Can anyone tell me anything about Ida Maria Grassi Flutes? All I know is they`re made in Milano, Italy, because it says right on the flue. I found one in an antique store for $120CDN, good condition, nice case, too.

Thanks

They were once a robust, easily-maintained student flute, but for a decade or three they marked time while other makers improved tone/volume/response.

The ones in the black case had a serious problem with pitting of the silver plating, which the makers attributed to some vapour given off by one of the materials used in the case. The black case was superceded by a brown case.

They quite often had splits across tone hole edges, which could be filled with an appropriate solder to stop the leak.

They had very fine thread adjusting screws, which all flutes probably should have.

Grassi determinedly made their cheapest model with no rolled tone holes... just sharp edges which cut through the pads about 3 times faster than rolled tone holes did.

Irregular faces on the rolled tone holes were common, but they used quite `squishy` pads to absorb the effects.

Grassi also made clarinets - a student wooden one, which was one of the best available at the time, but ceased several decades ago. The key metal was of poor quality, with slag in it, and it often broke. These clarinets were also well out of tune, and are about the only clarinet whose barrel had a larger bore than is appropriate for a standard mouthpiece tenon. The accuracy of pivots was scruffy, similar to older (and newer???) specimens of Orsi clarinet, suggesting the keywork was made in the same factory.

There were also Grassi saxophones.