A Thinned Headjoint

All of our concert flute headjoints are “thinned,” which simply means that the outer portion of the headjoint has been reduced (made thinner) on a lathe leaving a noticeable lip-plate area. A “thick-wall” wooden headjoint has not been thinned on a lathe and looks pretty much like an oversized piccolo headjoint (very thick with no lip plate).

Although thinned wooden headjoints are certainly not new to the flute industry, Mr. Novo is credited with being the first maker to manufacture a wooden headjoint whose thinned wall is only 2 millimeters thick: a dimension not achieved before by any other maker.

This “ultra-thin” design is the result of extensive research, meticulous testing, and plain old-fashioned hard work. Mr. Novo compared the older and very common thick-wall wooden headjoint design with his new ultra-thin design focusing on tone, projection, response, intonation, tendency to crack, and other critical factors, and after taking everything into account, he decided to abandon the thick-wall design altogether and manufacture only his ultra-thin model due to its overall superiority.

“When I started making headjoints, I made both thick and thinned headjoints with either a permanent or a removable tenon sleeve,” Mr. Novo said. “But my ultra-thin headjoints with the permanent sterling silver sleeve were always the best and the ones always preferred by my clients. Once I realized this, I decided to manufacture only my ultra-thin model from then on in order to give my clients the very best. I must add here that my ultra-thin model requires a lot more work, expense, and skill to produce compared to the simpler thick-wall model.”

Thick-wall With No Lip Plate vs. Thinned With Lip Plate

Some say that a wooden headjoint with a thick-wall and no lip plate produces a darker and richer sound than that produced by a thinned headjoint that has a lip plate. Nothing could be further from the truth. The J. Novo ultra-thin headjoint with lip plate produces a darker, richer, and bigger sound than any thick-wall headjoint due to its unique design, bore configuration and size, and other proprietary particulars.

In addition, Novo’s ultra-thin design is also superior because his ultra-thin headjoint is less likely to crack than a thick-wall model due to the vast difference in mass. The thicker the wall, the more the mass; the greater the mass the more chances of cracking. The thickness of the Novo wall is slightly less than half of the thick-wall design.

Therefore, it is fair to say that the thick-wall headjoint has twice the chances of cracking compared to Novo’s ultra-thin design. Incidentally, there is a lot more work involved in making a good thinned headjoint than there is in making a thick one (more than twice the amount of work). This is one reason why some makers do not make thinned headjoints – it is too much work!

Mr. Novo’s ultra-thin wooden headjoint design, which is now imitated (but not duplicated) by other makers worldwide , is certainly far superior to any thick-wall headjoint on the market today.

It is also important to note that the thick-wall headjoint is much heavier than the ultra-thin headjoint and therefore feels very awkward and unbalanced on the flute. When playing a thick-wall wooden headjoint, the flute feels “top-heavy,” so to speak, and the player gets tired of holding the flute after awhile because of the heavy headjoint. Not so with the J. Novo wooden headjoint.

Due to Mr. Novo’s unique ultra-thin design, the J. Novo wooden headjoint weighs the same as a silver headjoint and therefore feels perfectly balanced on any metal flute. Mr. Novo has advanced the design of the thinned wooden headjoint to a level that has not been equaled to date, and the proof is in the testimonials written by the lucky owners of those extraordinary headjoints.

Take a little time and read the many testimonials from our satisfied clients to see what they have said about the J. Novo ultra-thin wooden headjoint. Then, buy one for yourself and join them! You’ll be pleasantly surprised!

 

WE NOW OFFER A ONE WEEK TRIAL PERIOD (Headjoint can be returned after one week trial if not completely satisfied. See return policy under “Ordering Info”.)

The J. Novo Grenadilla headjoint comes with a two year warranty against cracks.