Well, an overhaul doesn't really involve anything that should do damage to your flute. They're not going to take hammers to the tube or anything, so unless you have a very nice artist-quality flute, there's probably not much point in worrying about the local repair tech. If you really don't want to go that route, though, I can tell you that I have bought things from MusicMedic before, and have had nothing but great service. Obviously, this doesn't really reflect on the service/repair side of things, but it does go to show that they are trustworthy. I personally would not use somebody I found on eBay under any circumstances. I prefer to have somebody that won't just disappear into the woodwork with my flute or do a poor job that you may not be able to hold them accountable for.

Also, I would be concerned about the padding methods used by the eBay seller. If you read the description, it mentions clamping and heating the pads to get them to seal. Clamping and heating is a legitimate way to put an impression in the pads, and is one of the steps in the process of a repad, but the way it reads, it sounds to me like they might use the soak and bake method (which is not an indicator of high quality work).

One more message....If the pads are still in good condition (i.e. they're leak free, with no tears or other damage), then the blackness may not mean anything. I've had pads that were yellow, blue, white...Well you get the idea....Lots of different color pads, and they all sealed fine. The pads will pick up some of the tarnish from the top of the tonehole over time, which will leave a black ring on the pads, but unless they are sealing poorly, you may be able to get away with a simpler COA (which does not entail a repad), which your local tech should have no trouble with.

Well if he's doing good work, and looking to keep the repair side of his business alive, he won't give the flute back to you until it is in good playing condition. Should it seem rushed, try the flute before you leave the shop (You should really do this anyway), and if anything doesn't meet your satisfaction, tell him. I've had to do this before, and usually they are quite willing to put the problem right, because it reflects poorly on them to let a flute leave the shop that has had a low quality repair job done on it.

Andrew,
A friend of mine had her flute re padded by an ebay seller (not sure if it is the same seller or not?) but, it came back with a bunch of leaks. I went up for a visit to see her and saw it first hand as I was there when it arrived back to her in the mail. The pads were not properly seated and you could tell just with the naked eye. She wrote to the seller about this and the seller responded that it must have happened in shipping. Yeah (Kara says sarcastically!)

You may have to pay a tad bit more by sending it off to somewhere like JL Smith, but trust me, it will be worth it in the long run. About 3 years ago when I stilled played on my Yamaha 581 I took it in to get a re pad job on it to a man that repairs in the city. When I got it back, it played fine, but the headjoint had a wave to it where you could clearly see a dent was taken out of it. I understand that mistakes happen, but he denied it, which was sad. Even if it isn't an 8 grand and up flute, it is your baby and should be worked on and taken care of as if it were a gold flute.

Well that does sound like a good chance for a much needed overhaul, then....

Hey, Alieannie....Did you by any chance try the wax trick that's all the rage on the Galway flute board?

It's an interesting idea...I'm tempted to try it on one of my flutes. You think it was worth the effort, then?

Yeah, I was going to use an old Armstrong I have on hand that I never use...No chance I'm trying it (at least for the first time) on my gold flute. I have tried flutes with different types of corks/stoppers before, though I can't specifically recall any instance where I knew it was a Bigio, so I can't really offer up any thoughts on those myself, though for only $300, and all the positive feedback they've been getting, I would certainly be willing to give them a shot.

According to the posts there (which started out as a why to temporarily reseal a leaking headjoint cork), you unscrew the crown, and drop in a few flakes of candle or bees wax, and then heat the head to melt it, swirling the head gently in a circle to get an even coating. They are still debating what exactly it does, and why it works, but so far the consensus seems overwhelmingly positive, especially in combination with the Zirconium stoppers and crowns made by Robert Bigio.

It's understandable, though...We're conditioned to be especially careful with our flutes, and throwing wax in the tube and applying a flame doesn't seem like the best way to go about taking care of it, but I think I'm going to try it out on the Armstrong tomorrow, and if I like what it does, eventually I might do it to my others....I'll report back with my findings once I'm done. What did you use as a heat source?

I'll also give the hairdryer thing a try and see if it works and report back.

Yes, I have some experience with this from flute repair, and I'll be prepared when the time comes to deal with the heat. Thank you for the warning, though!

I was reading about that whole wax thing to on the Galway board. I have two rather new headjoint and one new flute, so I am not sure if I will try it on one of these as the head corks are new and are a perfect fit. I didn't read the whole topic on it, but where they suggesting only using this method for a loose head cork or do they think it improves an already fitted one?

Okay,,, this is really getting hard to type. My kitten is attacking the key board while I am trying to write this. Lol! Bad ol putty tat!

Well, Kara, it started as a question from CGettel referring to a way that a music store he had worked in had done a quick fix on returned rental instruments wanting to know if it was common practice among repair techs, but it turns out that Kanichi Nagahara does this to all his new heads, and many people were inspired to give it a shot, and seem to think that it's an improvement, even for well-fitting corks.