Product Reviews: Mancke Pink Ivory Flute Headjoint with 14k Rose Riser

Being an enthusiastic amateur I cannot offer an in-depth view from a performers perspective, however, I can say this headjoint offers a very strong and lovely quality of timbre to the low end. Articulation seems pretty good with a clean and crisp delivery throughout the whole scale. An important point to mention with a wood headjoint is that Mancke recommend only playing a maximum of 25mins per day for the first 6 months including passing an oiled cloth (almond oil) through it twice per week prior to playing. This will condition the wood and help to stabilise it from the obvious vagaries of moisture it will receive over its lifetime. One of the reasons I chose the 14k riser was to limit the exposure to moisture at the closest point of the breath - the embouchure. I think this 25min limit is no arbitrary time either as the 3rd octave becomes a little more difficult to play making extended playing not an option from the get-go... suffice it to say a review in 6 months time would probably give a more balanced opinion... but for now its a beautifully manufactured headjoint I can recommend and trust it gets better over time after its 'bedding in' period.

Update: - well six months has now passed and the recommendations were spot on. The headjoint has bedded in nicely and can now be played for an unlimited period without problem. I still pass an oiled cloth through once a week and wipe the residual with a dry cloth after about an hour to keep it conditioned. A great purchase.