what exactly is a "riser"? on this flute i`m looking at, it sais it has a 9k gold riser on the headjoint. just wondering what that is.

Here is a really good diagram of it. Hope this helps. It is much easier for when you can picture it.

http://www.fluteworld.com/Merchant/glossary.htm#Riser

why dont they just make the whole mouth peice gold?

Perhaps because it gives the flute an ugly, patchy, multicoloured look :-)

If the whole lip plate was 9K gold and not plated, then why would it give it a ugly,patchy, multicoloured look?

I have seen this on plated lip plates, but not solid ones. It is merely and opinion that it would look ugly.

I have a 14K gold lip plate that I think looks beautiful. I like the look or gold and silver together.

i`ve gotta agree with Arak. mixing gold and silver just looks nasty and pretentious.

a gold lip plate would look hot on a dark, wooden flute (assuming all the other mechanics were gold too), but not on a silver flute. eww!

Gold Lip plates do raise the re-sell value of a flute quite a bit... so people must like them. I`m a silver guy myself though some of the lighter gold flutes look nice.

I am sorry if this is true.

It is just a shame that a series of your posts did not read like a novice asking genuine questions and offereing (limited) experience. They read more like a fairly clued-up and experienced player, a lot older than 6 or 10, pretending to be something else, comlete with a good performance at juvenile language format, intent on introduce a whole lot of shonky concepts into the forum for disruptive entertainment, wasting the time of other members correcting such concepts.

Clearly I am not the only one who felt this, sensing a fake. Indeed a troll, in every sense of the word - quite a skilled one.

Sorry Piccolo_queen I kind of thought that you might be a troll too. I just get irritated when younger players come on here and offer advice when it is completely wrong.

It sounds as though you have just been misguided. I have to seriously question what your teacher has been telling you.

Uh, younger players? don`t you mean `inexperienced`? Some young players are extremely talented at their chosen instrument. Those players, are called PRODIGIES.

No, I meant younger players. If you notice an adult inexperienced player has the courtesy of not giving out incorrect advice as they know they have a lot to learn yet.

If you care to admit it or not, younger kids lack maturity in realizing this.

...prodigy or not.

Why are flute players always sniping at each other. Who cares who has a gold lip plate or not, I have a gold Jack Moore Headjoint on a Haynes from 1951 with a c foot, I like the way it sounds, so what, is someone going to question my judgement?

Your really one to talk. Didn`t you just snipe at piccolo_queen on her mispelling or a word? If you don`t care about what you play on or who plays on what, then why did you go into detailes about your old (not worth much) Haynes flute? Do we care? ...um... no.

"who cares who has a gold lip plate or not, I have a [snip]"

lol irony

I was being facitious, doesn`t anyone here have a sense of humor? I guess it went over everybodies head