A forest of boxwood at my door

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Blackbeer
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A forest of boxwood at my door

Post by Blackbeer »

Yesterday was an unbelivable day :o I received 5 boxwood flutes in the mail. Well 4 flutes and a piccolo. I spent the evening rewinding tenons, lashing cracks and generaly haveing more fun then I have had since the day I got my Lehart. It is actualy thanks to the Lehart that this day occured. Anyway, two Hall and Sons single key, one in F the other in D, one Firth Hall & Pond single key in D, one de Peloubet 4 key, block mounted in D with tuning slide, and the sweetest little Boosey and Sons Pratten Perfected piccolo 5 key in D. That is mine as I bought it from someone right here. It is a knock out. The others are just to try out and see if I might want to buy one. They all have Ivory rings and caps except for the Hall and Sons F which is turned wood rings, and is in perfect shape. I`m just not looking for an F. The other Hall and Sons in D is a nice sounding flute. I had to lash a crack in the head and rerap the tenon so as to not put so much pressure on that crack. All the rings are cracked and of course it is missing the cap. It plays very nicely and has a great sound. The Firth Hall & Pond is in realy good condition with all its rings and cap intacked. However it almost looks as if the head is from another flute. The head is very light in color and the rest of the flute is pretty dark. Might just be the way it was stored or something as all the parts including the head are stamped with the makers name. It has a very merky sound and I don`t like it one bit, but I will play it some more today and see. The de Peloubet is just downright beautiful. But I can`t play it because there is a full length crack along the back of the head, and the liner has turned blocking the embouchure hole. All the rings are intackt but it is missing the cap. I was able to get one of my heads to fit just to check the tuning and intoneation and they are dead on. I already got the owner to come down a hundred bucks on it so I could get it for four hundred. I realy like this 4 key. I think if I could get the ivory ring off the head I could fix it. I don`t know if the rings are glued on or not but it sure won`t budge with my gentle first attemps. Maybe some of you have had experience with this sort of thing and could suggest a way to tackel this situation. I think I will buy this one. Like I said it is realy beautiful and sounds great with the head of my Eb on the end of it. The workmanship looks first class, though I know nothing about this guy.
So......... that was my day yesterday. They all spent the night in my humidore and I am just starting to put one together and play. Any suggestions or info about these flutes would realy be helpful. Right now I am having way to much fun :)

Tom
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msheldon
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Re: A forest of boxwood at my door

Post by msheldon »

Hmmm, *I* like F. :)

Don't see them too often though, I'd be interested in hearing how well it plays.
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PhilO
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Post by PhilO »

Yeah! :)

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Loren
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Tell us something.: You just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don't need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
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Post by Loren »

Tom,

I have three words for you my man: Twelve Step Program :lol:

Loren
P.S. Whoops, I forgot I have another five words for you: Send me that F Flute :D
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Blackbeer
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Post by Blackbeer »

Well, though it has been a real treat to be with these flutes for the last couple of days I will be boxing them up, all of them except of course the piccolo, and sending them back to the owner. What have I learned? Well first of all I have become aquainted with boxwood. It truely is the king of flute wood. I love it. Secound, I no longer have a fear of small round embouchure holes. One of these flutes, a Hall and Sons is quite powerful if one wants it to be. And it has very small tone holes to boot. Thirdly, I am not a collector and all but one of these flutes, the F, are in need of much love and attention. I was able to rerap and lash in order to be able to play them but the more permanent restoration needed by these flutes would require much more love then I have found for any of them. And, last but not least, I have found that my progress down this flute shaped road is exeptable to me. And again, playing these flutes has helped in the playing of my other flutes. Don`t know why that happens but I`ll take anything I can get.
By the way the William Hall and Sons in F is what I finished up with last night and it is a real sweetheart. It is in perfect condition and of very simple design. No ivory rings or cap just wood. The guy wants 600 dollars for it but might take less as he came down 100 dollars on the price of the 4 key for me. So if anyone is interested just pm me and I will give you his email address. It, by the way, is very capable of some power also.
So my trip into the past has been great fun, and my next flute will be boxwood, and it will be a traverso, and in fact I think I have found it this mourning, thanks to a couple of email exchanges accross the pond.

Tom

PS: A 12 step program is for someone who wants to be cured Loren :D
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jim stone
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Post by jim stone »

I finally succumbed to my lust for boxwood and also
a rudall; I've ordered a Casey Burns boxwood keyless D
rudall, which should arrive in maybe six weeks. This
is an all-wood flute.
The flute has a round embouchure, so I'm interested
in your positive experiences with this. I thought that the combo of the round embouchure,
boxwood, and all-wood might maximize the
expressive nature of the flute. Best
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Post by glauber »

I love boxwood, but i'm too afraid of what Chicago's wheather would do to it, so i special-ordered my traverso in blackwood. Blackwood is a wonderful wood; pity it's so heavy.

After playing almost every kind of flute for 20+ years, i think i may have found my true calling: the traverso. Of course there will always be a place for other flutes, too, but the flexibility and just total coolness of the traverso have won me over.

g
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Blackbeer
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Post by Blackbeer »

Well Jim, three of the flutes were unlined heads. The 4 key was the only one with a tuning slide and lined head and the head was unuseable. I fit the head of my old 8 key Eb to it just to see if it was in tune and such. The William Hall and Sons in D is incredable. It played in A=440 but sounded as rich as if it were 415. Simply beautiful. The small embouchure holes took maybe 30 minutes of quietely modifying my technique. After that it was no sweat. I don`t know if you could call this or the others traversos but I think they have similarities. For one who is more impressed by the expressivness of the flute this is the way to go. In my humble opinion that is. Anyway today I reserved a boxwood traverso made by Luc Verhoeven which is truely beautiful to look at and affordable. And he is a very nice guy who will not claim to be a flute maker. It is just a hobby and he plays what he makes. The one I am getting was not for sale but he finaly changed his mind. Anyway Jim don`t worry about the embouchure, just be patient and you will love it.
I am with you glauber. This has been one of those magic moments of discovery. I am glad I had time with the Lehart to see what a powerfull instrument the flute can be but I think the qualities of the traverso out weigh the qualities of a flute designed for Irish trad. First and formost is the intamesy of these cridders. Sitting here at peace with one of these boxwood beauties in my hands was a revalation, realy. I think that is one of the reasons I love my rosewood Dixon. It can be pretty powerful but its true color is painted in the quite of the night.
Oh brother this is getting a little sticky :)

Tom
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Post by glauber »

Luc Verhoeven makes beautiful flutes, doesn't he? I'm afraid i've been creating some work for him recently. :)
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Post by Blackbeer »

Yes he does glauber. If you want to see mine, check his website and look at #13 on the left side of the page. It is the one that is not for sale. Boxwood with tortis shell, fake of course, rings. Talk about beautiful.
And what a nice guy. It has been a fun month exchanging emails with him. Anyway thats the one :)

Tom
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Post by glauber »

I almost bought the "comtemporary" traverso, but i ran out of money. Ultimately, it was good i didn't, so i can concentrate on learning to play the flutes i already have. But i send people to him whenever i can. He's a very nice guy too.

Beautiful flute, #13, congratulations! I think you'll be happy. The Grenser flute is very capable, loud, plays the 3rd octave up to the A very easily. It's a late Baroque model. My traverso is a Grenser too, but done by Rod Cameron.

I'm having a hard time finding a traverso teacher in the Chicago area, BTW. It's a good thing, i think, all the traverso people here seem to be extremely busy.
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Post by msheldon »

Blackbeer wrote:If you want to see mine, check his website and look at #13 on the left side of the page.
Holy !!!!!

That is a very beautiful instrument!
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Denny
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Post by Denny »

Could one of you gentlemen post the URL to Luc Verhoeven's site?

Thanks,
Denny
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Post by msheldon »

Denny wrote:Could one of you gentlemen post the URL to Luc Verhoeven's site?
http://users.skynet.be/fluiten/english/index.htm

:)
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Post by glauber »

Denny wrote:Could one of you gentlemen post the URL to Luc Verhoeven's site?

Thanks,
Denny
Yes, it's http://www.google.com :D
works for me every time!
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