Yes for me too!
As I had said my first Irish flute was a Sweetheart one in the late 1970s.
By the early 1980s I had a rosewood D whistle, a Baroque flute, and mezzo flutes in F, G, and A.
I used the small F flute in the band quite a bit- the string players would capo up 3 frets and we could all play as usual but get a quite different sound, it was terrific.
Among the old stuff I have is a typed letter from Ralph (there was no internet in 1980, believe it or not).
Also among the old stuff was a small stack of Xerox copies of the Irish Flute page of the Sweetheart catalog. In the 80s I was going around to festivals teaching Irish Flute workshops and I'd hand out those sheets, advocating beginners get Sweetheart flutes. At one festival a shop would stock up beforehand and show up with several Sweetheart maple D flutes. I'd stop by the shop on the way to my workshop, pick up a few, and let people try them. The shop would sell several each weekend to people who had taken my workshops.
A great-playing wood Irish flute for $125? You just couldn't do better.
_________________ Richard Cook 1978 Quinn uilleann pipes 1945 Starck Highland pipes Goldie Low D whistle
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