silver plated versus solid silver

[cflutist]

Pairing a gold headjoint with a sterling silver or silver plated body is indeed a very powerful and cost effective combination. I have a Williams 14K headjoint on a Muramatsu AD body and it is a great setup for me.

That works very well for me too as I have a 14K Williams headjoint on a handmade Haynes body. It's like night and day between the Williams and the original headjoint that came with the flute.

[Tarandros]

Just to throw a bit of a joker into the pack here, I recently bought a flute by the East German maker Paul Krebs (probably made around the early 70s or late 60s). The craftsmanship is really superb - and I've also had it completely repadded. It's not solid silver - it's clearly some sort of alloy, probably nickel silver - but here's the interesting part - it has a wooden lip plate and riser and that certainly makes a difference to the tone - sweeter in the upper registers than a completely nickel silver flute, and reedier in the low register. It's unusual to see flutes with just a wooden lip plate but it seems to work, giving all the power and projection of a metal flute and the same possiblties for varying the tone, which aren't possible on a wooden flute, yet it also has a hint of a wooden sound to it. Kind regards, This makes me think that it's true that the headjoint makes the most difference to the overall sound of a flute - I don't think there's any disagreement about that - but even within that, the nearer you are to the source of sound (i.e. the embouchure), the greater the difference to the sound, so in the end a very decisive factor must be the actual riser and lip plate - what they're made of and how they're cut, that make the most difference to the tone. Regards, T.

[pied_piper]

Mancke (also German) makes silver and gold headjoints with grenadilla embouchure plates as well. I think other makers offer that combination as well.

http://www.mancke.com/

[Tarandros]

Mancke (also German) makes silver and gold headjoints with grenadilla embouchure plates as well. I think other makers offer that combination as well.

http://www.mancke.com/

Thanks for the link. It looks very interesting - ominously though, you have to email them to get the price list. To me that's always code for 'this product is probably out of your price range, pal!'. Kind regards, T.

[pied_piper]

I have an old 2008 price list and at that time a sterling head with grenadilla embouchure was €1590 For EU Member States.

[Tarandros]

I have an old 2008 price list and at that time a sterling head with grenadilla embouchure was €1590 For EU Member States.

Thanks for the information - that's a lot of money. I probably couldn't even raise half that if I sold all three of my flutes! I do like my Paul Krebs flute though. The headjoint with the wooden lip plate isn't the easiest I've ever played but it does produce a big sound in the low notes (though rather edgy, which I like) but has a sweet upper register. I played my silver flute the other day and it sounded dull by comparison. Kind regards, t.

[Mark]

I have never heard of a Muramatsu flute before so I have no idea how these look or sound so your flute might be better than mine.

the important thing is that your flute speaks well for YOU.

[Emmyflute]

Hi, at my flute lesson the other day, I played a Haynes q 3 and Haynes q4. The q3 had a solid silver body and plated keys. The q4 had solid keys, and a gold risor. I noticed a big difference between the 2 flutes. I really liked the q4!

[saacbeser]

Soon I'm going to be testing a heavy wall 9K gold Muramatsu headjoint that I was told requires a lot of air. Should be worthwhile

[Emmyflute]

I apologize for a mistake I made in an earlier post. I played a Haynes Q2 which had a solid silver body and plated keys. I also played a Haynes Q3 that had solid silver body and keys. I liked the Q3 much better.

[JButky]

Soon I'm going to be testing a heavy wall 9K gold Muramatsu headjoint that I was told requires a lot of air. Should be worthwhile

You do know that the requirement of a lot of air has absolutely nothing to do with it being 9k or heavy wall..

[pookerella]

I find the solid silver heavier and thicker. I was so used to my silver plated (3SHB) that when I got my 33SB it was quite a shock. I kind of like it, it feels more stable. The headpiece does make a huge difference. I am used to my J1 Custom. I won't give it up. I probably need to replace it at some point and I was thinking of the NGSS. The Galway Flutehead is horrible! I swear the hole feels smaller. I do not like it at all. Way too thick, I can't get any dynamics with this head everything is the same! Loud!