glad to hear that Boston is still popular

Hey Tim,
I am so glad that you are liking your new Powell. I did end up getting the Williams headjoint. It is just a silver one, not Alder wings. I am very happy with it.

Patrick,
I do like the Boston headjoint a lot too. I almost ended up getting that one instead of the Philharmonic when I purchased my flute. It was a real toss up. Tim, has a Signature headjoint. I still think that it is similar to the Boston cut, but a bit more free blowing.

I still really like my Philharmonic headjoint, it is a real gem, so I have decided not to sell it. I like to have two headjoint for whatever mood I am in at the time. Sometimes I like a sweeter sound like the Williams and other times I like the more aggressive sound of the Powell.

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Tim did you sell your Muramatsu? If not, have you tried putting the Muramatsu headjoint on the Powell? I tried it before when I had the two, but the Muramatsu head was too big for my Powell. I know they all vary though. I was just wondering what that would be like. I really didn't care for the Muramatsu head that much, it was too dark sounding for my taste. The Powell had a huge full sound that I was looking for.

The Williams, Sheridan and Brannen headjoints really compliment the Powell if later on you do decide to get another headjoint for it. I haven't tried a Nagahara on mine, but heard they also pair well with it.
I really liked my Sankyo headjoint on it, but for some odd reason, whenever I try to put a non american head on my flute, I have trouble with intonation.

That is pretty much the same conclusion my husband and father had come to.

Notice, I didn't blame the Sankyo headjoint as being poorly designed or any other Japanese model. I think they are quite superior. It is just like any of the other Japanese flutes that I have tried, my embouchure and ear does not agree with the scale 100%, though they are fabulous flutes and I really think the mechanism on them is better then on my Powell.
It does make sense since headjoints react differently to different flutes.

I am not sure it this mattered or not, but the Sankyo head was longer on the tenon where you go to push it into the barrel of the flute and didn't go in all the way. It was the same thing on the Miyazawa headjoint that I had tried also. It must be that the a lot of the Japanese made flutes use a longer sleeve to the barrel (if that is what you call it???) on their flutes.

I was just talking to Liz at JL Smith and told her the same thing. She said that she gets customers that have also voiced the same problem as I did. It is nice to know I am not alone and not some weirdo.

Now if only I could get the Muramatsu or Miyas mechanism, on my Powell. Now that would be ideal!

No, unfortunately, I sold my Muramatsu in order to afford the Powell. No regrets yet though.

i would reccomend a powell headjoint. i think that would be a good option seeing as you have a powell flute

If you would have read the thread, you would have seen that I have a Powell headjoint that is on my Powell flute. Like wow.. what do ya know! Go figure. Lol!

ok then. percisely how old are you? coz i think u might possibly be suffering with work overload etc etc. might i be able to recommend a counseller for you madam?

Do you even know what the heck you are talking about little boy?

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Sorry, that is little girl. Please, this is meant to be a nice forum with mature discussions. If you can not do so, then please don't post and waist my time and others.

Hey Kara,

I have a question regarding headjoints. I would like to eventually get a new headjoint before a new flute if I can get this flute into optimum performance level. I like free-blowing headjoint, but I like enough resistance so that the notes don't crack if I play to roughly. I only have problems in the lower register. My E cracks horrifically. So, naturally my lower notes are not as full and rounded as the higher ones. In your experience, what would be the material I would rather try out in a headjoint? Should I stick with silver, or do a gold riser? Does gold give more resistance? I honestly can't form an opinion myself because the headjoint that I have now is a Pearl with a 10K lip. The embochure hole, however, is massive! I also have a silver plated head joint from Pearl, with a SS lip plate. Very free blowing, but same problem down low. The embochure hole on this one is huge also. Maybe just trying a smaller embochure hole would help? If you have any suggestions that would be great!

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-Dennis

Hmm...For some reason I personally am attracted to the heads that have the 14K gold riser on them. I don't find them to be anymore resistant though. To be honest with you, the difference to me when trying out either silver or gold riser was minimal if any. I may have just liked the headjoint cut one came with and it happened to have a 14K gold riser on it.

I will get back to you on what headjoints you might want to try out as soon as I am done engraving my last headjoint here.

It isn't the size of the Pearl hole that is a problem, but the undercutting.

Check out this Yamaha page on headjoint cuts:
http://www.yamaha.co.jp/english/product/winds/fact/how/flute/tour2/p_main.htm

Your Pearl head has an extreme undercutting, see Yamaha's type A for example.

high level of resistance... result is tonal freedom

You really have to try a bunch of headjoints and see what works well for you. How much resistance can you stand? The more the merrier, I say.

Yeah it does look like I have an "A" cut. It also looks like I would be most happy with either the "E" or "H" cuts. I play with a lot of wind power. Which, in turn, if I don't compensate for on the lower notes, I overblown them into next week! Are these cuts pretty standard for each company? If I were to call a company to do a headjoint can I say E cut or H cut embochure, and would they know what the heck I was talking about? Thanks guys!

-Dennis

Those cut letters are only for Yamaha. I'm afraid you really have to try out headjoints. Though you might be able to ask a dealer if they have headjoints that are similar to Yamaha's "such and such" headjoint you may find your actual taste is different than you think when you play the different cuts.

I agree with Stephen. I wouldn't focus on the features or cuts of any headjoint, just test as many out as you can. You might suprise yourself in what you do like.

I like free-blowing headjoint, but I like enough resistance so that the notes don't crack if I play to roughly. I only have problems in the lower register. My E cracks horrifically. So, naturally my lower notes are not as full and rounded as the higher ones. In your experience, what would be the material I would rather try out in a headjoint?

Dennis If this is what you seem to prefer. You should look at something with a higher riser (.205" -.210") to help the resistance and low register with either a good amount of undercutting or steeper rate of taper.

A platinum or gold riser can add to resistance. And since you are having problems with your E Cracking (I'm assuming e2 or e3)

There are lots of configurations that could suit your needs based on the criteria I gave you.. You can go hit and miss by trial or have someone measure the headjoints from a selection and try them to see if that is what you are looking for.

You have adjustments potential for either one. For E3, you can get a donut installed cheaply and easily to control that. For E2 you need to set up your headjoint length properly and adjust the stopper for your playing habits...

Joe B