Patrick Olwell flute....what to choose?

[jim stone]

Good luck with it! You are bound to end up with a superb instrument,
whatever you choose.

[chas]

I've owned Olwells in both the Nicholson and R&R models. I parted with my Rudalls, so can't take measurements. I believe the stretch is maybe 5 mm greater on the Nicholson than the R&R. As has been pointed out, the RH2 hole is 1-2 mm larger, which is probably a bigger difference than the stretch.

I agree that the Nicholson has a broader tone palette. I'm constantly surprised the breadth of sounds I can get from it (and I'm not a fantastic player). I loved the R&R model, too. I think it's very expressive, and easier to play than the Nicholson.

The only reason to go with the fully lined head is if you want volume/projection. My favorite flute is still the all-wood Nicholson (My other Olwell is a six-key with a partially lined head). As has been mentioned above, my heads are interchangeable, and I often play with the all-wood (rosewood) head on the six-key (boxwood) body. Part of the reason I like the all-wood flute is that it's so light and I have arthritis in my hands.

[LewisC]

Hi, one more unit of data. I am fortunate to own a boxwood nicholson and a cocus pratten-ish , both lined heads. Both great to play. If you are in the north, I would recommend lined head.

The box warms up much faster and is session ready in about 5 minutes. Also much much lighter and more to my personal style of play which is very turned-in / flat-pitch / buzzy sound. The cocus is much slower out of the gate and takes a good 20-25 minutes to get up to temperature / tone / pitch. I have more improvement to go to fully utilize what is available with the cocus flute.
L

[busterbill]

Hi, one more unit of data. I am fortunate to own a boxwood nicholson and a cocus pratten-ish , both lined heads. Both great to play. If you are in the north, I would recommend lined head.

The box warms up much faster and is session ready in about 5 minutes. Also much much lighter and more to my personal style of play which is very turned-in / flat-pitch / buzzy sound. The cocus is much slower out of the gate and takes a good 20-25 minutes to get up to temperature / tone / pitch. I have more improvement to go to fully utilize what is available with the cocus flute.
L

I have a question about the lined head suggestion regarding cracking up "north." In the Midwestern United States we have a 4 month winter over half of which is below freezing with an outdoor humidity of 0%. We have central heating here in the US and keeping instruments humidified well enough to resist cracking requires constant attention. Because metal and wood expand and contract at different temperatures and wood responds more to humidity I have avoided lined head joints on my flutes when possible.

On the other hand there is a type of crack described to me with the term "barrel crack" that can happen to unlined headjoints. This is not the same as a crack in the barrel. It is, rather a technical term for a type of crack that appears when moisture builds up in the inside of a wooden cylinder. The expansion of that surface opens a crack which begins on the outside. I did get a crack in a head joint that way once. In that case I was encouraged to remember the slow break in period that builds up moisture gradually, making sure I play the flute regularly. I was also encouraged that during heating season I store the flute in a humidity controlled cupboard and possibly in a zip lock plastic bag. I have a recycled plastic bag that fits my case just fine so I slip the whole thing in there if I'm not going to be playing every day.

Just a thought. I do wonder what the interior humidity conditions are in Norway.