Altus Headjoints

Renowned for producing the trademark Altus sound, Altus handcrafted headjoints are offered with three different cuts and a variety of tubing material including .925 Sterling silver, .958 Britannia silver, .958 seamed Britannia silver, .997 Pure Silver, Altus .946 Silver™, and 14k Gold**. Options include 14k Gold riser, 14k Gold lip plate and riser, heavy wall tubing*, and 18k Gold or Platinum Atsui plating.

Headjoint Cuts

The Altus Classic Cut – Known for producing the classic Altus sound, the Classic Cut provides warmth with a pure tonal center and excellent projection with flexibility and an infinite color palette.

The Altus Z-Cut™ – Has an open and free sound with a darker tonal color. The Z-Cut™ has a more rectangular embouchure hole with minimum over and undercutting, producing a quick response without sacrificing flexibility and control.

The Altus V-Cut – is capable of producing exceptional depth without sacrificing flexibility. The V-Cut is one of Altus most powerful headjoints, and features a high front wall and steep angled lip plate.

Alloys

Sterling 925 Silver – Comprised of 92.5% silver, Sterling has long been the industry standard for making high quality flutes.

Britannia 958 Silver – A traditionally created silver alloy composed of 95.8% silver. The remaining common metals balance a dark, rich tonal color without sacrificing brilliance.

Altus 946 Silver™ – The proprietary Altus Limited (AL) alloy combines silver with the world’s finest precious metals. It is a perfectly engineered blend consisting of 94.6% silver and 18 precious metals, including small amounts of platinum and gold. Inspired by the preferred metallurgy of the great French flute making tradition, Altus silver was designed specifically for seamed tube creation. Altus silver provides the correct silver blend for extensive hand forming and represents the high art in flute making available today. This results in a flute capable of producing a wide array of complex tonal colors.

Pure 997 Silver – The exclusive powdered Pure Silver (PS) tube is made possible only through highly innovative sinter technology. Normally, pure silver is too soft for successful flute tube production because it requires trace amounts of harder metals in the alloy to give it sufficient strength. The traditional method of creating a melted metal alloy results in pure silver tubes unsuitable for flute making. Sinter technology creates hard tubes of pure silver by compacting the silver under great pressure without melting it into a soft alloy. This unique process produces a dense and brilliant hard silver tube with supreme projecting qualities.

14K Gold – This karat is the most widely preferred gold alloy with sufficient density allowing a standard thin gold tube. 14K gold’s tone color is dark and warm and its response is both flexible and pure.

Tubing

Seamed Tubing – Made from a flat piece of metal that is rolled, hand planished, and then seamed.

Sintered Tubing – A process unique to Altus where powdered silver metal is compacted at a higher temperature to fuse particles together directly into a rigid tube.

Extruded Tubing – Metal is drawn over a mandrel through a precise die to form a tube. This construction is the modern standard in the flute industry.

Atsui Finish

In Japanese, Atsui means hot or deep, powerful, and strong. By adding a layer of precious metal, many unique possibilities can be created to deliver unprecedented power infusing intensity into any score. The existing tube is clad with a thick layer of either 18K Gold or Platinum.

* Not available on .958 Britannia Silver Seamed, .997 Pure Silver or .946 Altus Silver™

** 14k Gold headjoint prices are available on request.