Flutemaker's Guild (London)Artist Quality Flute
A superb hand-made sterling silver flute from the workshops of Flutemaker's Guild
of London,
serial number 398, made in England in 1975.
A cooperative workshop of ex-Rudall-Carte workers, Flute Maker's Guild produced several hundred excellent flutes in the sixties and throughout the eighties.
Flute number 398 is of pure .925 alloy English sterling silver (with hallmarks and makers' marks), French (open) keywork to low B. Inline G, made by Guild member David Keen.
We measure the tube at .015 inch thickness, the original Mehnert-inspired German reform
high-rise embouchure
measures 10.4 X 12.2 mm.
The sounding length is 634 mm, which means it plays well at 442 pitch.
According to Eylon Raanan, a teacher and professional musician in Germany, fewer than 30 FMG flutes were made with the Mehnert-type embouchure, most of them for his students.
The unique design of the embouchure means this superb instrument is not for every player. We recommend trying the instruments with other head sections, especially Michael Allen of London.
It’s a rather long story, but I’ll make it as short as possible.
In the early seventies, Haynes promised us twenty-four flutes a year. Time of delivery was “three years plus”.
Powell promised us two (only) flutes a year. Time of delivery was “maybe five years”.
As our customers were wanting pro-quality flutes and since it was before Muramatsu (and others) were in the pro-flute business, I made contact with (among other firms) “Flutemakers’ Guild of London”. Got on the plane, paid ‘em a visit, came away very impressed. Mind you, I’d purchased a new Morgan “Plus Four” roadster only a couple of years before, so I was (still am, actually) very pro-British.
I imported a handful of them, found them to be of high-quality but just not quite what American players wanted. I recall selling three instruments to a member of the Dallas Symphony, including a rather special piccolo with 14K gold keywork.
Not totally sure why it all stopped, though. Might have had to do with Japan, as Muramatsu’s flutes became well-accepted and the others became popular with our clients. And at 350 yen to the dollar, the price of Japanese flutes was very low indeed.
I’ve since sold maybe six or eight second-hand Flutemakers’ flutes. All have been of premium quality, well accepted by some and not so much with others. There’s a bit of history of the firm on the internet, so there’s little reason to say more with this posting. Or write Howel Roberts (Munich) He has info about them as well, as he started his career there.
In the meantime, I was recently offered this superb flute by a fellow music-merchant and couldn’t resist not acquiring it.
It arrived this morning, looks as if it’s never been played. And there is, I believe, why…
Everything is solid .925 pure sterling silver. The body and foot have English hallmarks to guarantee the purity of the metal.
The flute was constructed with soldered tone-holes, extended key arms over the pad-cups and the traditional “French” model without the adjusting screws for the stack keys.
Tube thickness, as I measure it, is .015 / .016 inch.
Sounding length with the original head is 634 mm. That means it was built to A = 441 maybe 442. SL of 635 / 636 means A = 440, so it’s a shade higher. With the original head, I mean.
To wit:
Do a Google search for Michael Allen, Flutemaker, in London. Eccentric genius who’s built only a handful of high-dollar flutes (I’ve had four) plus several hundred head sections. Michael works on his own and even though no two of his flutes are identical, they are museum pieces that show the highest possible workmanship and acoustic design.
NOT like a modern Boston or Japanese flute, though. Tone-color is clear and clean, not brassy but with a subtle voice that I find magnificent.
Yes, we would be pleased to send “on approval” for a few days.
Comparable with the finest, highly recommended!
With original head section
$4,850.
