This was honestly one of the best sounding flutes I've ever come across. I had heard about these flutes over the years, but just this week one came across my bench! It really didn't disappoint! Highly highly recommend this maker!

In flute maintenance and repair we often strive to get things correctly down to .001th to .0005ths of an inch... To give you an idea an average human hair is about .003ths of an inch. 

The photos are what the player didn't notice with the naked eye. With a leak light inside, further damage is definitely apparent. I just happen to COA this flute about a month ago, so it is a good case study what a drop or fall can actually do.  

The player had noticed the dent and a bent key on the footjoint. Those were pretty easy to fix. She had no idea the right hand was completely out of adjustment like what the pictures here show.

This can take time to fix... often when metal is bent, and then bent back to repair, it "goes back" or "recedes" somewhere in the middle. There is also the worry of compression of the key kicker material. I most likely will bend on these keys a couple more days before I wake up and am happy with where they are. From there I will in all likelihood have to reshim some keys and connections.

My point in this post is 1. Insure your instrument against damage. 2. If you drop it, get it checked by a technician. There is no way of knowing just by glancing if it is working to its full potential.

Every flute deserves to sing... It is hard to get away from this mentality as a technician.

Often players come back to playing after a long hiatus and they have to decide... spend money on a full overhaul or buy a new flute. I almost always encourage them to get their old flute overhauled. It is usually a few hundred bucks cheaper AND they usually want to play on their own flute. Sure, the flute's value is about the cost of the overhaul, but when it's done I've actually never had an unsatisfied customer!

Can't wait to get this one back to the owner tomorrow!!