Hi everyone,

The first thing everyone is going to say is......Don't get one of those...get a____________.

Well, I wish that I had $1000. I would buy myself a nice solid silver Yamaha.

So here it is.

Armstrong makes (I think) 4 different headjoints that are solid silver. Some of them are the same model and may or may not have engraving. Some of them have gold mouthpieces.

Does anyone know how the different models are cut? Which flutes are they typically coupled with? What kind of response do they have?

When I was a teen I had an 80B that was solid silver and it made a lovely tone. I wonder what kind of Armstrong headjoint was on it.

Believe me. I would much rather have a Powell or Haynes or Tom Green or a number of other top quality flutes. As an amature flautist, I doubt that I will ever own one of the many quality instruments out there today. So I have to make do with what I have and do the best I can.

I really appreciate any input ANYBODY has as I have done as much web research as I can and I can't seem to find any info even from Armstrong.

Thanks

Lana

Hi Lana,
I am sorry I really don't know much about Armstrong headjoints. Is $350 too much for your spending limit? I only ask because on several occasions I see solid silver Yamaha headjoint on ebay for around that, sometimes less. I got one a couple years back for only $125.00. Liz at winds101 has several used solid silver headjoint under the $300 range that you may want to look at. I don't know how much a new Armstrong headjoint would be, but I do know that I would much prefer a Yamaha headjoint over the Armstrongs.

Hope that helps and best of luck to you

Thanks Kara,

I am actually eyeballing a Yamaha headjoint but I think the tenon is a little too large. I think it is a .78 and mine is a.77. If I think that It will fit. I am definitely going to buy it.

you know, actually, im selling a headjoint. im not sure if its in your price range, but it may be of use to you.its a solid silver muramatsu. im selling because i outplay it. let me know!

I would certainly give the Armstrong headjoints a try, they might work for you.

A headjoint does not need to be the perfect size to be fitted to your own flute. If the size is a BIG difference, you may have trouble but most headjoints can be fitted to most flute barrels.

If a trial headjoint is loose (too small) in your barrel, you can put plumber's teflon tape on the headjoint, or Glad Press-n-seal works for me. If the headjoint is too big for the flute, ask to use a friend's flute, or possibly try some in a music store.

I found a beautiful engraved-lipplate Miyazawa silver headjoint on eBay for $400. It was fitted to a Gemeinhardt, so I borrowed a friend's Gemeinhardt to try it out. It took some down'sizing to get it right for my Yamaha, but it did work.

I've seen Yamaha EC pro headjoints for (used) around $400 or even less.

In my opinion, a used headjoint on eBay is a lot less risky than a flute becuase there is no mechanism/padding/adjustment to need a complete rebuild- if it looks in good shape, the most it might need would be a new cork, and a fitting, shich would be cheap.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your help. I bought a yamaha flute headjoint off of ebay from one of the Ebay stores. It was cheap and the store said it was new.

I actually went to some stores in town and tried some flutes before I got mine. I got my flute off of ebay and it only needed some minor work to get to playing condition. (I guess I got lucky.) Anyway, I loved the sound of the yamaha flute the best, but I didn't want to spend that kind of money on a flute at the time. I was not sure if I was going to enjoy playing the flute again. I think the reason I liked the Yamaha may have been the headjoint. I guess I am about to find out. I think it is the same cut as the flute I played in the store. I researched the headjoints on the Yamaha website before I purchased the headjoint. We will see what happens when a Yamaha silver headjoint goes on an Armstrong silver plated flute.

I love playing the flute and I enjoy it now more than when I was a teen. (I think it is because I don't have braces now. It is pretty painful to play with braces.)

My husband measured the diameter of the tenon and it was about .77. The yamaha is .78 so hopefully it will fit without too much trouble.

Thanks again.

I got my headjoint in the mail.

I wish that someone had warned me that Armstrong flutes are freaks of nature. The headjoint is barely too big so I am going to have to take it across town to see if it can be fitted.

According to my research. The armstrong tenon is .775..something and this headjoint is .78.

It will either work or I will have ruined a perfectly good yamaha solid silver headjoint.

Wish me luck!

Now here is the sad ending to this story.

I drive all the way across town to let this tech look at my flute to see if there is anyway the Yamaha head joint can be fitted.

The verdict is no. The socket for the tenon on the Armstrong flutes is tiny. He said that he could try to shrink it down enough, but the head joint would probably warp. I told him to forget it.

The other idea had me cringe and clutch my flute to my chest. He said we could cut off the socket and find a Yamaha socket and weld it to the flute. Then the head joint would fit.

That’s just crazy.

Who wants a Frankenstein flute? And what would that do to the sound?

I was sad when I left. I had a brand new shiny Yamaha head joint and a good old Armstrong 103B. The Armstrong is a good flute, but I remember when I was play testing flutes and the Yamaha flutes sounded better.

On the way home, I passed a used instrument music store. I got a wild hair and stopped. They didn’t have a Yamaha, but they had a Pearl 600 series flute that was beat to hell and back. They wanted way too much money for such a pathetic creature. It played great and the Yamaha flute head joint would almost slide in. I haggled with the guy and even tried trading my good old Armstrong. He was about to give me the flute for $250 when the boss walked up and said no way. He would sell me the old beater for $400. The plating was coming off. It had several dents in it and the head joint had been in some kind of war. I walked out.

Now I was on a flute hunt. I had the madness. I called around town and found a store not far that had two used Yamaha intermediate flutes.

I ended up with a Yamaha 385 at the end of the day. Now I have two solid silver Yamaha flute head joints.

Warning to anyone wanting a different headjoint for their Armstrong flute. You better replace it with an Armstrong headjoint.