Does anyone know anything about the flutes that George Cloos made? I found one for fairly cheap, and looks to be in good condition, but I can't find much about the maker. The seller (who "doesn't know much about flutes") claims that it is from 1925, but knows not much else of value. If anyone has any info on the "common statistics" of his flutes (such as tuning, quality etc.), that would be greatly appreciated.
For anyone interested, here's the link:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1925-Ge ... 5874wt_121
And yes, I understand the possibility of it being a piece of crap, and it needing plenty of restoration, but I know some people in my area that can help with that.
Antique George Cloos Flute
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MeMyselfandI
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jemtheflute
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Re: Antique George Cloos Flute
FWMOIW, that is a German/Bohemian made nach Meyer stamped for Cloos as a dealer. I very much doubt (though it isn't impossible) that it was made in the US or by Cloos. As we have often seen before, it was quite normal practice for brands to import these quasi-mass-produced instruments unbranded and stamp them for themselves. Penzel-Mueller, Wurlitzer in the US did this, and of course unbranded ones were readily available through the great catalogue companies like Sears & Roebuck. Douglas in GB did it for sure.
Before you consider investing, amongst other things you should check on the sounding length. A majority of this kind of flute, especially of those imported to the US, were built for Low Pitch (French "diapason normal"), A=432-5. They won't play at modern A=440. If it was made post 1920, there is a chance it is at modern pitch, but you need to know the sounding length and C#-Eb length to check on that.
As is well known here, many of these were never more than junk but some can be very decent players. It's a lottery on any given example, so even if it will play at modern pitch there's no guarantee it will prove usable once restored. Therefore, if it is LP I would advise against buying at any price, unless you can get it dirt cheap (under £50/U$75) and want to practice overhaul and repair skills on it as a low-cost dummy (and if it is a good player it may be quite rewarding for private, solo use and experimenting with key-use). Even if it is fairly certainly at modern concert pitch ("CP"), you should not consider paying more than about £100/U$150 as before overhaul there is no way of being sure of its ultimate utility.
Before you consider investing, amongst other things you should check on the sounding length. A majority of this kind of flute, especially of those imported to the US, were built for Low Pitch (French "diapason normal"), A=432-5. They won't play at modern A=440. If it was made post 1920, there is a chance it is at modern pitch, but you need to know the sounding length and C#-Eb length to check on that.
As is well known here, many of these were never more than junk but some can be very decent players. It's a lottery on any given example, so even if it will play at modern pitch there's no guarantee it will prove usable once restored. Therefore, if it is LP I would advise against buying at any price, unless you can get it dirt cheap (under £50/U$75) and want to practice overhaul and repair skills on it as a low-cost dummy (and if it is a good player it may be quite rewarding for private, solo use and experimenting with key-use). Even if it is fairly certainly at modern concert pitch ("CP"), you should not consider paying more than about £100/U$150 as before overhaul there is no way of being sure of its ultimate utility.
Last edited by jemtheflute on Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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waltsweet
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Re: Antique George Cloos Flute
Dad has a Cloos flute. It's in Eb:
http://www.sweetheartflute.com/SaleItems-rare.html
It's not a super player, but more of a collector's item.
It's unusual, having a Boehm bore with the 8-key system; the holes where the fingers go have independent padded cups (smaller than Boehm cups). The blowhole is like a "rounded rectangle" that I've seen on other rare Cloos instruments. The design and construction tend to validate what Jem is saying about "private label" German instruments made for the US market; likewise, I've seen fifes stamped with various combinations of Crosby / Cloos / GL Penzel-Mueller. David Shorey could weigh-in here.
Walt Sweet
http://wdsweetflutes.com/shannon.php
http://www.sweetheartflute.com/SaleItems-rare.html
It's not a super player, but more of a collector's item.
It's unusual, having a Boehm bore with the 8-key system; the holes where the fingers go have independent padded cups (smaller than Boehm cups). The blowhole is like a "rounded rectangle" that I've seen on other rare Cloos instruments. The design and construction tend to validate what Jem is saying about "private label" German instruments made for the US market; likewise, I've seen fifes stamped with various combinations of Crosby / Cloos / GL Penzel-Mueller. David Shorey could weigh-in here.
Walt Sweet
http://wdsweetflutes.com/shannon.php