Handmade Custom Choices

If you are thinking about purchasing a Powell Handmade Custom flute, there are several options and material choices that truly customize the instrument to your preferences.  Today's choices go well beyond silver and gold to include grenadilla wood and eight different metals.  In addition to the body choices, you also have different options for the mechanism material on flutes with 10k, 14k , 19.5k, platinum, and grenadilla bodies.  Whereas soldered tone holes are available on all metal flutes, drawn tone holes are also an option for silver flutes and most gold flutes (with the exception of 14k white gold).

Each Handmade Custom flute is also made with your preference for key cups (French or American), G keys (offset or inline), pitch (A-440, 442, or 444), and footjoint, (B foot with or without gizmo, or C foot).  Metal flutes may be ordered with either a pinned or pinless mechchanism.  Further customizations include the option of a C# trill, D# roller, split-E,  and G-disc. engraving, 10k or 14k tone holes, and a 14k "package' of 14k tone holes, posts, and rings.

The chart below (click it to enlarge) lists materials, options, and customizations for Powell's Handmade Custom flutes.  To view more information, download the full Powell brochure at https://powellflutes.com/sites/powell.mervideo.com/files/2015_vqp_brochure_1.pdf.

Tube Thickness

Have you heard the term "heavy wall" in regard to flutes?  When we go to shows like the NFA, we do have people asking if we have "heavy wall" flutes.  So, what exactly is the "heavy wall" flute?

Well, "heavy wall" refers to the thickness of the body tubing.  For our silver Custom flutes, you have the choice of three different tube thicknesses: .014", .016", and .018."  In that series of measurements, the "heavy wall" is the .018" tubing, because is it the thickest tubing of the three.  Many of our flutes have the .016" thickness, including our Signature, Conservatory, and Aurumite models. Currently, most of our orders for silver Custom flutes request the .016" tubing as well.

The Custom silver flutes have thickness choices, but what about gold?  Platinum?  All of the Custom gold flutes (regardless of karat), have a body thickness of .012,"and the body tubing for platinum flutes is .010." 

It's good to keep these different body tubing thicknesses in mind when trying headjoints as well.  Silver headjoints are available in .014" and .016" tubing.  As you might recall from a previous post on silver headjoints (follow this link to read it), we found that the .018" tubing on silver headjoints didn't produce the desired sound qualities we were looking for with the .018" silver Custom body, so the .016" silver headjoint fits that particular flute.  Of course, if you have a .014" silver flute, the .016" headjoint would definitely not fit!  From yet another post (which you can read by following this link), we learned that sometimes the barrel thickness is different than the body thickness.  Lots to think about!  So, if you have the chance to try different thicknesses on silver flutes, see if you can feel and hear a difference.  Obviously, there's more than one size to fit all when it comes to silver!

From the Beginning -- the Earliest Powell Flutes

Flutists have many choices when it comes to Powell flutes today, but what about the very first Powell flutes?  If you have wondered what options were and models were available, we went into the archive to find out...

Looking through historical documents, we found a brochure from 1930.  At the time, Powell offered two models of C flutes with the following specs:

1 - the Handmade Louis Lot pattern with thin wall tubing, soldered tone holes, open or closed key cups, and open or closed G#
2 - the Commercial model with 0.18" heavy wall tubing, drawn tone holes, open or closed key cups, and open or closed G#

Handmade models came in silver, 14k gold, and platinum and had options that could be added as requested, such as French pointed arms and a left hand low B lever.  In the 1930s, the gizmo key was developed by Powell and added as an option as well.  From the beginning, all Powell flutes were pitched at A-440 unless ordered otherwise.  During the time period from 1930 to 1941, flutes pitched at A-442 were produced for leading players, including Bladet, Madsen, Pappoutsakis, and Opava.  In addition to the standard models, Powell did produce a few unique items in 1929: a bamboo flute, an octave piccolo, and a piccolo with a low C.

So, how much would one of the very first Powell flutes cost?  Well, in 1930, the Handmade silver models were $250 for the "French model" (open keys) and $240 for the "American model" (closed keys).The Commercial models were $200 for the French model and $185 for the American model.  In the photo below, you will see a price listing from the 1930 Powell brochure.

Headjoint Finishing - The Tenon

Sometimes when you look at your instrument, it is hard to imagine what it may have looked like before it was completely finished.  This came to our attention when we were on the production floor the other day and saw several Signature headjoints in the finishing department.  The headjoints each had a piece of blue tape around them, and we were anxious to find out more...

We spoke with flute finisher Karl Kornfeld about the tape, and he told us that it is a marker for the tenon.  As you can see from the photo above, the headjoints were completely polished from top to bottom.  The next step would be to lightly sand the end section below the blue tape to make a visible, "matte" style tenon that will fit inside the flute barrel.

Powell Repair Technician, Rachel Baker, shed more light on this part of the finishing process with a bit of historical and technical information.  She said that flute heajoints did not always have this "matte" type of tenon.  In fact, many had nothing!  Several older flute headjoints, like Powell #20 in the photo below, had a ring that stopped the headjoint when it was fully in place inside the barrel.  This ring also served as a position marker for tuning.

Powell #20 is on the far right in this photo.

Rachel said the today's tenon style serves a few purposes: 

 

(1) It helps mark the position of the headjoint in the flute.  Flutists may have their headjoints all the way in, or may have to pull out or push in to tune.  The visible difference of the matte tenon helps with placement -- much like the older rings.

(2) It provides a smoother fit for the headjoint in the barrel.  She says that there is the friction of metal against metal when you put the headjoint in the barrel, and although it may seem like a polished section would slide better, the matte area actually moves more smoothly.

(3) Aesthetics.  With normal use, the headjoint tenon will get marks simply from the normal wear and tear of putting the headjoint in and taking it out.  Those marks seem to look better on the "matte" surface rather than they would on a shiny one.

In the headjoint fitting process, the tenon may need to be sanded if it is too big for the barrel.  However, Rachel told us that the amount used in the process of creating a visible tenon does not take off any substantial amount of material, so rest assured that headjoints are not harmed in the process of forming the visible tenon.

Sanding lightly while headjoint is spinning rapidly.

Done!

Winged Headjoints

14k rose gold headjoint with 14k rose gold wings

At this year's NFA Convention, one of our newest products, our winged headjoints, piqued the curiosity of many flutists.  They all wanted to know, "What are the wings for?"  Luckily, flute finisher Lindsey McChord, who also cuts headjoints here at Powell, was at the Powell booth and could certainly answer the question.  Once she was back in the shop, we spoke with her so that those of you who may not have attended could learn more about these headjoints as well!

Lindsey explained that the wings are supposed to channel the air -- because a bit of air is normally lost on the sides of your mouth as you play.  With the winged headjoint, you are not losing the air on the sides, so the result (from the channeled airstream) is a more focused, cleaner sound.  Also, Lindsey mentioned that the wings may help enhance the characteristic sound qualities that are distinct for each headjoint style.  She shared, "For some people, the wings enhance what they like about that particular style even more than if it did not have wings," adding "wings can add a whole new dimension to the headjoint style."

At Powell, the wings are brazed on to the lip plate during the full process of making the headjoint, so wings cannot be a added to a headjoint that was made without them.  So, if you currently have a traditional headjoint and were thinking about adding wings, well, unfortunately that would not be an option.  However, just as with any headjoint at Powell, winged headjoints are handcut.  If you are interested in trying one, they are currently offered as an option for Powell Soloist and Philharmonic styles. 

Aurumite 14k headjoint with 14k rose gold wings