the keys are…er…normally open. If it was my own flute, I would experiment a bit but not on someone else’s treasured instrument. Any advice would be welcome.
On my Siccama, all the pads are the same type regardless of whether the key is normally open or closed. I have no technical knowledge but they are white, thin, and the contact surface is also thin. My bet is that they are regular flute or woodwind pads, but not the orange ones…
That said, when I had mine refurbished, new springs were needed on some keys, as there were sealing problems not attributable to the pads.
Hugh
Thanks Hugh. I’ll order some regular white flute pads and try those, if the flute’s custodian (I use that word, rather than “owner”) allows it.
Grishnakh, I’d be interested to hear how you get on with the white flute pads. I have an interest in the original Siccama flutes. Does this one have pin or block mounted keys, and are the low C keys of the Pewter plug type, or padded?
Regards.
The owner seems happy with the brown clarinet pads that I installed for him but I said I’d try the white pads if there is a problem with the former in the future.
The keys are all block-mounted, except for the two Siccama keys, which are pin-mounted.
As for the low C keys, he removed them some time ago and has now (tragically) lost them. Apparently, he left them at his sister’s house and she threw them away. They were the pewter-plug type, he told me.
Try sponge rubber 2mm thick, works great on my Siccama for some years now. I tried clarinet leather pads but they were to thick.
I tuned the A + G hole with some epoxy mixed with black wood putty, flute is perfect in tune and a great player, just bottom D could be a bit stronger. If you`re interested, i can give you a grip chart.
augurforever, my bottom D is now very strong, perhaps the best flute I have had for the bottom. To arrive at this happy state took a lot of work on the part of the restorer to fix leaks that caused a weaker bottom D. These were: a crack in the foot tenon; a leaking short F, a leaking G#, and a leaking Bb. Once these were fixed (new springs, and the short F was remade) the bottom D was astonishing. So you may have some leaks upstream of your D…
Hugh
Hi Hugh, thanks for the advice, i will check for leakings. Although bottom D is not weak, perhaps i shouldnt compare it with a non keyd flute…