Hi,
I wonder if anyone has used the Miller Wickes piccolos. There is only one internet review of these which I could locate. There is a lot of information about the Miller Browne
piccolos which seem to identify them as made overseas, rather than in the UK (unlike the Miller Wickes, which are made in Kilkeel).
Unfortunately there aren’t any stockists who offer them for demo.
Has anyone any experience of these?
Thanks.
This might be of interest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xfupczhfdc
http://accordionstu.webs.com/buyingaflute.htm
Don’t know how many of those were/are sold high and low pitch, so depending on your use you might want to double check, especially if you end up buying one used.
Tonehole I sent an eMail to your private addy is that defunct?
Hi I.D. 10-T/Neil,
Thanks for your replies.
This is indeed the only reference I could find to the Miller Wicks piccolo. Unfortunately my laptop cannot discriminate any difference between all four piccolos.
Sorry for the delay Neil - I’ve been away to France for the half-term holiday. Will write back 
this is getting really confusing.
So it’s not a piccolo.
Miller Browne = factory production made in India, exported to Northern Ireland [current production flutes: historical ones have a different origin]
Browne Wick = factory production made in Pakistan, exported to Northern Ireland for sale.
Miller Wickes (former Rudall Carte craftsmen, now retired and handed over) = handmade and assembled in Kilkeel, Northern Ireland
With the closeness of the names, are these three companies linked in any way?
[THREAD REVIVAL - MOD]
This is such an old thread i doubt my 5p worth is useful however, for the record. The 4 x flutes in the video were not piccolos, they were Bb flutes, all high pitch. Miller Wicks NI from Kilkeel do make Bb flutes, they also make F flutes and Eb Piccolos. Paul & Kenny (The proprietors) bought the equipment etc from John Miller who alongside John Wicks , set up Miller Wicks London. They traded until 2005 and sold the company.
So I guess the answer is yes, they do make Piccolos, but their main market is Bb flutes, for the niche Flute Band market. of which there are over 600 in Northern Ireland and Scotland averaging approx 12 fluter’s in each band. Some bands have over 60 fluters and there are some, like mine with only 12.
Regards
Stu
ps. The Miller Browne flutes have been assembled in Oswestry for many years now, the Wicks Browne are a very poor copy of the Miller Browne and thankfully didn’t really take off in the UK.
Are these “band flutes” LoL your out of order Stu this lot on here are mainly high brow fluters not intersted in these dinky toys:-)) Over to you Jem…Whilst waiting for the flak to arrive does any one know who has a Rudall Carte F piccolo either for sale or can give me some measurements please?
accordionstu, I have acquired and restored a Bb treble flute and would like a little more information, if possible about its origin. It was gifted to a young girl some time in the seventies as she was learning the recorder. What is a little unusual is it appears made of a very nice piece of cocus, four keys pin-mounted, but anonymous. Fine tone and projection. I believe it to be HP but can nearly bring it down to A440 with the slide extended about 9 mm.
My question is, whoever was making such a flute say forty or more years ago but not marking them?
Bob
edit 1 time to correct number of keys and add slide extension
Whilst waiting for Stu to answer…I would hazzard a guess and write double the years on the x4 keyed flute or even more? X5 & 6 keyed HP simple system flutes were the norm before the Great War within the military Corps of Drums side and many of the civillian bands playing this type of flute.
The Boy’s Brigade/Boy Scouts and the such may have still used the simpler versions and x1 keyed fifes ARE still being made by some of the firms mentioned above and on this thread.
Old habits die hard, as does the music still being played today…here is an introduction from a small booklet printed 1902 for 50 Lads Brigade Quicksteps & Church Lads Brigade Arranged by a D. Parfitt…
“The object of issuing a new edition of this class of Music is not only to distribute a collection of lively airs, but to bring them before the youth of the British Nation and to imbue them with the spirit of love and patriotism, also to keep green in their memory that which is true and noble of the glorious history and traditions of their Country”. D.P. August 1901
NOW… who wants to argue with that stirring paragraph above & perhaps reflect on that these simple HP “Band Flutes” are as effective as those big long overkeyed sticks, enjoyed by the majority on here, are in fact as important in the pecking order? Nothing finer to hear and see & play in a flute band marching and playing in unison IMHO. Over to you Stu & soon I hope as I may need help after this. LoL
Hi Bob
There were quite a few people making these simple system 3, 4 and 5 key flutes in the 50’s. Miller Wicks did make some without their own makers name on, there were some made from rosewood as well as blackwood, but without a photo it would be hard to guess.
There are a few really decent makers of Bb flutes in the UK, Peter Worrell, Tony Millyard and Miller Wicks. Both Tony and Peter also make D flutes and it is funny to hear the trad snobs on here rubbish the Bb band flutes. With over 600 bands in Northern Ireland alone, there are more Bb band flutes in the north than there are d flutes in the rest of Ireland, how someone could discount them as toys says a lot more about them, but i didn’t sign up to the forum to make enemies, I just thought i might learn something new, lol.
I have just received a lovely Whistle head for my Miller Wicks NI today and it transforms the flute into a chromatic whistle capable of 2 1/2 octaves, not that a whistle player would play higher than b, but i like it.
If you try William Mullan at sales at ernemusicsupplies dot com, they restore old flutes and have a museum dedicated to Fife, Flute and drum, based in Enniskillen. William did have a few Rudall Carte Piccolos, i believe.
Why on earth not? Some of us do (all the time!).
I’d love to hear it Peter. if I go higher than b, the missus always reminds me that the man shed is pretty warm this of the year , lol.
Thank you for your input, stu. I had thought my Bb had a somewhat ‘modern’ appearance, with a rather squared off top cap. Being
made in the 1950’s seems more sensible than the 1900’s. Sometime in the next few days I will endeavor to put up a photo in the
photo thread. . .time and domestic duties allowing.
I’m not sure what constitutes a ‘flute snob’. I like a well crafted instrument, and this little Bb is certainly that. It
is the same size as my high D whistle, so it can accompany me anywhere I go and allows me to put up a tune. Since I’m not playing
with anyone, it’s being in Bb and at HP is no matter.
My Grandfather was a fifer in a fife and drum corp in the NE of the USA as a youth in the 1880’s, playing I
suspect, a straight bore fife. He played Civil War standards (US Civil War!) and Revolutionary
Standards. Tunes like ‘Hell on the Wabash’, ‘Yankee Doodle’,‘Marching through Georgia’, ‘Eating Goober Peas’, ‘The Girl I left
Behind me’, etc. I never heard him play, since he had lost the teeth by the time I was born, although I got several of his
flutes. My own tunes are more Irish dance tunes, jigs and reels, and session oriented.
Bob
Accordionstu, can I ask where’d you get that whistle head for your flute? interesting… Is it for a Bb or F?
It was made by McManus Whistles, not very well known but those who have them, know him. It was made specially for the Bb Miller Wicks flute.
Cheers Bob, I love the fife, My grandfather too was in a Corps of Drums and took his fife with him to the Somme in 1916 and thankfully they both made it back again. There is a flute player called Gary Hastings, also a Church of Ireland minister who plays Jigs and reels on a D flute and Fife, He used to do talks on the links with fife tunes and jigs, reels and hornpipes. there’s even a few vids of him on Youtube playing with Matt Molloy. It’s his fault that I’m showing more interested in Trad Irish music.
Both MWL & MBL Piccs can be found from time to time on ebay my friend .
Miller Brown - suffering a lot of cheap copy work in recent years, mainly from Pakistan , its all stamped MB London but you can tell by the thin wall on the body, original is thicker , ‘Real Miller Brown’ are made today by a company called Barnes n Mullan & mainly if not entirely produce Bb delrin or bakalite versions of the Original Blackwood version, not the greatest for pitch or tone but certainly good for people starting out or a new corp of drum styled band , new they would ave maybe £120 - £150 for basic 2 piece HP 5 key .
Miller Wick NI is a new company 6 - 7 years maybe, as stu rightly said they bought all their kit and rights from John Miller of Miller Wicks London who once worked out of Walthamstow in London, both Johns (Wicks & Miller) were time served instrument makers in London and both retired around 2003 (old age) they produced some great instruments in Bb , F natural and Eb Piccolo in their early years but admited themselves that much of their later stuff was rushed out the door (prob because for financial reasons) watching MW Northern Ireland (as they market themselves) progress their Bb is certainly getting better although i do hear a lot of nit picking in their product as their instrument ages, quality in their blackwood id say maybe making similar error here as the 2 johns, some of the top makers in the world are buying wood seasoned for years and years before they even touch it and this is where a lot of todays makers let themselves down, ‘cash is king’ as they say and to many its a matter of getting wood in and out the door as quick as they can, everyone has bills and mouths to feed i suppose !!
In that market getting a set of ‘good’ Hawkes & Son for say 16 fluters is a hard thing to do (but can be done) and of course some of these bands are very serious and work hard in their material and want the best instruments avaiable and affoardable (kitting out a full flute section can be expensive stuff) but for me the flute for these bands being made today is a Worrell (Peter), lovely instrument at a decent price for the product that you get and certainly well made in really good, and in a well seasoned wood .
Good Luck Stu etc , some fine bands out there playing some cracking stuff .
Greetings Crimson, I have a lovely low pitch Peter Worrell Bb 440hz, as you well know few bands play with low pitch flutes nowadays . Pete makes the keys for Miller Wicks NI and certainly knows his stuff but I still prefer my Miller Wicks NI to the Worrell, personal preference maybe. I dont know whether you saw an earlier post of mine but you may be interested in the MW keyless Bb, I wouldn’t call it a fife even though it will play up to High A’, but I am getting a lot of enjoyment out of it whilst waiting for one of Tony Millyard’s (Millyard-Molem) D Flutes.
Being made in the 1950’s seems more sensible than the 1900’s. Sometime in the next few days I will endeavor to put up a photo in the photo thread. . .time and domestic duties allowing.
As this thread had been revived and has turned up a couple of Bandsmen, any chance that the poster above has had time now to post his pics? Also if you can throw a pic or two on the three keyed flute Stu you mentioned that would be interesting?