Hi Everyone,

So for those of you who have tried lots of pro flute headjoints,

Which are your favorites and why? Be specific..There will be a test at the end

Joe B

http://www.headjoints.com/

These guys. Best wood headjoint that I know of. (have one myself). Very nice tone as well.

the best metal ones that I have tried at Landell's. But there are an almost infinite amount of choices here in terms of geometry and cuts. The reason I like them is because they are very reasonably priced if you stick to plain silver and no fancy options. It's possible to get one for not much over $1000 this way. And, it's 100% custom if you want a specific combination.

Though, I have to admit, he is a bit of a snob when it comes to flutes. He really talked down Yamaha and anything not small shop/handmade. So just focus on the headjoints. (I didn't find it unreasonable to inquire about a $1200 or so custom headjoint for my Yamaha at the time)

I like my Jack Moore, also like Williams a lot...

BTW, will you be at the FFA in Orlando Joe? I am doing a concert there...

Landell is a fantastic guy. He loved my Powell when he worked on it and had nothing bad to say about it at all. Most likely because it IS a great flute! I only tried one of his headjoints and it was an older one. It was okay.

When I have more time I will write more on headjoint and try to answer the question. There are just so many fantastic heads that I have had that I will have to think about it. I can say however, Yamaha was not one of them. lololol!!!

Not sure if I'm doing Florida this year. I think 2 others are. too bad.

Ardal Powell's wood headjoints. I like the Boehm style personally.

Landell heads are great. Don't forget he started at Powell, but I don't think he is as biased as Kara!

Anybody try Mancke, Sheridan, Nagahara, Burkhart, Gooseman, Arista, Emmanuel, etc? Care to give some feedback?

Joe B

Hi Joe,

I own Nagahara and Emanuel HJs. This one is all silver, L model (stands for Louis Lot) and fits my old Muramatsu Standard (all silver, 30 year old). I purchased the Emanuel recently. What I can say about it is that now my old Mura really sings. Just revived an instrument I just didn't want to play any more. Now it's my preferred flute for the antique repertoire from beethoven and earlier. It really surprised me for the quality in tone and roundness in sound. Maybe the L factor could be the secret? :-)
The other one (all gold, platinum raiser) is a gem. I play the Nagahara with my Sankyo gold flute. What surprises me the most is the variation in volume of sound I can get. Makes it easy to play a repertoire that demands a large orchestra with full brass winds, being possible to range from pianissimos to fortissimos easily and still keeping control of tunning.

I have to say also that besides the quality of these two excelent headjoints (I feel really privileged) they always demand work to find out how exactly they "sing" better. This may not signify thay it will be the case for everybody, but they both do work very well for me.

cheers,
Zevang

Small edit/comment:

Landell is a great guy - very helpful and knows his stuff. Just he didn't see the point in putting a $1200+ headjoint on a $2500 flute. Go figure. Heh.

The titanium of course is the one that I'd like to get some day. But the price is quite a lot. the wood one I bought instead is lovely and works great. Better than the Yamaha wood headjoint on their 900.