Chiff and Fipple Forums

Someone has listed an Olwell flute that appears to be one of his bamboo ones as lancewood. They have a price of $699 on it. It also may have a crack, though it could just be a hairline. I was thinking of contacting the seller and mentioning that I thought it one of his bamboo flutes. If it is an honest mistake they may appreciate the info. Of it isn't they can ignore me. I have no idea where the price of the bamboo flutes has gone. On the other hand I might be mistaken on the material, though it looks like bamboo to me. Does anybody with more experience out there have an opinion as to the bamboo or wood question in the listing?

The last time I noticed a bamboo sold it was priced at around $300 or $400 if my memory serves. Though in this case the original buyer of this flute kept everything intact including the original bag and the pages Patrick Olwell used to provide on how to play the flute, complete with fingering chart and illustrations for holding the instrument. So maybe there is some collector's value to the whole package.

Links are helpful:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Patrick-Olwell ... 2512770605

The seller has changed the description & just says "wood".

It does look like the bamboo flute in the Irish Flute Store, although with a bamboo node obvious at the head:
https://www.irishflutestore.com/product ... mboo-flute

Its definitely a bamboo flute. It looks pretty small, though, so maybe in the key of A or G?
The buy it now price is way too high, even if it is an Olwell. A low D Olwell bamboo flute
might go for half that price, but flutes in other keys tend to go for significantly less.

That's what I thought. I just hope someone doesn't get it thinking they are getting a wooden Olwell. Although I have heard them sound pretty good, if it isn't it D it would be a problem for a beginner who wanted a D flute. The fingering chart implied it was in D, but it looked a little short to me as well. Though cylindrical flutes without head corks and tuning slides might have their own measurements. There was a fellow who played one in a session I used to go to and it did seem shorter than a flute to me.