Michael Geoghegan was part of the Boston Handmade Flute industry. He started repairing Flutes in 1971 and by 1975 he had raised the quality of his work to a level that attracted the interest of Edward V. Powell, son of Verne Powell. Edward Powell was an accomplished flutist and teacher. Ed Powell directed Michael to the Powell Flute Company where Michael worked as a finisher for 5 years.
At that point, Michael decided to start his own flute making operation producing the Phoenix Flute and the Geoghegan Flute from 1980 to 1984. Taking a break from the flute industry for years to pursue other talents, Michael felt inspired to return and innovate some more. After years of research and experimentation, the first headjoint was unveiled in 2009. Since then, Michael has continued to push limits and boundaries in the pursuit of helping flutists produce the best sound with the least amount of effort so that they can focus on expression, musicality, and performance.
Kate Montross joined her father Michael in 2010 to help with production, sales, marketing, and customer support. She has enjoyed not just learning the trade from her dad but also learning the ins and outs of running a business. Kate particularly enjoys communicating and coordinating with customers all over the globe and meeting talented flutists and instructors face to face at the annual National Flute Association Conventions.
Today, headjoints by the Geoghegan family are being played by musicians who are performing for audiences all around the world.
-
Geoghegan Headjoints
Geoghegan Headjoints, created by engineer Michael Geoghegan, employ some of the most innovative techniques and materials used in flute construction today.
With a variety of unusual metals, fastening materials, and modified cork assemblies, Geoghegan headjoint modifications are designed to improve pitch consistency across all three octaves and enhance the ease of tone color shifts, tonguing, and octave jumps while preventing splitting or cracking notes.
Additionally, Geoghegan offers the special Elan headjoint - directed towards the young beginning player, the Elan focuses on easing intonation troubles and smoothing embouchure transitions.
The Innovations
Metals
Geoghegan headjoints can be constructed of the more usual sterling silver and 14k rose gold, but they can also be constructed of propietary tantalum and niobium. These two metals are refractory metals - metals with similar qualities to gold, silver, and platinum, but with greater density and hardness.
TANTALUM Exclusive to Geoghegan headjoints, Tantalum provides a unique tonal spectrum. This headjoint produces both a sweet and a pure quiet sound in all registers - though it can switch on a dime and produce an enormous sound when needed. The range of dynamics and tone colors are greatly exaggerated.
NIOBIUM An alloy that is slightly lighter than Tantalum, with the same tonal characteristics but less overall weight and power.
Power Bands
The lip plates of Geoghegan headjoints with power bands are not soldered to the tube - instead, they're held securely in place by the bands. This is necessary for Tantalum and Niobium, as these metals cannot be soldered, but standard silver and gold headjoints can also be constructed with power bands.
The use of power bands instead of soldering both preserves the tube quality - enhancing resonance - while adding more weight and depth to your sound.
Cork Assembly
Geoghegan cork assemblies are unique among flute headjoints. With brass in the crown, and an added brass weight in the assembly, Geoghegan headjoints are heavy. This added weight greatly enhances resonance tone depth.
Geoghegan assemblies are also made without cork. Instead, high-quality rubber is used for consistency and ease of maintenance, and will last for years without needing special attention.
-
Headjoint - Geoghegan Company Garner Niobium #303 (Pre-Owned)
Garner flute headjoint by Geoghegan Company #303 - Niobium tubing with Sterling silver lip plate, riser, and Power Bands.
All our used, pre-owned, and demo instruments are fully serviced before made available for sale. They are disassembled and cleaned; cork replaced, pads and leaks fixed; and fully re-assembled and re-adjusted.
We also provide a six-month warranty on further adjustments or issues with corks, felts, or pad seating for all our used, pre-owned, and demo instruments.
-
Headjoint - Geoghegan Company Garner Silver #393 (Pre-Owned)
Garner flute headjoint by Geoghegan Company #393 has Sterling silver tubing and lip plate with a 14k Gold riser and Power Bands.
All our used, pre-owned, and demo instruments are fully serviced before made available for sale. They are disassembled and cleaned; cork replaced, pads and leaks fixed; and fully re-assembled and re-adjusted.
We also provide a six-month warranty on further adjustments or issues with corks, felts, or pad seating for all our used, pre-owned, and demo instruments.
