You guys seem to have adverse opinions and disagree often but I respect your opinions as professionals in your fields. That's why I'm asking you advice.

I found a Haynes 6116, made around 1910, that I'm interested in purchasing. C foot, offset G, plateau keys, open G#, reverse thumb Bb, solid silver. What do you guys know about this flute, hows it's construction, what do you think its worth? Any information / opinions / advice would be most welcome.

To everyone else: Please respond to this post if you have any experience with this flute as well. I didn't mean to discount any members opinions by addressing this thread to specific people. Thanks.

According to information from the Haynes company, the serial number (6116) would place it's construction in the year 1920, toward the end of the year. Its construction should be very high quality, as at this point Haynes flutes were handmade at the Haynes factory. Of course, how well it has been cared for over the 85+ years it's existed will help determine its playability, but I would expect an excellent quality flute. It sounds like its specs match pretty closely with the original design the Theobald Boehm created for his flutes. The Open G# and reversed thumb keys will take a little work to get used to if you play a closed G# key flute with the standard thumb key cluster (with Bb above B), but when you do, it should be a slightly more logical system to play on. As for worth, there are too many factors that we simply can't determine over the internet or without more information (condition being a big one, but also the region in which it's selling, any collector appeal it might have, etc.), but I have seen similar (but not identical) flutes sell in the $2500-$4000 (USD) range in the past. It's important to notice that not all of these flutes are built to play at A-440, and that the scale on flutes as old as this can be difficult to work with, so you'll want to find out (if you haven't already) what its pitch tendencies are like before you buy it (assuming you mean to play it regularly). What has drawn you to this flute? How much (if any) work does it need to be playable? Have you compared it to other flutes with similar specs, and if so, how did it hold up for you? Will you be playing it, or keeping it as part of a collection? These are all questions you'll need to decide the answers to before you buy, but if this flute seems to be a good match for you and your needs, then there should be nothing holding you back from buying it. Hopefully some of that is useful, but I'm sure others can offer more information.

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You might also want to have any soldering on the flute checked to be sure that it hasn't broken down over time. I don't know if it has soldered toneholes or not, but the soldering connecting the barrel to the body, soldering holding the lip plate and riser in place, etc. can weaken and break down over time. It's not terribly difficult to have that fixed, but it can cost some money.

I would consider a flute like that if you could reverse the G# key, my only reservation with those is the antiquated embochure cut, I don't use the original head on my Haynes...

Sorry, I don't know that much about the older flutes, just the newer ones. One of the things I would be concerned about is the tunning. I do know that some of those older Haynes flute have a less then desirable scale on them.

thank you guys for your quick response to my question. I certainly appriciate the advice. I'll be sure to follow up when I actally get my hands on the flute. I don't know if I am going to purchase it, but I am surely going to take a close look at it. If its actually a 1920 model, its going to have to play well and be in very good physical condition. If it's pre-1913, I'm sure I will purchase it in any condition. Again, thanks for your responses.

If you don't mind me asking, what's special about 1913? The only thing I know of is that Haynes introduced flutes with drawn toneholes about that time, after trying to find a way to solder toneholes to an aluminum (I believe) body, but ended up instead with a new process for creating toneholes.

>>I found a Haynes 6116, made around 1910, that I'm interested in purchasing. C foot, offset G, plateau keys, open G#, reverse thumb Bb, solid silver. What do you guys know about this flute, hows it's construction, what do you think its worth? Any information / opinions / advice would be most welcome.<<

Some of these flutes are quite nice. The closed hole, low C models are 440 scaled unlike their open hole counterparts...(A different flute was copied for these models...)

Given this vintage, you have to check to mechanism to make sure it's is what it really is. When you get the flute, let us know, I can help you identify whether it is of worthy origin with some quick tests.

Some of these flutes play REALLY nice. But there are pros and cons and things to look for to see if it's a keeper. The good thing is some of these flutes are dirt cheap, because a lot of people don't recognize the good ones from the bad ones. And the bad ones have devalued the price on all of them...The trick will be to determine which one this one is...

Joe B

Hey Joe, I'd be interested to learn about the tests you mentioned too. Would you mind posting more about them?

It has to do with the design of certain keys. Pictures are always helpful. Measuring the tubing thickness, riser height, and bore profile are the difficult ones to get past.

Some of these had really heavy walled tubing (like @.020"). Some had straight cut tone holes, (not rolled). OFten times the risers were too low taking all the guts out of the sound with little taper in the head to boot. But, if the hole placement was decent and it was a heavy wall model, that often made up the difference.

So there are a lot of factors..

Joe B

That's very interesting Joe. Thanks a lot.