[gzydek]

Looking for any information on who made the Silversonice flute that I have. I have contacted Sankyo and they said it is not a flute made by them. Thanks for any info!

It is marked: Hand Made, Silversonic, SUPERISED BY, S.S.F-385S, USA

https://ibb.co/kxsRpz

https://ibb.co/c0P0Ge

https://ibb.co/gLNgNK

 

[milandro]

the evident typo superised ( which is not a word) stands for supervised

In my experience everything supervised by u.s. or french technicians that I have see out there is invariably Chinese.

The typo wouldn’t be there if this was by Sankyo (who needs no supervision or superision).

I would also infer that Silversonic (which made you think of Sankyo) is something purposely chosen to deceive. I don’t even think that this is a (S.S.) solid silver flute.

 

[dlrsax]

Chinese made. I doubt you can find out by which factory. And it really doesn’t matter ...

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

1. A reputable maker of "handmade" flutes does not have such scruffy soldering of the right hand ring in the first photo. (Excess solder)
2. To me at least, at least historically, "handmade" referred to solid precious metal, no adjusting screws and probably soldered tone holes. Does it have 4 or 5 adjusting screws?
3. The head tenon looks a different shade to the rest of the head. That suggests it is not sterling silver. I have not heard of a handmade flute not made from sterling silver or gold. Test it... hold the head from the embouchure hole end, and flick the open end with your finger. If it makes a very dull "thuck" sound, then it is solid silver. If it rings then it is a copper alloy. Check by heating the open end in a flame. If the heat travels up the metal a long way, with even temperature, it is solid silver. If it remains significantly hotter at the very end compared with a couple of inches away, it is not solid silver.

 

[gzydek]

1. A reputable maker of "handmade" flutes does not have such scruffy soldering of the right hand ring in the first photo. (Excess solder)
2. To me at least, at least historically, "handmade" referred to solid precious metal, no adjusting screws and probably soldered tone holes. Does it have 4 or 5 adjusting screws?
3. The head tenon looks a different shade to the rest of the head. That suggests it is not sterling silver. I have not heard of a handmade flute not made from sterling silver or gold. Test it... hold the head from the embouchure hole end, and flick the open end with your finger. If it makes a very dull "thuck" sound, then it is solid silver. If it rings then it is a copper alloy. Check by heating the open end in a flame. If the heat travels up the metal a long way, with even temperature, it is solid silver. If it remains significantly hotter at the very end compared with a couple of inches away, it is not solid silver.

I looked and there are 4 adjusting screws to adjust key height.

The head does make a ringing sound. The body is much heavier than all of my other flutes. The head weighs the same as my others. It's a strange combination that I have I guess. I really like playing it. It blows effortlessly, so I do like it. Just wanted to find out more about it. Thanks for your help!

 

[gzydek]

Thanks for your help! The body is much heavier than all of my other flutes, but the head I don't believe is solid silver. It plays nice though.

 

[turf3]

Hi Gordon,

When I bought my Miyazawa some years ago, one of their big claims was that their plated flutes received the same level of "handmade" attention as their solid silver ones. So at least according to what they say, my plated body and mechanism, sterling head, Miyazawa flute with adjusting screws, is in fact a "handmade" flute.

Of course we all know that there is no such thing as a totally handmade flute (what, does this mean all the holes are drilled by hand using an eggbeater drill, not a drill press? of course not) or a totally machine made flute (even the very cheapest mass produced instrument uses people to do assembly, padding and regulation) so to a large extent calling a flute "handmade" or not is really an exercise in marketeering.

None of this, of course, has much to do with the OP's instrument which sounds like a Chinese knockoff (like the "Helmer" saxophones I've seen, and who knows what all else).

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

I agree with all that. How it is made (and how good plating is, whether solid silver or not - many solid silver flutes are also plated) is far more important than the metal,
Muramatsu's base level flute has a plated body too, and was good enough to be Galway's practice instrument for many years AFAIK.