Huh? Another flute buyin advice thread?

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linusorri
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Huh? Another flute buyin advice thread?

Post by linusorri »

Heya. Been lurking here for awhile but need some advice now. I bought a cheap rosewood flute some months ago on ebay and it would have been a decent affair if it hadn't cracked after two weeks. The cork also dried up. I had not heard of the whole "only five minutes a day on a new flute" thing so I might have just overdid it but I suspect the famously dry air of Iceland had something to do with it.
I am finally looking into buying a new one but I don't dare to buy a wooden one. I've been looking online for awhile and since I can't go around trying flutes (not a single wooden flute is sold in Iceland) I thought you might be able to help me out. My budget is around 300GBP/400USD.

P.s. The Icelandic Króna is really strong right now so I should hurry up before we have another crash.
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Steve Bliven
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Re: Huh? Another flute buyin advice thread?

Post by Steve Bliven »

My current favorite delrin is Francois Baubet. Great flute, good price. And you can't go wrong with a Copley delrin.

Best wishes.

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Re: Huh? Another flute buyin advice thread?

Post by Loren »

I would also highly recommend a Copley Delrin Flute. Great flutes, good price, extremely well made and very consistent - I have owned two or three and played several others over the years, each one played equally well and each was finished to a high standard. Also, Dave Copley is extremely reliable, he does what he says he will do, when he says he will do it. He will ship your flute when promised.

My experiences with Francois Baubet and his flutes on the other hand were pretty much just the opposite: I have owned two of his flutes (one new, one used) and both were disappointing with regards to how they played, as well as elements of their craftsmanship. Also, my flute was not ready in the quoted timeframe. I realize others have been happy with their Baubet flutes, and that's great, I just had a very different experience with the maker and his flutes. So at the end of the day, I still own a Copley, and no Baubet.

Sorry to hear about the cracked flute, but once you get a good polymer flute you'll be all set, and no maintenance worries!
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Re: Huh? Another flute buyin advice thread?

Post by Unseen122 »

Another vote for the Copley delrin; great flutes at a great price by one of the, in my experience, easiest makers to work with. I've had one as a back-up for ~5 years and it's always served me well!
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Re: Huh? Another flute buyin advice thread?

Post by crickett »

With all respect to Loren, my experiences with Baubet flutes and Copley flutes were opposite to his. I own a wooden four key and a delrin keyless Baubet, and both are very nice instruments. In my opinion (having owned delrin flutes from Seery, M&E, Forbes, Baubet, and Copley), the Baubet seems to me most like a professional instrument in its finish and the way it plays. I should say, though, that it seems a little heavier than my other flutes, but not prohibitively so.

I have owned a couple of different Copleys (each of which had a different embouchure shape) and I simply never really liked the way they played or sounded that much, and don't own them anymore. My Seery is very nice, but I have played others that did not seem to be finished as well as mine. I also still own my Forbes, which I love and play a lot. (The M&E I don't own anymore either.) I have tried a couple of Somers delrin flutes and they seemed nice as well.

Having said that, I am quite confident that this all comes down to personal preference. I have heard people praise Copley flutes for years and I have never heard a complaint about Dave's customer service, and so I don't doubt that you would be happy if you bought one. But I also have little doubt that you would be happy if you bought a Baubet. In the end, all of the makers that have been mentioned thus far in the thread are craftsmen and so I think it is unlikely that you could go wrong by choosing one of their flutes.
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Re: Huh? Another flute buyin advice thread?

Post by jim stone »

I played several Copley delrin flutes and bought, finally, the cheapest one--all delrin, no metal, no rings, the slide the delrin tenon. I thought this sounded a good deal better than the more expensive delrin flutes he makes. Certainly the bottom of the line flute is very good and there is nothing it needs to do that it can't. I've never played a Baubet anything, to my sorrow. A lady in a session here plays a Somers rudall, and that sounds fine and like a Rudall--good focused second octave.
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Re: Huh? Another flute buyin advice thread?

Post by MKE_Chris »

The other great thing about Copley's flutes is that if you decide you really like the keyless one, he makes keyed ones too if you ever decide you want them. A lot of people in dry climates go that route and they sound great.
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Re: Huh? Another flute buyin advice thread?

Post by Latticino »

+1 for Somers. Been quite happy with mine.
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Steve Bliven
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Re: Huh? Another flute buyin advice thread?

Post by Steve Bliven »

Revival:...
Loren wrote:I would also highly recommend a Copley Delrin Flute. Great flutes, good price, extremely well made and very consistent - I have owned two or three and played several others over the years, each one played equally well and each was finished to a high standard. Also, Dave Copley is extremely reliable, he does what he says he will do, when he says he will do it. He will ship your flute when promised.

My experiences with Francois Baubet and his flutes on the other hand were pretty much just the opposite: I have owned two of his flutes (one new, one used) and both were disappointing with regards to how they played, as well as elements of their craftsmanship. Also, my flute was not ready in the quoted timeframe. I realize others have been happy with their Baubet flutes, and that's great, I just had a very different experience with the maker and his flutes. So at the end of the day, I still own a Copley, and no Baubet.
Just because these threads sit around for extended periods of time and might affect some future consideration of a purchase, I wanted to add my (very) recent experience with Baubet flutes.

I purchased a used delrin flute of his making a year or so ago and was extremely pleased with the way it played for me. So, after selling some instruments, I ordered a new boxwood keyless from him. I added in a few minor quirks to the aesthetics of the instrument that were a bit out of his "normal" range. Received it a couple of weeks ago—to the day of when it was promised 8 weeks earlier—and, despite still being in the breaking period, it plays wonderfully for me. It plays well either soft or at a significant volume, it can go from sweet to cutting very easily and all in all is, for me, a great instrument that happened to come at a very attractive price. The craftsmanship is wonderful.

Clearly, musical instruments are very much a personal preference and working with makers can vary for many reasons. But, for me, this has been a very good experience and I now have two flutes of M. Baubet's making that I'm far more than satisfied with.

Just wanted to get this into the record.

Best wishes.

Steve
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Re: Huh? Another flute buyin advice thread?

Post by Cab »

A vote for Forbes - I love mine.

I'd also encourage you to have a look at Damian Thompson, a friend of mine now making excellent delrin flutes in England. viewtopic.php?t=105092
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