- Completed on October 9, 1956 in Boston
- Sterling silver
- 0.014″ tubing
- Soldered toneholes
- Open hole
- Pointed keys
- Inline G
- C# trill
- B-foot
- Gold Schmidt pads
- Cooper lip plate
- Weight: 437 g
- Traditional Powell scale
- A=440 Hz
This flute has an unfortunate history but with a happy ending. In 1992, the owner was on her way to a rehearsal when she was mugged, and her prized flute was stolen. For 26 years, the flute went missing. It wasn’t until 2018 that she received a phone call from a representative at Powell letting her know that someone found her flute!
As it turned out, the flute was purchased at a flea market for a whopping $75! The woman who purchased it didn’t know the value of the flute, nor did she know how to play it. Her son-in-law, however, was a clarinetist. He researched the Powell brand name and contacted the company to learn more about the flute. They told him the instrument was stolen, and he was more than happy to return the flute to its rightful owner. Powell then took his information and notified the owner, who was soon reunited with her long-lost friend.
The flute was insured, and the owner contacted her insurance company about its recovery. The insurance company has a policy of discharging ownership of an instrument after 20 years if it remains unrecovered. Since the recovery happened 26 years after it was reported stolen, the owner was allowed to keep the flute.
She has since overhauled the flute with gold Schmidt pads and has enjoyed playing it for the past several years. As many musicians experience in their careers, there comes a time when they need to find new homes for their instruments.
The flute is currently paired with a different Powell headjoint (from the 1950s) fitted with a Cooper lip plate. This flute is very responsive and resonant with its gold Schmidt pads and Cooper lip plate. You get an energetic, large sound with minimal effort. The tonal quality is very rich and complex, which is consistent in all registers; moving from one register to another or from the right hand to the left hand is virtually seamless. The sound is also very flexible, from hollow to dense, dark to penetrating, allowing you to readily adapt to other musicians.
SOLD
