Pakistani Flute Initial Review (not for the faint of heart)

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Wed Dec 04, 2002 10:51 am

For those interested, I present the following review of my Pakistani, $39.95, low D flute:

The flute was shipped, presumably from Pakistan, put together in one piece (yikes!) in a fine decorative green cardboard box. It came in a sealed plastic bag (presumably to retain moisture), but the flute was so dry it felt like a toy. It was honestly labeled “Made in Pakistan” and also had another sticker “Biltmore ®”—model name or company perhaps???

My first surprise was that it was quite nice looking – rosewood with nickel silver rings. I think anyone would have agreed with my assessment that it had obvious lamp/wall-hanger potential. My next surprise was that the manufacturer had in no way finished the tone or embouchure holes (which were all way too small based upon visual inspection). They were rough, had some form of black tarry substance in some of them, and had splinters that hung down into the bore (apart from these splinters, the bore was clean and truly was conical --- one of my fears would be that it was going to by cylindrical). In it’s initial state, it produced a nice “car door left open a crack when you’re driving on the freeway” sound, and this confirmed my guess that no one had ever actually played a note on the flute before it was shipped from the factory. At this point, my wife let me know that she thought it was traditional for a flute to produce a note and not a sound effect (she is ever so helpful).

After 20 minutes of sanding, filing, and enlarging the embouchure, I did produce the necessary note to prove it really was more than a decoration. The low D was actually quite nice, if a little sharp, and all the other notes were way off tune (my wife described the scale I played as “interesting and kind of modal sounding”—whatever that means). I moved what I would consider the tuning joint apart and the D was right on tune (the flute uses thread wrapped around the wood instead of cork – the thread is cotton and poorly wrapped in case you were curious), and all the other notes were simply flatter than before.

Well, after 4 hours of sanding, filing, and playing the opening riff from “Leon’s Waltz” over and over again to assist in tuning (and because I now hated the first 4 notes of the scale), I realized the following:

·D through F# were now perfectly in tune with G almost there.

·It was now 2:30 a.m. and I would need to wake up in only 3:30 hours to get ready for work.

·I couldn't feel my lip…

·The McNeilly flute on eBay was now out of my price range.

·I had seriously gone over the “play a new flute 10 minutes twice per day rule”…yet the flute had mercifully not cracked.

Before heading for work this morning, I gave the flute a quick inspection. I kept it in a ziplock bag overnight to retain moisture (after swabbing it out and oiling it before falling in bed). It now had the proper weight and feel for a real flute. There were still no cracks, and I learned the hard way about the importance of waxing the thread (I almost couldn’t get it apart after I assembled it just to look at how pretty the flute was).

I would never, ever recommend such a cheap flute for a beginner or anyone not interested in tinkering with wooden flutes. I may have lucked out and received the only one with all the holes too small which will allow for proper tuning, but I’m glad I took the risk. Unless something terribly goes wrong, I think I’ll end up with a rather nice sounding, but quiet, flute. I’ve already put in over 4 hours of work, and I’m guessing I’ll put in at least double that to get the holes cut and undercut perfectly (in my opinion at least). Overall, I’m pretty happy.

One question though, would Chapstick work as wax on the thread? It’s the plain old waxy type…and it's all I have on hand at home. If not, what's cheap and easy to obtain?

Ron Rowe · Post by **Ron Rowe** » Wed Dec 04, 2002 11:22 am

I would suggest waxed dental floss, I know a piper who swears by it.

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Wed Dec 04, 2002 11:30 am

Ron - that's a good idea...and right in my price range!

shoner · Post by **shoner** » Wed Dec 04, 2002 11:33 am

Love your description and hope to hear more. Chapstick works just fine. Even with teflon dental floss you need to wax. Some of the floss frays badly and is a poor substitute for thread. The wax provides lubrication and moisture protection for the tenon. If not waxed some tenons will swell in the socket, making for difficult removal. Have you tried cutting an air channel on the edge of the embochure, sort of like what you see on a Healy or an Abell headjoint? This works best if the wood is fairly thick, i.e, a high riser. Play the flute when its cold and you'll see where your breath condenses in a a V shape pattern. This is the area to remove.

ChrisLaughlin · Post by **ChrisLaughlin** » Wed Dec 04, 2002 11:49 am

Careful with chapstick. The sugars in it will probably deteriorate the wood after time (as if you care).
Best,
Chris

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Wed Dec 04, 2002 11:51 am

Shoner - Thanks for the Chapstick advice.

You're right about the V shaped cut in the embouchure. I cut it last night. The wood is rather thick, and the V shape opened up the sound remarkably. I didn't know Healy and Abell did that. I picked it up through trial and error when working with CPVC when I made a lip plate to deepen the embouchure out of a coupling joint (the embouchure did deepen, but it was way too deep).

I'll post updates as I work through the flute's issues. While I'm having fun, this is exactly the kind of instrument that turns people off of playing the flute forever. The eBay add which said "Plays real easy" and "Great Sound" could lead a lot of folks down the road to ruin. Granted, maybe I got the one bad apple, but I doubt that. Ironically, it does play pretty easily right now, and half the notes do sound good, but it sure took a lot of work to just get to that point!

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Wed Dec 04, 2002 11:58 am

Chris - after all this work (and the work yet to come), I don't want to kill this flute! Granted, last night before I saw progress I felt differently (visions of kindling danced through my head), and it will never be a professional level instrument, but it's my current project and I have a "Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree" attachment to the beast!

Does chapstick really have sugars? I didn't see any sugars or "tol" type of sweetners listed in the ingredients, but then again I just noticed the ingredients don't add up to 100%!

Would a nice wooden floor wax work? We've got a ton of that.

Jim_B1 · Post by **Jim_B1** » Wed Dec 04, 2002 12:06 pm

Hi Jay,
I'm not sure if this will work but check your local sporting goods store for bow string wax (usually in the hunting department) I think it's just wax and comes in a stick like chapstick. It should only be a buck or two and should do what you need. Good luck with the project.
-Jim

Mal · Post by **Mal** » Wed Dec 04, 2002 12:28 pm

Red klister ski wax was recommended for use as cork (or tennon thread) grease by many players and flute makers during a disucssion on this subject on the Woodenflute website about a month ago.

Mal

ChrisLaughlin · Post by **ChrisLaughlin** » Wed Dec 04, 2002 12:33 pm

Badgerbalm... it's the best stuff in the world. I recommend the healing balm for corks and threads. Check it out at http://www.badgerbalm.com

RudallRose · Post by **RudallRose** » Wed Dec 04, 2002 1:04 pm

I've heard that Rod Cameron once redid a Paky flute into a pretty nice-sounding instrument. Cost to the owner, however, was about $400 for the modification.
Chapstik is fine in a pinch, but not as an always-use type thing. Cork grease is good, too, but dries out.
I use bow wax, the stuff made for the threads of the strings of bow-arrow stuff. Sporting supply stores have it, usually for about $2-$3 and it lasts near forever.

RudallRose · Post by **RudallRose** » Wed Dec 04, 2002 1:08 pm

oh yeah....another thing.....
Pakistan is one of the countries supposedly harboring and sympathetic to al-Queda.
Interesting if flute money goes toward.....well, the unthinkable.

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Wed Dec 04, 2002 1:51 pm

That's an unpleasant thought that money for the flute could trickle down in al-Queda hands.

If I recall correctly from past reading on CNN.com, the alleged al-Queda support comes from tribal autonomous areas within Pakistan. Pakistan itself is in alliance with the U.S.

Unfortunately, the flute only said Pakistan and did not mention where in Pakistan, but if it is made in any form of factory it is likely not made in the Tribal areas (at least I hope that to be true).

The terrorist money trail is a scary thought. How much of our petroleum (which means everything from gas to most plastic products) comes from Saudi Arabia which is heavily linked to al-Queda?

On the lighter side, it's nice to hear that someone had success rehabing a Pakistani flute.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Jayhawk on 2002-12-04 17:13 ]</font>

ChrisLaughlin · Post by **ChrisLaughlin** » Wed Dec 04, 2002 2:19 pm

LOL
Come on guys! Not all Pakistani support Al-Quaida. That's like saying all Americans support Bush.

Chris

CraigMc · Post by **CraigMc** » Wed Dec 04, 2002 2:32 pm

I would even go further and say that more Americans support Bush than Pakistanis who support Al-Queda....like far more.

Although the Taliban came out of Pakistan remember they are the ones that screwed up that Al-Queda high jacking that landed in Afghanistan because they wouldn't support the hi-jackers and demanded the plane leave.
Their relationship with Al-Queda has been tumultuous...kind of like the U.S. and Canada