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I have described what I don't like about heavy filing, necessarily followed by heavy "dressing". Just do the final dress on the tone holes and they are still way ahead of the competition. (deficiencies to be sure) I just repair them when they come in and the flutes play much better. I don't tell people to not buy yamaha flutes because their tone holes stink and their grommets all leak. As techs all we do is reach for tools in bin A or bin B depending on what comes across our bench. That shouldn't deter anyone from buying a particular flute that they like. That comment was meant to convey the meassage that it doesn't matter if they are unfiled and wavy, or filed and flat. "get over it" seem sot me not so good a way to have a discussion of states and methods, and pros and cons. We both work on many models and recommend differently, and the bottom line is why should anyone care? If we make the flutes play right and you are satisfied that the flute meets your expectations, that's all that matters. I do things a different way and look at different things and have a personal preference to other methods. I don't care for his method for my own reasons and there's nothing wrong with that at all. Micron likes non-filed because he likes to use a different method of leveling them sans filing. The ones that aren't "mutilated" are Muramatsu and Yamaha and their rolled tone holes are not acceptable as far as I'm concerned either. Any Straub equipped flute looks like what Micron would call "mutilated". You should see the Miyazawa straub jobs then! I don't see the Altus example as extreme, but pretty standard when compared to other manufacturers I see around here. The ONLY manufacturer I have encountered - and I have worked on over 120 brands - who mutilates tone holes to an extreme is Altus. I have a muramatsu that had the worst drawn and rolled tone holes I have ever seen in my life. I have had no problem levelling Muramatsu tone holes without making the huge flats that I have seen in Altus. As a result they don't have any warranty, but they play better than from the factory. I have two muramatsus and I have fixed the tone holes on both of them. Muramatsu does not file tone holes either and their new padding system combined with that is a mess. Yamaha is never a consideration on my personal list.And when they come in for repair, their tone holes get repaired when necessary. I have no problems with yamahas either, although I don't care for certain things in them as both a player and a tech. I like the Azumi, Jupiter, and Altus flutes. The difference in "feel" is very noticeable. But if it is, by your tech, it is a far superior and desirable modification because it improves pad longevity and responsiveness. At the intermediate level though, the factory leveling leaves out the final tone hole dressing procedure which can cause some problems if not taken care of. Felt pads ultimately also benefit from the improvement in the tolerances as well.
#Altus flute logo high res pro#
As a result, filing is much more common on pro instruments. The tone hole filing procedure is REQUIRED for installation of synthetic pads.Straubs or JS and the like.
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But it's better than wavy tone holes in the long run, for performance and pngevity. Do they need to be dressed a bit? For sure. It is usually cost prohibitive to do that effectively on student and intermediate flutes. It is very common to have filed tone holes on PRO model flutes. Yes there was a "partnership" for a while some years back when Altus "fixed" the Jupiter problems, (Tanaka and WIBB.thank you!) They are now, and have been for a while, in their own production facilities again. KHS makes other stuff besides musical instruments like yamaha does.Īltus distribution was handed back over to Jupiter in Texas when the CA division fell apart.(There's a very long and interesting story there that is better shared with adult beverages involved.way too much to type here.).
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KHS is more akin to Yamaha and speculation is rampant over which is really larger, KHS or Yamaha. KHS is the parent company that owns both Altus and Jupiter.(among other things) It's like Steinway owning Conn- Selmer and Fender (among other things).