Jay Ham flute with new footjoint design

[Flutern]

TL;DR: it's a wonderful flute! Link to some photos at the bottom.

Three weeks ago I received my new 9 key Jay Ham flute in boxwood, and I wanted to share some thoughts and photos. I first got in touch with Jay to overhaul and make a new headjoint for antique flute I had. Later he added a lip plate and made a new barrel to fit the head on another flute. Both times I was really happy with the result, and this headjoint had a quality of tone that I hadn’t found in any other flute I had played. So of course the temptation was great to order a flute from him but the footjoint he offered at the time wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. So I approached Jay at the end of 2021 to see if he could make a Boehm footjoint with a more typical layout. It turned that he was working on a new design for a customer that had asked the same thing. One thing leading to another, I placed my order and 18 months later (as expected), the flute is here in my hands and I am absolutely delighted with it.

It’s his Rudall model, with a medium bore and medium holes. Jay describes it as large-holed, but except for hole #5 they are not that large: I resold a couple of flutes because I struggled with the stretch and size of the finger holes, but I find this flute very comfortable. It’s a very slender flute, and it feels incredibly light: it’s by far the lightest keyed flute I’ve played, I suppose due to the combination of the slender profile, a half-lined headjoint and boxwood. The keywork, including the foot keys, is fantastic. Not only do the keys look really good, but their shape and position are excellent. The touches for Bb and (high) C are slightly rounded, which makes the action very smooth. I particularly like the C key, since it’s super easy to slide from keyed C to D, or say F# to C, which makes it possible to use the keyed C nat in a lot of places where I would usually use cross-fingering. The foot keys work really well too.

Everything in this flute exudes quality: it has a beautiful warm woodsy tone, it’s incredibly responsive, the intonation is impeccable, and the craftsmanship is flawless. And as you’ll see on the photos, it’s absolutely gorgeous. The flute also came with a stunning hand-made wooden case, a turned grease pot and even a cleaning rod with a mark on it indicating the default cork position. Really nice!

I could go on and on, but I’d just like to add that on the 3 occasions I dealt with Jay, I had a very good experience. He’s a genuinely nice person, he's very flexible and very professional in the way he handles his business.

Some pictures: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAPS2H

[Juan Pablo Plata]

What a nice instrument

[Jayhawk]

Beautiful for sure!

[rama]

stunning work, seems be meticulously crafted, thanks for sharing

[BKWeid]

I love my Jay Ham 8 key. Such a wonderful player. And beautiful as well. Jay is making top instruments and does excellent work.

[EzMan]

Can't wait for my 9 key Pratten in Blackwood to get here! Should be seeing it sometime late Dec. or Jan.!!
Jay is an Awesome Guy!.. I have a Bb on order with him too.
EZ

[BKWeid]

I too have a Pratten on order from Jay. I’m excited for that time to come. Always a work of art. Exquisite craftsmanship and strong wonderful playing instruments.