Hey,

I recently began working on my AmusA Syllabus for the AMEB exams. My school woodwind teacher asked me to play something for him and, being used to my own flute, I was a bit skeptical of the rusted, flaking student Yamaha he presented to me. I played on it for a bit though and it sounded reasonably clear, considering the state of the embouchure. Anyways, afterwards, he offered me a play on his student Yamaha with a Sterling Silver Muramatsu head on it. Needless to say, it was amazing compared to the flute I had just been working with. Since then, I've been looking into upgrading my own headjoint.

Right now, I play on a Yamaha 371... I know it's a student model. My woodwind teacher offered to help me trial some headjoints and to purchase one in exchange for my used Jupiter 711 flute. Right now, I've sorta narrowed the list of headjoint makers down to this:

Powell (All Sterling Silver with a soloist cut... maybe 14K gold riser if he agrees to pay that much)
Landell (All Sterling Silver or Argentium Silver)
Brannen (All Sterling Silver)
Williams (All Sterling Silver)

Would that be a wide enough trial spectrum? Also, my teacher agreed to help... but he's not sure how he can trial these makers in Brisbane, Australia. Can anyone help?

ya may like to try http://www.woodwind-group.com.au/
there in sydney just up the road from me great selection

I'm not sure why you have 'narrowed your choices' to these four fine US makers.

I think you could probably find something really nice, but I don't get why you've not asked to demo some Muramatsu heads, especially since you responded so positively to your teacher's flute.

So...I'd try the Muramatsus and Miyazawas, both of which can pair very nicely with a Yamaha body (I have a Miya myself on a Yam body). Nagahara makes a dandy HJ, too, so I've heard. As does Altus.

In fact, you might find that a Yamaha EC head is 'your cup of tea', and a used one would be a LOT less expensive than a new Boston or Japanese HJ.

I would pay less attention to the material than the individual headjoint, and whether you really respond to it. There's an old story about Albert Cooper (of Brannen Cooper fame) making a new headjoint just for a masterclass containg some of the best flutists of the day. They all raved about the head, and all wanted one made of this fantastic new material. Mr. Cooper told them that he made this fantastic new headjoint out of melted down saucepan. So really, you will want to look for a superbly made/finished HJ, although some folks theorize that the HJs made from more expensive materials recieve more attention than others.



Perhaps your professor could write to these companies himself, on University letterhead, asking for a trial in Australia. I would guess that he would recieve several favorable responses, and you could find something that you really like from the makers that send samples.

I'd also second trying them in person. IMO, Landell makes the best headjoints of those makers, but it's truly custom. You have to literally tell him what options, cut, taper you want. Kind of like Having to give a blueprint to a machine shop to make a wrench before they'll do it(versus going out and buying a pre-made tool at Sears)

I don't recommend him as a result to anyone who isn't a pro and/or doesn't know *exactly* what they need. It's just too easy to spend a lot of money and get one of the variables wrong. Though if you can TRY one of his at a flute fair, sure - go for it. If you find something you like get the exact specifics and go from there.

By comparison, Powell and Brannen make a small but excellent range of headjoints, so finding one in person to try shouldn't be impossible. Nor should it be impossible to work out the differences.

Thanks for the input

The reason i narrowed it down to the US makers is that I recently tried my teacher's Muramatsu again and this time i noticed it was a bit edgy for my liking. Also, how does one see the pricing on the woodwind group website? I can't just travel down to Sydney for a weekend right now

call them

Well... here in Australia, a new Jupiter 711 ( the exact specifications mine has ) sells for 2500 new. Thats in Australian dollars. The flute is in new condition. Btw, does Liz ship second hand headjoints?

Actually, Muramatsu America does sell headjoint separately. If you go to their home page and look under accessories it give you a price from them.

http://www.muramatsu-america.com/

I know it's a bit of a "fly" but fluteworld.com has a rather large selection of barely used headjoints at the used price. It may be the route you need, especially when considering your budget and what you are looking to purchase.
When trying the Powell headjoints, I have found that the Venti cut works best for me and the Philharmonic sounds like butt. No offense... And I currently play on a Muramatsu flute and I ended up trading in my old headjoint for a shiny used Burkart. My Muramatsu head and I didn't get along (my tone was TOO dark).
With Japanese instruments, I find that an American headjoint is the best combo. At least for me. This can be completely different for someone else, TRY THEM!
Since each headjoint in the market you're looking at is handcut, each vary from head to head. When you try something you like, there's a HUGE chance you wont like another with the same cut, material, etc. You will HAVE to try them out to find the perfect fit.
Good luck though!

Manke makes absolutely stunning headjoints. My suggestion is try as many headjoints as you possibly can. It could take you a year or more. Make a spreadsheet of elements you're looking for and assign each one a rating of 1-10. Make notes about what shape the hole was, what size, whether there was a lot of overcutting or just a little or none, and show this sheet of characteristics and observations to a flute specialist like Jeff Weissman, Anne Pollack...or even some big names like Laurel Zucker or Amy Porter, Nina Perlove...these are ALL wonderful people that would look at your list of likes and dislikes, needs and wants, personal strengths and weaknesses and recommend something to you. Jeff Weissman could even make you a headjoint based on what you're looking for and if you were diligent enough and descriptive enough in noting all the things you like about different headjoints, he could probably custom make something for you. He's a wonderful guy.

Currently, I have a Powell Aurumite Philharmonic headjoint that I absolutely hate. It's a constant struggle. I'm going through this myself and I'm taking my time. But, my favorite so far that I've tried was a Mancke. It was 18k Gold though...need to try something I can afford. LOL

I just saw that you're looking to upgrade the headjoint on a student model flute. Didn't notice that before my last post. I think that's a bad idea...you'd spend almost as much on a good headjoint and get very little benefit. Don't bother with this and save your money for a good solid silver flute. Sonare is a good, affordable flute. As is Avanti-Brannen. Don't spend that kind of money on a nice headjoint to put on a student flute. It will only take away from the headjoint's abilities. I just used my Yamaha student flute with a Powell Solist headjoint while having my Powell repaired, and it was just dead and I wasn't able to project at all.

Hope this helps and doesn't discourage you.