Hello, I am new to this forum, but have enjoyed reading the various posts offering advice on headjoint/body combinations. I have played a 9k Yamaha YFL-991 for the past 20 years. Have loved the dark and complex low and mid ranges, but have always been a little unhappy with the higher register, especially for faster and more complicated runs. I wouldn't change a thing for the slower and more moody pieces. So, I have decided to (finally) look into getting a new headjoint to brighten up the tone and make it a little easier to blow out the high register. Can anyone offer me any tips or advice on which headjoints to try? There are so many combinations out there these days, and I'm so used to playing the same flute for decades, I really don't know where to start. I realize that I need to try out several, but was hoping for a few tips on a starting point. I'm also concerned that certain headjoints may not fit into my instrument, which I have run into before when trying some from friends. Someone suggested I try a silver Sheridan with 14k riser, but what else is out there that might work? Thanks so much in advance, and I appreciate all thoughts!

I would contact some of the major flute houses like Carolyn Nussbaum, JL Smith, or Flute World and arrange to do headjoint trials to play as many as you can to find one that suits you.
That is what I did with Carolyn Nussbaum and ended up with a 14K Williams. I also tried a Sheridan and liked it almost as much. The Willams was a tad more responsive for me. Did not care for the Gooseman though.

Your correct that headjoints respond differently for different players. A friend of mine tried the Williams HJs and hated all 12 of them that he tried. He ended up with a Brannen. I have several other friends that play Lafin. Another friend sold his Lafin to his sister and bought an Arista. Another friend plays a Nagahara. The list goes on and on.

A competent tech can size a HJ up or down to fit an existing flute (within reason).

Thanks so much for your thoughts and tips. I appreciate the reply tremendously. I did contact JL Smith and they are sending me a few Sheridan headjoints to try along with a Rodger Young headjoint. I will also look into Williams and Drelinger, and someone also suggested Arista. I will see what Carolyn Nussbaum and the Flute Ctr of NY have to offer, as well.

How does one test a headjoint if it doesn't fit into your instrument? Try it on the backup flute? But that won't give me the most authentic sound, since my backup is silver and my primary instrument is 9k.

My biggest concern is whether or not the trial headjoints will fit into my yamaha. My silver yamaha headjoint (from my backup flute) does not fit into my gold yamaha tube at all. Not even close. I've been playing this 9k yamaha since I was 16 (it was purchased second-hand by my parents from a flute instructor who claimed it was played by Julius Baker - yeah right! LOL! My poor non-musician parents were very impressed and purchased it), and I don't know much about the instrument. I've tried contacting Yamaha, and it apparently is one of the first handmade gold flutes Japan put out...the serial number isn't even in the current Yamaha database, and it dates back to the late 70s or early 80s. Go figure. I'm sure there's quite a story behind it.

I guess I'm not sure what the right combination of metal for a HJ is for a 9k instrument. I know I need something with less resistance that will produce a brighter and clearer sound. I believe my current hj that i've played on all these years may be a little too undercut.

I don't know much about Japanese flutes. Perhaps one of the techs or JBurky (Pearl flutes)can chime in here.

But for US made flutes, silver flutes are norrmally .014", .016", or .018" thickness, while gold flutes are .012" and platinum .011". When I did my 14K headjoint trials, they were all smaller than my Haynes silver body at the time, so I used plumbers tape to fit them. That is what Carolyn Nussbaum told me to do. Carolyn then burnished the HJ tenon so it would fit my flute. Brannen then made the body tenon to match when I ordered my new flute from them a year ago. Now I can use my Williams HJ on both flutes and can also do the opposite with the Haynes HJ. I don't know what one would do to playtest HJs if the headjoint it larger than the body tenon.

I considered Drelinger, (a friend of mine has a gold one of his with a 14K Brannen body, and another past member of the orchestra had a silver one), but the thought of meeting him in a hotel room and deciding on a headjoint one hour later was not something I could do. It took me several days to decide.

Good Luck with your shopping.

20 years...

You almost certainly have a CY cut handmade headjoint on it, right?
Just changing to a more modern EC might fix your problem for not a lot of money. Since it's the same headjoint found on most new upper-end Yamahas, it should be a snap to try out. If you want it in gold alloy to match, then you can order/find one. The sound should be virtually the same, of course, between 9K and solid silver.

Gold Flute tubes (even 9K) are much thinner than Silver tubes. Gold tube flutes are generally in the .011-.012" thickness. Silver tubes run from .014"-.018" You probably need to look at gold headjoints or tell the headjoint maker its for a 9K. Many will not have a silver head that thin available. Sandy Drelinger probably will. He's got lots of stuff..

Joe B