I know there`s a lot of talk about the "golden era" Haynes and Powells of the 50`s. Are these flutes truely superior? Why are they held is such high regard?

There`s a vintage Powell on Ebay right now. The seller isn`t far from me. It has me wondering if it`s worth it...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Verne-Q-Powell-Flute-27XX_W0QQitemZ7389552479QQcategoryZ10183QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Acording to the seller it will need an overhaul... starting bid is $2500... overhauls can run up to a $1000 for a professional brand.

For which you could buy a brand spanking new Powell signature.

Make sure you can try it and return it if you don`t like it.

I agre with Kara,
Make sure it`s playable and hasn`t been major damaged/repaired.
Also, just remember that if you buy one of these marvelous vintage instruments you may be getting a vintage tone quality and vintage tuning scale. If I remeber correctly, the Powells have always been very strong and good for solo work.
~Bilbo

Tim,
These flutes were made at a time when I truly think more detail and time went into them, making them truly spectacular. Do keep in mind, the older the flute, the more wear on parts. They also used the old scale back then and since have greatly improved. Galway talks about an old Haynes he had and the horror of intonation on it on his chat group.

Many very good flutist still play on them though and work around the scale.
The trend lately from what I have run across has been to buy the newer flutes like Nagahara.

Stephen makes a very good point also and I agree with him. It certainly doesn`t hurt to try it out, but if it does need an overhaul it is not going to be in proper condition to play and evaluate.

Thanks for the info guys. And, all things considered, I have to agree with you. Investing in a vintage instrument could equate more problems than advantages.

A friend of mine has an old Bonneville. It`s virtually an historic instrument made in France around the 1920s. This instrument has soldered tone holes. He had a repair person do a complete overhaul including resoldering the tone holes. Apparently the solder had become weak or the holes were leaking or that`s what was said. At any rate the sound and tone colors of this instrument now are gorgeous.

Players back in the 1950s could play relatively well in tune. A few of the problems with playing older instruments can come from modern players changing instruments and not knowing the scale of the instrument that they are playing on or from the instrument not being adjusted correctly. Very similar tuning issues with flutes and their players are easily documented through Mozart back to Quantz in the 1750s and I`d expect them to continue for a few more millenniums.

That being said. This Powell may have a great tone but I don`t particularly trust the seller and the photos. They are a bit blurry and don`t show the bottom side for any possible dents. On the other hand, $2500 + $1000 MAY net you a $5000+ instrument.


~Bilbo