I listed my Wilkes flute and some other instruments:
Chris Wilkes has asked me to say that he finds scurrilous the suggestion that he has ever sold a repaired flute as new . He is furious.
He says that the flute illustrated is around 15 or so years old, and may be the one he sold to a party reluctant to be named, who he believes only stayed with him some years after the sale of the one illustrated, on the occasion of taking delivery of a Pratten model.
He has never offered anybody the choice of flutes and headjoints.
If it is the flute Chris thinks,the vendor of the flute he might confirm what Chris says, to restore Chris’s reputation which he feels has been sullied.
Perhaps Mr. Wilkes himself ought to take this issue up with the previous owner rather than having Mr. Crawford dispute the issue with Jessie, who is merely passing on the information she was provided with at the time of purchase.
Chris
Second this.
Two points seem plain.
First, it’s extremely unlikely that Chris W would sell
a repaired flute as new.
Second, Jessie meant no offense and is sincerely
reporting what she was told.
Jessie, maybe it would be a good idea to amend the
ad–as the maker denies the report you were
given and of course is unhappy with it,
which I’m sure you don’t intend.
The flute looks lovely, but I want that cat.
Chris Wilkes is not sure who the original owner was, or even if the original owner sold the flute to Jessie, or indeed what the person who did sell the flute on told Jessie.
Jessie expressed surprise that Chris should have done such a bad thing as to deceive the purchaser, which only made him more annoyed, as she didn’t see fit to check with him before casting aspersions.
Who is this Mr Crawford ?
Mr Laughlin’s ideas of merely repeating a defamation is bad in law.
If I may take this sentence by sentence, Chris has no reason to
doubt that Jessie was told what she reported, given the
first sentence, nor does he suggest he does.
She expressed simple amazement that Chris sold as new a repaired flute,
but there was no judgement involved or implication that
Chris was deceitful. Simple amazement is a combination of
surprise and confusion. She wasn’t intending to cast
aspersions. This really does seem a fair and charitable view of things,
though I certainly understand why Chris doesn’t like
it.
The point that it is a good idea to check such information
with the maker before posting an ad like this one strikes
me as well taken, however.
Indeed Mr Wilkes does have a reason to doubt that Jessie merely reported what she was told, Jim.
The vendor of the flute ( in a transaction only made in the last few weeks ) has confirmed that he made no allegation that the flute was damaged and repaired when sold new.
Some years after the flute was bought and taken to Arizona ( seemingly a graveyard for flutes ) Mr Wilkes visited the purchaser and may have effected repairs then.
"even more amazed that Chris didn’t bring it to his attention when it was selected for a new flute " would suggest deceit to many !
I’ve known Chris for years. Besides being a master at his craft he is also a top notch individual, who is extremely proud and meticulous of the work he does. Chris would never sell a damaged or inferior product as new.
In fact, he just made me a brand new head for my Boosey Pratten and it is absolutely marvelous!
Does Chris mark his instruments with serial numbers and keep an Opus book with records of the buyers as well as repairs performed?
No offense meant to anyone, but this really should be an issue between the parties directly involved - Jessie is an honorable person and I have little doubt she’d update us, and her ebay ad, should someone (reliable) provide proof that what she was told is not the truth. In the mean time, having someone else speak for the maker in question is simply asking for trouble, especially when expressing anger.
Loren
Chris Wilkes exemplifies the old world artist-craftsman that has become so rare to find. While I’m sure that Jessie didn’t purposely mean any disparagement of his work, given that Chris literally lives to create perfection in flutes and his reputation is impeccable, it’s easy to understand how it this would be taken as a slap in the face …unfortunately I have to agree with Andrew here -putting second-hand information to the world through Ebay often risks a bad outcome
Let me add these last thoughts:
It’s obvious to me that one doesn’t get the reputation for
mastery that Wilkes enjoys by doing shoddy things.
I’ve known Jessie for several years, and she is as
honest and forthright as anyone I know; if anything to
a fault. I do not read her as casting aspersions–though
it’s obvious why what she said caused offense.
I assure you, however, that if she had beleived
deceitful practice was involved she either would have
said nothing or said what she thought in the clearest
terms, not expressed mere amazement.
I appeal to people not to read nuance into what she
said–some of us aren’t nuanced, you see.
Not Jessie, certainly, if I may say so; nor myself.
I hope the ad will be changed.
Best to all, Jim
There is a very talented, friendly, polite and personable box-maker, Andrew Crawford, who makes boxes for wooden flutes. My mind slipped and somehow confused the two of you. Strange, since you haven’t got much in common besides flutes and a first name.
Chris
Cheap as usual !
( though I didn’t realise your mind had anywhere to slip down to ! )
At least we can never accuse Jim of that sort of thing.
Charming.
…as always!
I too would be amazed if a seller would think any potential buyer naive enough to believe a cock and bull story of not noticing a crack, repaired or otherwise, running the length of the head through the embouchure! This one is easy enough to spot even from the photos shown on eBay! Scurrilous indeed! The best move would be to remove the references to the previous owner’s questionable testimony and any implication of Wilkes in the eBay ad, contact Chris to confirm who might have made the repair and when, and then disclose the facts as they come to light. The flute no doubt is a wonderful player, and a repair or accounting of the repair by Chris himself would be good enough for any potential buyer. Dishonesty or questionable practices run completely counter to craftsman of his caliber.
Good luck with the sale. If I hadn’t landed a lovely cocus Rudall & Carte a few months ago, I would have been very tempted!
Yes, Andrew is right that I bought the flute recently, though it was longer than a few weeks ago. The guy who sold it to me is LYING to Chris about the information he gave me. He said exactly what I had reported. I have updated the listing to take any sourness away from Chris, himself.
The guy who doesn’t want to be named (because he has been caught lying) told me that his Wilkes Pratten was/is his favorite and main flute. He also had this Rudall. Chris now remembers this flute and I have added what he told me to my auction listing. Chris has informed me that the repaired crack was not present when he sold the flute, but that he remembers doing some sort of repair when he visited Phoenix (where the original owner lives). The original owner swore up and down that the flute was exactly as he had bought it, and that he had never noticed a repaired crack, that he thought the visible line was just part of the wood grain. Chris’s reputation has not been harmed. He is very well respected, as he should be.
If anyone wants to know who the dishonest seller was, write to me privately and I will tell you.
Nice flute!
You might want to mention in your description that it also has a pewder plug on the Eb key.
Jon
I was really trying to stay out of this since this whole subject has been sore for me from day one as some others who are familiar with the situation can attest to. But since I have been accused of lying and deceit in a world wide forum I will comment on some select items publicly. I sold Jessie the flute and I’m sorry I ever did, I had been warned to be careful but here we are.
I will also try to keep emotions out of this and stay as analytical as I can. Here’s what I think:
Jessie is running an advertisement that shows very poor judgment at best:
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To even create the connotation (intended or not) that Chris could have sold a repaired flute as new shows incredible poor judgment and quite frankly is totally irrelevant to the sale of the flute, and as numerous posters had indicated should not have been in the ad in the first place.
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My biggest concern here is Chris’s reputation and between Andrew, myself, and others today we’ve done what we could to make sure Chris was immediately defended against any implications. Jessie was put on the defensive by Chris’s reported anger and other poster’s objection to the wording of her ad. As a result she has decided to shift blame (my opinion)
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Jessie is accusing me of lying to Chris which I find amazing since she was not privy to our conversation. She does not know what was discussed, yet she jumps on the www and makes that accusation - amazing poor judgment, it might be called libel. I will not bring Chris’ and my conversation into this, he and I know where we stand. Jessie doesn’t.
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Regarding time of purchase: Jessie claims in her ad that “This is a well-loved flute. It has stories of sessions and travels” she also says in her post that “though it was longer than a few weeks ago”. I shipped the flute on July 1, that makes it slightly over 7 weeks. Make your own judgment.
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I’ve never stated/implied/suggested/hinted that Chris sold me a repaired flute, that is simply outrageous. NOTE TO Jessie: Take any reference to the previous owner off of the ad on ebay. It is filled with inaccuracies, mistatements and falsehoods. Focus on the qualities of the flute itself, the rest is irrelevant, nonsensical, and misleading.
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I’ve never lied to Jessie, but provided the best information I could. I’ll just quote Jessie from her own ad and leave it at that: “I had the option of returning the flute, but I chose to keep it, because it plays like a dream, and I believe that the resulting dimensions (caused by the repaired crack) account for some of its magnificent playability.”
The way I understood it she was referring to the flute’s previous 15 years of existence, rather than the weeks she’s owned it. I might be wrong though.
Jens