Hi. I’m selling my new Peter Noy contemporary design blackwood keyless - I came up on 3 waiting lists in one month and can’t keep all 
. For more details, see EBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2547420690&category=10183
Please e-mail with any questions, and thanks for looking.
Heather M.
So Heather what else are you getting and what are you keeping and why?
Come on, what good is this board if we can’t snoop into everyone’s private business? 
Doc
Yeah, I can’t believe you’re losing the Noy!
You sure are right about the waiting lists. Sometimes it can be a shocker.
Can we ask . . . what else is coming down the pike for you?
Stuart
I’m thinking this is means I should go ahead and put in orders for an Olwell, a Hamilton, and a McGee.
I’ll make the Olwell keyed to spread out the arrival times a bit.
Eddie
I got a Hammy, Noy and Olwell, in that order. Too painful to decide! All wonderful instruments. I sold the Hammy first because (relatively speaking) it is a lot bigger than the others and I found the more slender, tapered flutes to be more comfortable. That meant I had to give up that robust Hammy sound. Wah!
I actually liked the feeling of the Noy the best. It is SO comfortable and light. I also love a short D foot. I finally chose to keep the Olwell though because it has a certain woody tonal quality (still sporadic for me at the moment!) that I really want to cultivate (it has an unlined head, usually they are lined).
Fun, fun! No more flutes on the way, though knowing me, I’m sure there will be another one(s) in my future some day…
Thanks for your interest guys!
Heather M.
You know, sometimes I wonder about the effects of people ordering multiple flutes from different makers. Sure, you shouldn’t have trouble finding a buyer for the flutes that you decide you don’t want to keep, but in the meantime you’re making all these flutemakers’ waiting lists even longer. Let’s say some 12-year-old prodigy in Ireland wants to get a Hammy Hamilton flute, but has to wait until he’s 14 or 15 to get it because a bunch of Americans have ordered flutes on spec?
I don’t know if it’s a serious issue, but something about it makes me a little uncomfortable. I suppose if you’ve never had an opportunity to try a Hamilton, a Noy, an Olwell, or a McGee, it might make sense to order one of each and then choose which one you want, but I think a better idea is to go to sessions or festivals where there are other flute players, ask to try their flutes, and then settle on the one or two makers whose flutes please you the most.
Gosh, it never occurred to me to order from more than one person. I’ve not had very good luck playing instruments by all the different makers that I was interested in though. I’ve been to lots of sessions, but there hasn’t been as much flute variety as I might have expected. For example, in DC everyone pretty much has Olwell Blackwoods (with or without keys).
If I buy the Grinter, my plan was to call Michael Copeland and get myself taken off the waiting list, since I can only afford one flute. It only seems polite, but it seems like this is not commonly done. I hadn’t thought about purchasing the flute and then reselling it in order to preserve the deposit money. Hmmmm.
I think you’re onto something, Brad, that I’ve wondered about myself; it seems that, after the research which should go into a purchase and a few pertinent questions from the makers you’ve narrowed down, there should be some level of commitment to a final order from the maker chosen. I suppose that if all those ordered flutes are really purchased and then some resold, that hurts no one, but I suspect more often than not, several orders are placed and only one flute is purchased. Of course, real life sometimes intrudes and an order must be cancelled, or - more happily - a real find comes along to negate the placed order. But I bet more often orders are placed and then cancelled at the last minute, creating a somewhat inflated backlog on the wait lists that are artificial. Which neither helps the maker make a living or helps the process of attaining a well-made flute from a maker in a timely manner.
Personally, I would never feel comfortable ordering a flute from a maker in good faith when I had no probable intention of buying if another choice came in first, but maybe that’s just me.
Gordon
I do see your point on this issue. But for me, just trying a flute a few times at a session doesn’t give me nearly enough of an idea of how the flute will fit me, or whether it will at all. It takes a few weeks of consistent playing. So in the past, I’ve narrowed down the flutes I think I might like by research, then proceeded accordingly. Actually, I got most of them second hand off EBay. These three that I ordered don’t come up on EBay that often, esp. the Noy & Olwell, and then at a premium price that I couldn’t afford.
I don’t really worry about depriving others of flutes through my buying habits (also, I’m not sure about the suggestion that I or anyone else would be less worthy of a good flute than any other person). All the flutes I’ve bought were turned around either privately or on EBay, and I will confirm that I have lost money on each and every one, so this is NOT a profit generating enterprise, believe me! If I could afford to, I’d just keep all the lovelies!
p.s. - how come you aren’t knocking those lucky folks who keep numerous beautiful flutes in their drawer, thereby depriving others of them?? See “Flute Porn” 
Yours in flutes,
Heather M.
Okay, let me clarify: I see absolutely nothing wrong with ordering a bunch of flutes off eBay and figuring out which one is best for you – that wasn’t my point. My concern was in response to the idea of someone placing orders for three new flutes directly with three different makers, buying them all, picking the one they want and maybe selling the others. Like I said, I don’t know if it’s a serious issue in terms of preventing great players from getting great flutes in a timely fashion, because most flute makers I know will make adjustments in their waiting list (you can bet Matt Molloy didn’t have to wait seven years for a keyed flute from Patrick Olwell, for example).
And I totally agree with Heather that it takes time to get to know a flute. It’s really a process of meeting the flute in the middle-- finding the right flute isn’t always just a matter of finding one that fits your playing style; you also have to adjust your playing to fit the flute. A good flute can make you grow as a player. I bought one flute years ago that I found very difficult to play, but I stuck with it and after a year of living with it the sound was awesome. If I’d spent only a week comparing that flute with several others that I’d bought at the same time, I would have sold that flute and never would have gotten the benefit of truly knowing it.
Have to agree with heather. A couple of tunes in the noisy environment of a session would not be satisfactory for determining if you like a flute or not. Also what if one lives in a culturally challenged area that doesn’t have festivals or attract throngs of makers?!? This would be a great question to post to the woodenflute list as several makers frequent it - be nice to hear their impressions.
I think the fact that flutes from most makers generate an additional profit when one doesn’t have to get on a waiting list, show’s there’s little harm in getting on a couple lists at a time - just make sure you pay the maker in full for the flute, then sell it on your own after you decide it’s not for you.
Our type of music seems to be too specialized for it to be easy to try multiple instruments easily since they are not mass-produced. This doesn’t, however seem to hurt demand. Who knows in the future though?
Yeah! and what about all the folks who have 3, 6, even a dozen flutes! 
Regards,
P.S. Didn’t mean to walk over your clarification Brad - looks like we posted about the same time 
Just out of curiosity, did you buy your Bamboo Olwell directly from Patrick Olwell, or did you buy from a reseller? If the first, how long did it take between when you ordered it and when you arrived? I bought my Bamboo Olwell in Eb from the House of Musical Traditions in Maryland before I knew what I was doing (i.e. that most people at sessions are playing in D). I practice on the Eb sometimes when I get frustrated with my Tony Dixon. I like the tone, amount of breath required and hole size/spacing of the Olwell better, but alas, it doesn’t play well with others, being in Eb. Because the Dixon requires so much less air to play, I find I sometimes have difficulty switching between the two flutes so practicing on the Olwell and then playing the Dixon can be self-defeating in the short term (it takes about 2 days for me to adjust my embrochure).
If I don’t buy the flute this weekend, I would love to add a bamboo Olwell in D to my collection so I can play in sessions on the flute I’m mostly practicing on while I wait for the other flute. On the other hand, it would be silly to wait 6 months for the bamboo if my real flute is coming in 6 months.
Talked directly with Pat himself - great guy, and loves to talk about flutes. Very interesting guy to visit with. He quoted me 30-60 days - it came in 31 (not that I was counting or anything). Love it! From my personal experience alone, he’s high on my list of makers for whom I’ll get a wood flute from…his flute’s reputations notwithstanding.
Someone was mentioning recently that they got their bamboo flute in something like 4-days. It’s heavily dependant on his current stock. I think he makes a bunch at a time, then lays off for awhile. I think they’d be a fine session flute, though I’m not quite good enough to play at one. I think it’s plenty loud (when I can blow it just right), and beautifully in tune.
Regards,
Lest anyone misunderstand, I was joking.
I couldn’t take the stress of waiting for three different flutes, I’m too impatient.
You mean I pissed off all these people for nothing?
Nah, I alway enjoy a good round of arguments.
I have considered ordering a Olwell keyed. Right now I don’t have the spare cash and am definitely not a good enough player to move onto keys. However, in six years…
FSnockhart & spittle: I’ve been hoping to get my hands on a bamboo F from Olwell for some 6 months now, but no luck yet. My timing has just been bad - the first time I contacted him his son was just away from helping out, and I think it was just him there so he suggested I try again in a few months. I was in contact with him a little over a month ago and he said that while he’d made some in the spring (a small rush which I missed!) he was going to be off for part of July and would be starting bamboo production again mid-August
So I’ll be trying again soon…
I don’t think there is anything unethical about ordering flutes from all the preferred makers…and then going so far as selling them all for nice profits right away. If the market for flutes has the structure that it does, it makes more than good sense to order a bunch of flutes, play them all, decide which you want, then pay for the flute you want from the profit of selling the other flutes. It is fully rational, and a good business opportunity.
Make your money work for you, instead of you working for the money. And then you have the luxury to play your flute. Maybe too Asian a sentiment?
The Noy. This flute being sold is an excellent flute. I played it at Peter’s house before he shipped it. It was made right before my 6-key with amber blowedge. This will go fast.
I don’t think it’s unethical either, I just think it’s a bit selfish. Every flute that you order directly from a maker adds to that maker’s waiting list. If only one person orders flutes from every maker on spec, no problem. But if 20 people do it, you start adding a few years to the waiting lists. Sure, people can bypass the waiting list and buy flutes secondhand, but some players prefer to deal directly with the maker or don’t have Internet access to bid on eBay.
I guess I prefer to follow the “serial monogamy” approach to flutes: you buy one from a maker you respect, or a good used one falls into your hands, and you live with it for a few years. If after that time you find yourself yearning for a different sound or more responsiveness, you order one from someone else or buy one used and live with that one.
None of the reputable makers will let a dud out of their shop, so if you order a new flute from one of these people you’re pretty much guaranteed to get an excellent flute. And it’s hard to tell from just a few weeks of playing whether that flute will be right for you. The best flutes are part master and part servant – you have to grow as a player to really make them sing, and that takes time, sometimes years.