Flute Repair

Flutes and piccolos are delicate instruments that require the precise alignment of all parts to play well. We offer several levels of service for your instrument, from playing condition repair to complete overhauls.

We also repair alto and bass flutes.

Adjustment

Every flute service includes a full adjustment of the mechanism – those tiny little adjusting screws are only part of the story. We can also regulate flutes and piccolos that don’t have adjusting screws.

A finely adjusted instrument ensures that key combinations work as they should.

Essential to a lasting adjustment, pads are adjusted to seal the tone holes and key heights are set to an even, appropriate clearance.

Cleaning

Cleaning the flute is cosmetically attractive but is also important to prevent the buildup of dirt, tarnish, and gunk. Clean instruments look, play, and smell better.

We use environmentally safe yet effective protocols to clean your flute. We remove the dirt, grease, and green and white calcified “stuff.”

During this procedure, tarnish is removed and parts are polished. We like to polish by hand as it removes less material from the finish. Small surface imperfections such as scratches may remain but your flute will be bright and shiny. We do have proper buffing equipment if you prefer to have your flute machine-polished.

Pads

When we replace pads, we use pads of the correct size and thickness to ensure proper function. On playing condition jobs, new pads (if needed) are selected to complement the existing setup.

Flutes that are repadded (not overhauled) generally get softer pads that are seated by shimming and clamping. This is appropriate for most student flutes.

Professional flutes that are being fully overhauled get firm, pressed felt pads that are clamped very lightly. This requires precise key fitting, perfectly level tone holes, and a lot of extra effort…but it’s worth it!

Piccolo pads (and the smallest three flute pads) are “floated in” to establish their level.

Pads installed this way seal with the lightest possible touch, resulting in superior action and longevity of adjustments.

Body Work

Flutes, being made of thin gauge metal (typically silver), are prone to dents and other body damage. We have specialized dent equipment to remove dents from any location on your flute.

We can fit the head joint, whether original or not, to the body of the flute for an airtight seal. The other tenon (that inserts into the foot) is quite small relative to its function and fitting this correctly is critical. We have the tools, skills, and experience to ensure both the tenon and receiver are straight, true, cylindrical, and sized correctly.

Piccolos, on the other hand, are often made of wood or plastic, and are prone to cracking and breakage. We are experts at repairing damage to wooden and plastic (and metal) piccolo bodies.

We also have a full range of soldering equipment, so we can repair anything from a loose post or rib to a key that needs silver soldering.

Key Fitting

As part of an overhaul, all loose play is removed. Without this, adjustments are not as accurate, and common symptoms of poor key fitting include sluggish action, noisy (metallic) action, and buzzing or other vibration during playing.

Each key is swedged tightly around its rod. Adjacent keys are lengthened and squared off to remove side-to-side play. Posts are aligned and worn post holes are shrunk as needed. Key barrels and rods are straightened and polished to ensure smooth, free action.

Each pivot screw is fitted to its post and corresponding key.