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If you are playing a Handmade or good advanced level flute but are unhappy with your flute's performance and reliability, having Straubinger pads installed may be the answer.
Conventional pads are made from natural materials i.e. wool felt, paper and animal skin. This natural construction makes them prone to react with water, air humidity and temperature, leading to unpredictable swelling or shrinkage, causing the pad not to seal properly. Of course this usually happens one or two days before that big concert (all that serious practice takes its toll). As a possible to this frustrating problem, American flute maker David Straubinger has developed Straubinger pads - widely considered to be the first successful alternative to traditional pads. Straubinger pads are made from (mostly) synthetic materials and consequently are dimensionally very stable (i.e. they don't go out of adjustment as much!)
There are some prerequisites though. Straubinger pads are designed for handmade instruments and are simply not suitable for most student or intermediate flutes because of the particular methods and techniques that are used to ensure that the pads fit correctly in the flute. Even those flutes that are suitable have to be in excellent mechanical order. Installing the pads also requires very thorough preparation work to the mechanism, tone holes and cups and this certainly adds to the cost of an overhaul but once this initial preparation has been done the pads are fairly easy to change when required.
As the first authorised installer of Straubinger pads in the UK, all flutes plus has had good opportunity to test and assess these innovative pads. Our conclusion is that whilst they are not a panacea for all flute related problems and don't do away with the need for routine maintenance, they certainly go a long way toward having a flute which plays easily and, once settled, they generally remain constant in their performance.
If you would like more information about Straubinger pads and whether they might be suitable for you and your flute, please call our workshop on 020 7388 8438 or email us Alternatively, why not check out David Straubingers' website at www.straubingerflutes.com where you will find further details about David Straubinger, his flutes and pads.
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