I have a 1955 Hayes flute that I got as a kid. I played into my 20s and I think the last time it was overhaled was around 1977. This was done by the House of Woodwinds in Oakland California. As you can tell from these dates, the flute has sat in the case for over 45 years. And I haven’t played any flute in that time. So here we are today and I’ve been trying to get back to playing. It has been really hard trying to get the embouchure back together. I never remember it being this hard or running out of air so easily. So I need the Flute checked out and overhauled. I’m hoping that some of the problems of trying to play again are the flute being out of whack and not me. It does seem to play, but not easily at all and nothing like I remember. I have been playing it now for about three months as it is. One of the little corks fell off. It is quite tarnished and it’s very hard to put the pieces together so I have just left it set up and then cover it and put it on a shelf. I am very worried that I could be hurting it. Questions: Is it possible to make it easier to assemble and disassemble So I can put it back in the case? Is it possible to get all the tarnish off of it? That is the thing I’ve never liked about having a silver flute. I’ve seen on your website how you have that blue wrapping on the flutes. Is that to keep the flute from tarnishing and is it possible to leave that on so I never have to deal with tarnishing again? Is this flute worth restoring? My husband who is a prep-per says, just keep it to melt down the silver, and buy a new, better flute. I sort of have an attachment to this flute though, and might just be happy if it could be fully restored. I did read something about these early models having a different intonation and I don’t understand how that would affect me playing with other people. Is it just something that can be fixed by me as a player? As in playing more in tune. Can you enlighten me on this?