Articles
“A Flute Buying Guide”
There are many great options
for both pre-owned and new flutes. Some great flutists play on both modern and
vintage flutes.
Financial considerations.
Today one can purchase a new, handmade professional “custom” silver flute at a
median price of $15,000 USD! Paying for a new flute may create a difficult
financial burden. Resale value can be 30–40% below retail cost making most new
flutes a poor financial investment. A flute’s primary value lies in how well it
plays and serves your musical needs.
Alternatives. A pre-owned or
vintage flute can be infinitely more affordable and an excellent or superior
choice. Flute builders active from the mid-19th century through the 1980’s
manufactured instruments with the highest quality control and limited
production - true custom handmade flutes made to order to your specificities.
Of course, you can still find new flutes of comparable quality from a few of
the smaller flute-making shops.
VintageFluteShop.com. sells
a variety of vintage, silver Boston-made - actually 100% made in Boston - French
model flutes in the $2,500-$6,500 USD range. Instead of buying a new flute for
$15,000 USD, you could purchase 2 vintage flutes with 2 modern headjoints and
have money left over for ice cream!
Vintage flutes and pitch.
Unless you play in a high-pitched orchestra or tour worldwide in countries such
as Japan, Korea, Germany, Austria, etc., you do not need an A=442 Hz flute! A
flute pitched at A=440 Hz is designed to play up to A=444 Hz.
Vintage flutes and
intonation. Discussing intonation with a famous late British flutist who
developed modern scales, he admitted that everything is a compromise: there is
no such thing as a perfectly tuned flute, and the flute player still has to
anticipate and adjust every note and interval to themselves and the
instrumentation with which they are playing. After hearing my concert, this
flutist came up to me smiling and said, “Your playing is excellent! How do you
play so well on an old out-of -tune flute?”
Compare traditional and
modern flutes. Generally, flutists trained before the 1980’s developed and
honed their skills playing traditional scales and traditional headjoints. Since
then, the Cooper style is more commonly used in new flutes. The popular
consensus is that contemporary flutes play louder, respond faster with an
improved, sharper scale, quicker mechanism, and more in-tune intervals. For
younger, undeveloped students, a contemporary flute may seem easier initially.
As the student progresses, they may find the tonal palate and sound quality of
the modern flute limited. Personally, I place a premium on the quality of sound
and variety of timbre as hallmarks of good and great flute playing.
Older flutes require more
embouchure control, have a more beautiful centered sound, pleasing overtones,
and are very lightweight. These older instruments project extremely well. As
one builds lip strength and flexibility, the resistance of the old flutes
disappears. Low notes may be a bit flatter and high notes sharper, and one
learns to play in tune with oneself and others by using one’s ear.
Pin-less mechanisms.
Speaking with the late owner of the famous Boston company who perfected the
pin-less mechanism, I asked him if I should sell my pinned flute and get a new
pin-less one. He told me clearly told me “NO.” The purpose of pin-less was not
for flutists’ technique, but for ease of manufacturing and padding!
Many modern flutes have
pin-less mechanisms that are lighter to the touch, yet this modification is not
strictly necessary. Listen to this incredible clip of Julius Baker, former
principal of NY Philharmonic performing the “Birds” from “Carnival of the
Animals” on his vintage flute:
Lineage. Vintage flutes
often have an interesting history. Some of the old and extant companies’ logs
still exist and VintageFluteShop.com can research these lineages. I find it
fascinating to discover who owned a flute and where it was played.
Repair. A vintage flute
requires a higher level of repair and sometimes restoration. With the right
flute repairman, vintage flutes do not need MORE repair than modern flutes.
Since there are fewer repairmen with the skills to restore old flutes properly
and with the correct pads these costs can be a bit higher.
The trade-off? Everything
with flute playing and flute making can be a trade-off. If the headjoint has
too much under- or over-cutting, it will play loud and fast, BUT the cutting
affects the sound quality. Adding extra flute keys may help with some fingerings
making the instrument HEAVIER. Older flutes are much lighter - they usually have
thinner tubing and key cups - which may explain the epidemic of flute players
with physical problems. I taught a number of students with serious physical
problems, and the problems often resolved when the student switched to a
lighter flute.
Buy yourself a wonderful
vintage flute, save lots of money, get a great instrument, and safe-keep a
handmade work of art to be passed down to the next generation.
Alan Weiss. Co-owner of
VintageFluteShop.com, is a professional flutist who has appeared in over 30
countries with major orchestras, performed chamber music with many renowned
musicians, and made critically acclaimed commercial recordings. He taught for a
decade at a major music school and has many successful students. For close to
16 years, he was the Artist in Residence of a major Boston-area flute company.
He has tried and tested hundreds of modern and vintage flutes and advised
modern flute makers.
Listen to Alan perform on
silver-plated Louis Lot Villette-era flute at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Flöte Festival 2019 in Hamburg, Germany.
Sonata in G Major Johann
Adolf Hasse (1699-1783)
I. Allegro
VintageFluteShop.com specializes
in antique and pre-owned modern flutes.
Visit us at
VintageFluteShop.com.
Copyright
© 2025 Alan Weiss
For more information please email Alan Weiss at alan@vintagefluteshop.com