Can you name these flute parts?

[Ol Danl]

Well, maybe this ought to be under repair, but its a flute question -- or maybe I ought to direct it to a really good flute forum, but there doesn't seem to be one. I bought a beater flute on ebay the other day-- I want to try to learn to work on them a good bit more than I can now. Anyway, I got an old Artley Symphony flute, hoping (but not really expecting) the original silver head to still be there (for only $30). Of course, its not the original headjoint, and even the footjoint is not an Artley. Looks kinda like the school that owned this thing took a bunch of broken up flutes to a repair guy and he made this one out of 2 or 3 of them. But I've taped over the trill key tone hole that's missing a pad, and rebent a couple of springs, and it will play down to low c -- with some understandable fuzziness. I was hoping I could describe this foot and head and get some of you who do repairs to speculate on what flute they came from -- I don't know, it would just be interesting to know. Here goes:

Foot -- The toneholes are the opposite of the Artley's rolled ones. They're actually stepped -- thinner where they meet the pad. And while I've never had the opportunity to examine a flute with soldered tone holes, these look sort of like they are -- both inside and out. The d# key spatula has this squarish extension sticking down, so that it only needs a thin cork. The foot has its serial number stamped along the length of the tube -- "BN 9832". The ring-shaped stampings in the keys are smaller in diameter than the Artley''s.

Headjoint -- Not much remarkable. It is plated. It is also some 8-10 mm longer than the ones on my old student Artley or either of my Gemeinhardts. Length without the crown is about 226-227 mm compared to the 216-217 of the other 3. The crown is no clue -- they've used the Artley there. Actually they've had to deform the old Artley case to get the headjoint in there.

The Artley body is S/N 75xxx. My old student flute is a 74xxx, so I have a pretty direct comparison, and its just obvious these are not the originals. Any ideas? :shock:

[Ol Danl]

Thanks, Gordon. This quest may not be going anywhere.

[bruce bailey]

The foot joint is from a Cundy-Bettoney "Cadet" model and does have soldered tone holes. The serial number and Eb give it away as I have several of these flutes. I suspect the head is also from a Bettoney judging from the length. Does the lip have a slight curve inward in the middle?

[Ol Danl]

Yes, Bruce, it does have a bit of a curve inward on the lip side of the embouchure hole. I noticed my Artley student flute has a small amount of curvature there, too, but not as much. It's probably from the same Cundy-Bettoney flute. I'm not familiar with Cundy-Bettoney, and looked them up on the net. Looks like a company in Boston. The tone holes seemed kind of interesting. I guess I'm just used to the average rolled-edge, drawn tone holes. The only question now is, since the case is pretty rough, will any inexpensive aftermarket cases (SKB?) accomodate the longer headjoint?

[Ol Danl]

Oh, by the way, Bruce, thanks for responding.

[bruce bailey]

As far as the case, you may need to go with a Pro-tec or something, but the cost will outweigh the value of the flute. Go to a store and see if they have any of the old non-plastic cases and find a $5 one to fit it. Harry Bettoney was a flutist in the Boston Symphony at the turn of the century (20th!) and started making flutes of good quality and as time passed, he merged with Cundy (a music publisher) and advanced to other instruments, primarily clarinets. The Cadet was the bottom of the line and they were made until 1955 in Boston. I have a nice wood Bettoney from 1906 that is one of the best woodies I have ever had!