Jay Ham Boxwood & Silver Large Hole Rudall 9-Key, D

Note: This is a remote international consignment and ships from Canada. The price includes international shipping. Because the flute was made in the USA, it should enter the US duty free as American goods returned (HTS 9801.00.10), and it will ship with a commercial invoice declaring its US origin. Buyers outside the US are responsible for any customs duties or import taxes due on arrival.

Jay Ham's large-hole Rudall model in boxwood, made in 2023, with nine keys and an unlined head. This is the boxwood flute pictured on Jay Ham's own website. It is a very responsive flute, with a buttery tone and plenty of readiness in the lower register. Ham's Rudalls are dynamic players that give back whatever is put into them, from a sweet, gentle voice through to the punchy, strong end of Irish trad.

For a large-hole flute it sits very comfortably in the hands. The holes are sized much like a medium-hole Rudall, the spread between the second and third fingers of the left hand is very manageable, and the third hole carries a slight offset.

The keys are hand forged and block mounted. The foot uses Ham's Boehm-style mechanism for low C and C#, and those foot keys speak readily and fast. There is a double Bb, and the keywork falls comfortably under the fingers throughout. The silver is decorated with rose engine (guilloché) work, and the crown is finished with an olivewood finial.

The lower body section is a replacement made by Jay Ham, an exact copy of the original turned from the same stock of boxwood and fitted with the original keys and fittings. It is a little lighter in color than the rest of the flute for now and should darken to match as it ages. There is a small amount of verdigris on the end of the upper tenon, where it meets the end of the tuning slide. The flute has been kept in a humidity-controlled environment.

Comes in Jay Ham's own handmade hardwood case with decorative inlay, along with a boxwood grease pot and a maple cleaning rod.

About the Maker

Jay Ham makes flutes by hand in Asheville, North Carolina. His designs are his own, drawn from 19th-century originals: a large-hole Rudall model and a smaller-holed Rudall he calls the Wylde, after the 19th-century maker Henry Wylde, both in D, alongside a Bb built on a Rudall-style bore and an Eb based on an original Boosey. Every model can be fitted with up to nine block-mounted keys, forged by hand rather than cast. His foot keywork sets a Boehm-style mechanism within the traditional look of a block-mounted Rudall, and he decorates his silver with hand engraving and guilloché cut on a hand-operated rose engine lathe.

His flutes have been played and recorded by Will Woodson, Kevin Crawford and Nuala Kennedy, among others. Woodson puts it simply: "They play like the best antiques I've played, with all the richness and color of tone those instruments have." His waiting list has grown quickly, and in 2026 stood at about six years. Blayne Chastain, owner of the Irish Flute Store, plays a Jay Ham 8-key Rudall himself.