Best I can piece together this flute was
manufactured
in Burgau, Germany by Karl Hammerschmidt and Sons. Karl Hammerschmidt
began
making woodwinds as early as the 1870's. He originally worked in
Schönbach and later as Karl Hammerschmidt & Söhne in
Walzkenreuth
bei Fleissen. The move to Burgau, Schwaben doesn't appear to have
been until after the mid-1940's. For no good reason whatsoever
I'll
assume this beast to be from the early Burgau era.
This is a fairly heavy and stiffly sprung flute,
an odd mixture of delicate precision and robust rakishness. The
comfortable
knuckle rest, palm crutch and ebonite reform lip make this flute fun to
hold and to play. The tube appears to be seamed construction made
of a plated alloy, but I am not even certain of this. After
polishing,
it soon develops a golden patina unlike other flutes I've owned.
Not afraid of right angles, the
Hammerschmidt flute
adds an upper R1 touch to duplicate the L3 (G) action.
The back connector has an oversize
cylindrical
adjuster housing boldly superimposed on what is otherwise a study in
rectangles.
The
less ostentatious adjusters are much more delicately placed, as is this
Bb adjuster of the left thumb cluster. Notice also the elongated
steel to reduce lateral movement of the pad cup as the mechanism wears.
In
a final concession to human frailty, the footjoint adds ebonite rollers
to the D# and C# keys.
The wide oval of the ebonite embouchure and
heavy
walled body give the flute a dark, almost wooden sound, with the
thinner
wall thickness of the head helping to bring out the upper harmonics
when
called for.
This flute was found in a music shop near
Chicago
when a college student was hired to do inventory, no one remembers when
it arrived. The finish looked atrocious, corks, pads and felts were
shot,
and a pivot screw was missing -- I never dreamed it would clean up into
such an attractive, responsive and just plain fun instrument.
(Thanks
again to Jim Gleason at Old World Music for the overhaul!)