Do all the keys move freely? (Just push them down (or up if they are closed) and see if they are stiff or wont move)Дў. Are the tone holes (the holes under the keys) scratched or dented/bent?ДЎ. Does the foot joint fit into the body without any loose play?ДЈ. Does it have any dents, is it straight? (for dents, look at the light reflection, I'm not expecting you to find any tiny/small ones)Дў. Is the plating (if the flute is plated) worn off on the lip plate?ДЎ. Does the head joint fit into the body without any loose play?ДҐ. Is the lip plate (the raised part that surrounds the embouchure hole) dented or scratched?Д¤. Does the line show up in the embouchure hole? Is it in the middle?ДЈ. Did the flute come with a cleaning rod? If so, insert it carefully into the head joint (insert the end that does not have the hole on it to put a cloth in, the end you should insert has a line on it, a short distance from the end). Is the crown (crown is at the end of the joint, screwes on on the side that the embouchure is on) loose or missingДў. If there is a repair shop anywhere near you, I recommend just sending it in and they can put it through chem clean and make it really really nice with the appropriate chemicals.ДЎ. I'm doing flutes in repair school right now and we are told to use a cream silver polish. I'm sure that a silver polish would be fine, just use a polish that is specially made for silver, not just any polish that can ALSO be used for silver. If you want comment about the pads, try to take a close up of a pad.ДЈ.

And/Or the headjoint and/or the footjoint.Дў. Does it say on the flute 'solid silver' or 'sterling silver'? This you would find on the body where you put the headjoint in, right under the barrel (the barrel is the part that says the name of the maker).

I'm just learning this stuff in college so don't be mean either!ДЎ. In most cases things can be done in different ways with the same or similar result, and I'd love to have a friendly argument. Whoever reads this, don't be afraid to comment if you think something should be done differently.

Finding model number on altus flute