Original Meyer's Flute, Ebay for $250 in playable condition.

[Sillydill]

Just a heads up, this is a good deal, not perfect but playable. Not mine and to many keys for me!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1800s-Rare-Orig ... 0889341634

[Latticino]

Looks like an ugly crack right thru the embochure (from the photo anyway). Might be an issue if it was not well repaired...

[Tonehole]

The wood has lovely tiger streaking. It looks like a fantastic body ~ maybe a lovely match for an ivorine Meyer type flute which I've been working on. The embouchure crack makes me nervous.

Here's what I've done with my headjoint:

[Tonehole]

The other side of the dragon headjoint. I quite liked the idea of blowing air in between its claws. Rewinding tenon with linen thread is also becoming quite an addictive repair hobby

[Jon C.]

This is a great deal. These flutes are great players! The wood is probably Madagascar Rosewood, at least the is what mine is made from. Kind of sad that such a rare flute would be going for so little, and I am broke!

[Jon C.]

another side note, the rings are made of wood and metal clad, makes the flute lighter...

[paddler]

With mixed feelings (because I generally don't like German flutes) I succumbed to temptation and put down the $250 for this flute (it had a "Buy It Now" option). It arrived in the post today.

I'm happy to report that it is really nice, and an excellent player, just as Jon C said it would be. Its far better than any German flute I've played before (I've played a half dozen or so). The tone is strong and vibrant. I can feel the flute buzz. Even the low B is strong, which is a new experience for me!

Its in beautiful condition too. The wood is gorgeous, with some deep red coloring to it. It definitely looks like rose wood to me. The only issue is the crack in the head, which was visible in the photos. It runs through the embouchure, but intersects the sides and is not near the blowing edge. Its actually not a bad one. Its been repaired, and at the embouchure the repair is clean, but not much care has been taken with the cosmetic aspects elsewhere. I think this will be easy to remedy though. I'm pretty sure I can make it nearly invisible. I've done quite a few of those before.

Oh, and I was delighted to find that it plays very well at A=440 with about 1 cm of slide extension. Score!! And for a bonus, even the case was in nice condition.

I'm pretty sure it is an original, as the seller claimed. It has the crowns clearly marked on all sections, it has the extra ring on the upper body section, all the posts are plate mounted, the shape of the barrel and keys are all as expected, and it plays astonishingly well. I have not pried any of the rings off to see if they are wrapped around wood, but looking edge ways on they look thicker than normal, so it would not surprise me if they are wrapped like they were on Jon C's flute.

The craftsmanship is very nice on this flute. A couple of unusual details: the end cap is German Silver on the outside, but inside its a nice boxwood cap threaded to accept a blackwood cork holder. The other unusual feature is the outer part of the tuning slide, which is at least twice as thick as on other flutes I've seen. I guess I should post a few close-up pictures of the relevant features once I've polished it up a bit. I'll try to get around to that next week.

Jon

[Akiba]

I'm envious you got that flute. I, like probably most others around here, was thinking of getting it myself. Congratulations.

(Impressive CV, by the way.)

Cheers.

[Jon C.]

Yes, mine has a boxwood clad crown too. The rings a boxwood clad also, at least the think ones. The female slide has wood sandwiched between the iner slide and outer cladding. These flutes are really in a league of their own when it comes to German flutes, as the others were copies!
Good to hear that you snapped it up!

[paddler]

I just finished repairing the head crack, cleaning and polishing etc. Pictures are posted here:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8997&p=1088810#p1088810

[LynnB]

Wow. I don't know much (ok, anything) about repairing flutes, but those are some pretty amazing "after" photos. Looks like this flute found a great new home.