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.