Hello people.I've been lurking around here ( unregistered ) for around 2 years.I live in Singapore. Watched this place grow...so anyway i'll cut to the chase.
My Current Gear: Yamaha 381 ( Sterling silver head.The rest are nickel-silver;silver palted )
At first it was alright for me...lasted me from high school to college now.But now i feel as though its restricting me.
Headjoint seems like a good way to cure this but where i live, if the tenons are too small,huge...it cant be adjusted.Available brands here...yamaha,altus,gharts,trevors,miya,sankyo only.
A whole new flute will probably cost more. Plus the headjoint cuts are standard ones.Thought of deMedici Jupiter flutes.
Sound concept: I want a dark full sound...preferabbly something with high resistance such as a piccolo. I find that i can produce a fuller sound on the piccolo then on my flute.(Yamaha 81 grenadilla wood piccolo )
So wadya guys think?And yes im on a tight budget haha.
It sounds like a good headjoint could be a good way to go, however, if you have found the mechanism or scale difficult to work with, obviously a headjoint alone won't solve this. If you do go headjoint shopping, it's the same basic principle as flute shopping....Play as many different heads as possible against each other (preferably with blind tests and others present to offer their opinions), and choose the one that suits you best. I'm sure you can find someone in the area to size a headjoint for you (most competent techs are capable of this), so it might be worth doing a bit more research to see what options exist.
Hi Frummer,
I'd suggest you to look for a Sankyo NRS1 Headjoint. Naturally it would be wise to try it before buying, but since your flute not necessarely will fit, you can try a whole Sankyo that have a head like this one I told.
Hi, Frummer.
I second the recommendation for the Sankyo NRS-1. I have one, and when I bought it there was no adjustment needed for my Yamaha 881.
I also liked the Yamaha EC cut headjoint. A used Yamaha EC may be easier to find used, and I have seen them sell for $400 or less.
You might also find an electronic caliper to measure the tenon of your current headjoint. I can't tell you what the usual tolerance is for an easy adjustment, but the closer, the better.
If a trial headjoint is too small, you can use teflon tape from any hardware/plumbing supply to make the connection leak-porrf and stable enough to get a good trial.
headjoints make the flute, ask anyone on here, also, you can try many at various prices and materials and always replace it someday, some flutists have many headjoints
unfortunately from what i know...trying of headjoints will be a hard thing to access to.Unless maybe i get a trip down to Yamaha warehouse or something.As for the sankyo...i will go do my research now...
keep it coming...and thanks for the reviews...
PS: (for those who live in Singapore , even Accent doesnt provide tenon fitting service ...a tad bit unfortunate)
[ NRS-1]
The shape of Lip-plate is almost the same as the RS-1, but the chimney is slightly higher. The feature of this mouthpiece the larger sound volume can be produced in the low register. The NRS-1 can make more sound volume in the low register.
Wow guys this is great...1 more thing. Is it as free blowing like standard miyazawa headjoints on higher register? Or isit a compensated effect to have lower boosted and highs brought down?
I actually like the newer R2 headjont that is out by Sankyo right now. I used to own an NRS1 and really liked it, but had some problems with intonation when putting it on my American made body flute. That and the rise on the lip plate gave me some problems.
There absolutely are, schoolgirl. If the head is too big for the tenon receiver, the metal can be shaved down. This can only be done so much, though, as taking too much metal off may change the way the headjoint plays. If it's too small, you have a couple options. The head can be stretched (which poses a slight risk to the head, but this is minimal if done by a good tech), or you can plate over the tenon to enlarge the outer diameter. It's also possible to have the tenon receiver replaced on a flute so that it is sized differently, but this is much more difficult and costly. Sizing a head can be done relatively quickly and inexpensively, so if there's a head that you absolutely love, but won't fit your flute, fitting may very well overcome that obstacle.