Anyone know anything about flutes?

VimFuego

I have my old flute that I played for a few years at school (erm, from 1981) so it's pretty old. It's not worth a fortune, but I'd like to sell it to free up a bit of cash. Looking at similar ones selling on ebay, they seem to be shifting for between £80 and £100ish, in good condition. Thing is, I have no idea if it's in good condition as when I tried to get a sound out of it sounded like a small, furry mammal being tortured. I know the pads can wear out, is there a way of spotting this without playing the thing? All the button things seem to be working and moving freely.

 

Fretwired

Try the ABRSM forum ...

http://www.abrsm.org/forum/index.php?showforum=16

Drew_TNBD

Pretty sure @Holnrew knows about skin flutes.

VimFuego

thanks fretW, I shall ask them there.

Longtallronnie

I only clicked on this thread to make sure someone had mentioned skin flutes.

Carry on...

VimFuego

I'm disappointed no one's mentioned band camp yet

johnnyurq

Now if we were talking Bolivian Arse Flutes maybe, common or garden stylee not so much.

Grunfeld

I know one thing about flutes.  It's from John Peel. The badly played flute is a sign of a shit song.

If you really have to play a flute, play it well.

UnclePsychosis

I play the flute, much, much better than I play guitar or bass.

On a flute that old I'd probably just assume the pads are knackered.

One thing you can do is to push all the keys to close all the holes and then blow straight down it, try to check for air leaks.

Also you can clean under the pads using cigarette papers. Put the paper under the pad, close the key on it, gently pull paper out.

VimFuego

coolio thanks Unc. I assume it won't be worth having the pads replaced?

ThePrettyDamned

Skin fl-!

Bugger, too late.

UnclePsychosis

VimFuego;396967" said:

coolio thanks Unc. I assume it won't be worth having the pads replaced?

Erm, dunno.

It's been a long time since I got my flute serviced, not sure how much it costs.

It might be OK, you're probably best off finding someone local who can play to check it out. Should still be able to sell it, instruments need serviced every so often so buyers should be aware of that.

holnrew

UnclePsychosis said:

It's been a long time since I got my flute serviced

Same

thermionic

Never mind, the hours of practise you've been putting in will pay off eventually.

robinbowes

What make/model is it?

VimFuego

boosey and hawkes emperor. Pretty much decided to donate it to a local music charity (they do work with handicapped kids etc, take music into schools), still waiting to hear back from them.