Chiff and Fipple Forums

I have a little bit of experience with regular silver Boehm flutes and some experience with tin whistles. I'd like to purchase a simple system Irish flute. I've been looking at McNeela's offerings. I don't have a tremendous amount to spend, so I've focused on two models. First if the "New Irish Cocuswood" flute. Second, is the African Blackwood flute. Interestingly the cocuswood is LESS expensive.

I guess, my question is: which would be a better investment? Would the African Blackwood be worth the extra money? Also, does anyone have personal experience with them? Are they true conical bore flutes like what one would find in the 19th century?

I'll put links to the two flutes here.
https://mcneelamusic.com/mcneela-africa ... lined-box/
https://mcneelamusic.com/the-irish-cocu ... lined-box/

i very much doubt the McNeela "cocuswood" flute is actually made of the same cocuswood that was used to make flutes during the 19th century, as they claim. that wood is almost extinct and essentially unavailable for commercial use, and any new flute made from it would sell for a very high price, certainly much more than €200. rather, the flute will be made from some other, unrelated wood also called "cocuswood" (the common name can refer to several different species) which is much less suitable for making flutes from. this misleading marketing would make me wary of buying any flute sold by that company, regardless of how good it was.

I’d suggest sticking with a known, long established maker, which McNeela is not. If you tell us where you’re located, we can give some suggestions. In the price range of the flutes you have listed, you’re going to be restricted primarily to polymer flutes, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Also, the Cocus flute in question is not true Cocus wood (Brya ebenus), despite what the advertisement says.

I'm in southern Colorado, in the USA. Whatever I get, will probably have to be purchased pretty much 'deaf'. I'm so remote right now that I can't get anywhere to try anything. Is the african blackwood version any good? Any other suggestions? I'm really just getting started with whistle and flute, but I don't want to "waste" my money on something that I'll soon get frustrated with.

Many many thanks!

Second the above. There are some fine delrin flutes made in your price range, some really good makers. And you would be able to sell them one day, if you graduate to something still better, more readily than the flutes you've linked to.

You have a good flute maker right in your state.
http://www.forbesflutes.com/design.html

Also look at the delrin flutes by David Copley

Rapparee71 wrote:I have a little bit of experience with regular silver Boehm flutes and some experience with tin whistles. I'd like to purchase a simple system Irish flute. I've been looking at McNeela's offerings. I don't have a tremendous amount to spend, so I've focused on two models. First if the "New Irish Cocuswood" flute. Second, is the African Blackwood flute. Interestingly the cocuswood is LESS expensive.

I guess, my question is: which would be a better investment? Would the African Blackwood be worth the extra money? Also, does anyone have personal experience with them? Are they true conical bore flutes like what one would find in the 19th century?

I'll put links to the two flutes here.
https://mcneelamusic.com/mcneela-africa ... lined-box/
https://mcneelamusic.com/the-irish-cocu ... lined-box/

I have heard rumors about this so called flute maker, like you can buy the very same African Blackwood flute from a German store for $250.00, and the other one looks very like a $39.00 on Ebay. Oh and now that I am looking at the photo's there is a Pakistani African Blackwood on Ebay for $150.00

Caveat emptor!

I like the Shannon Delrin at the Flute Shop, its nicely made and not too expensive BUT well regarded here and elsewhere on the net.
Hope that helps.

Used Burns Folk Flutes also pop up here regularly over in the Exchange and are normally in the price range you are looking for. Shannon’s as well. Both are worth considering.

Rapparee71 wrote:I'm in southern Colorado, in the USA. Whatever I get, will probably have to be purchased pretty much 'deaf'. I'm so remote right now that I can't get anywhere to try anything. Is the african blackwood version any good? Any other suggestions? I'm really just getting started with whistle and flute, but I don't want to "waste" my money on something that I'll soon get frustrated with.

Many many thanks!

1. Avoid McNeela altogether.

2. If you live here in the U.S., particularly somewhere dry like CO., you really shouldn’t buy a flute made in Ireland because it’s likely to crack, unless it’s made from boxwood, then it will likely warp. The problem is, it’s just too humid in Ireland to get the wood dry enough for the U.S. climate, unless you live in the Pacific Northwest. Stick with U.S. makers for your first flute if you want a wood flute.

3. Tell us what your price limit is and how quickly you “need” a flute and we can be most specific.

That said, for either wood or polymer, Dave Copley offers the best bang for the buck IMO, and you’d really never need another flute - they are excellent flutes.

If The Copley waitlist is too long for you, The Forbes flutes get good reviews from most people, although I didn’t personally like them nearly as much as my Copley. Gary Somers makes a good polymer flute too, but you’d have to order from overseas unless you could find one used here in the U.S. I’ve never played one of the Shannon Flutes, so I can’t comment on those.

If you want to spend top dollar there are more expensive flutes, usually with long wait times. And Lots of used flutes come up for sale here, on the flute forum and the used instrument exchange section.

Wonderful suggestions so far! I only have about $400 to spend unfortunately. I would prefer wood, but it isn't absolutely a must. Delrin would be okay. I would like to have something that I can grow into and not outgrow in six months. I also, hopefully, will be relocating out of southern Colorado within the next year to more humid climes. I'd like to get something by the end of the year, but if necessary, will hold out longer if it is advantageous to do so.

I have a nice Casey Burns folk flute if you are interested. It plays great. I can let it go for $265 plus shipping. I think that’s a nice deal and if you were ever to sell it I would think you can get your money back pretty easily. PM me if interested.

Tou-Che wrote:I have a nice Casey Burns folk flute if you are interested. It plays great. I can let it go for $265 plus shipping. I think that’s a nice deal and if you were ever to sell it I would think you can get your money back pretty easily. PM me if interested.

I'm interested, but can't quite figure out how to PM. Please PM me and send photos and specifics. Thanks!

Personally, I'm really, really happy with my M&E polymer keyless (so much so that I'm eyeing one of the M&E keyed flutes in the UIE forum). Right about the same price range at The Irish Flute Store, or possibly a little less direct from the maker.

--Maya

Edit--About the same as a new Burns Folk, but more than the Shannon. Galeon Delrin looks kind of attractive, too (from the Flute Store demo video--no personal experience).

Tony Dixon, Damian Thompson, or an M&E delrin type flute would be my suggestion, but I'm only a beginner.

I have the above & really like them, & to me, they play very well.

I have an M&E Keyless and a Shannon. They are both good flutes and you can make nice music on them. The M&E very easily gets the "hard" sound Irish Traditional musicians go for. It's a little on the heavy side. The Shannon bugged me when I was starting out because it seemed to have big volume differences between notes. I don't hear that as much now. I got the Shannon used for very little, and when I got the M&E I much preferred it to the Shannon and still do. Then I bought a more expensive flute, an Ellis ebonite pratten, which is better than either.

You might consider the Geoffrey Ellis "essential flute," which is wood. It's a really excellent instrument: loud and free blowing, extremely expressive, really excellent intonation. It's a cylindrical bore flute and so it plays a little differently from a conical bore flute. It's a bit more work to get the "hard" sound. It plays a bit more like a Boehm flute. I'm kind of amazed by it every time I play it.

There's a lot to like about delrin/polymer, from the player's perspective. Extremely low fuss and high durability