Finally Got On the Olwell List

[Juan Pablo Plata]

Hi! Excellent choice for a flute. Olwell flutes have a very special sound to my ears, very nice first scale, with a lovely "edgy" sound. Could I ask for the price of a keyed one nowadays? Thanks!

[Juan Pablo Plata]

Hi! Excellent choice for a flute. Olwell flutes have a very special sound to my ears, very nice first scale, with a lovely "edgy" sound. Could I ask for the price of a keyed one nowadays? Thanks!

[MJ1619]

Juan,

The price of a keyed-flute is currently $3350, but as the people at the Olwell shop told me, that price likely will increase by the time mine is made because of costs of materials, etc. It shouldn't be an exorbitant increase, though - hopefully .

Michael

[johnkerr]

Hi! Excellent choice for a flute. Olwell flutes have a very special sound to my ears, very nice first scale, with a lovely "edgy" sound. Could I ask for the price of a keyed one nowadays? Thanks!

If you're buying direct from Patrick himself, I think it's between $3500 and $4000. But of course you also have to spend your six years or so on the waiting list to get that price. On the open market (e.g. eBay) I've heard that keyed Olwells are now going for $6000 or more.

[jim stone]

Juan,

The price of a keyed-flute is currently $3350, but as the people at the Olwell shop told me, that price likely will increase by the time mine is made because of costs of materials, etc. It shouldn't be an exorbitant increase, though - hopefully .

Michael

If I understand this correctly, the price of your flute is fixed at its cost
at the time you order. I believe it does not go up (or down).

[MichaelR]

The keyless price is fixed but that's delivered within a ~12 month timeframe.

Juan,

The price of a keyed-flute is currently $3350, but as the people at the Olwell shop told me, that price likely will increase by the time mine is made because of costs of materials, etc. It shouldn't be an exorbitant increase, though - hopefully .

Michael

If I understand this correctly, the price of your flute is fixed at its cost
at the time you order. I believe it does not go up (or down).

[jim stone]

The keyless price is fixed but that's delivered within a ~12 month timeframe.

Juan,

The price of a keyed-flute is currently $3350, but as the people at the Olwell shop told me, that price likely will increase by the time mine is made because of costs of materials, etc. It shouldn't be an exorbitant increase, though - hopefully .

Michael

If I understand this correctly, the price of your flute is fixed at its cost
at the time you order. I believe it does not go up (or down).

This is, of course, consistent with the price of the keyed flute
being fixed, too. So far nothing said here contradicts this, e.g. that
the unkeyed price is fixed, that the price of keyed flutes goes
up over time.

Question: Does anybody know for a fact that, when you
order a keyed flute from Pat O, and you ask 'OK, how much will it
cost me?' there is no fixed answer?

I don't mean to be difficult, I really want to know.

[Henke]

Question: Does anybody know for a fact that, when you
order a keyed flute from Pat O, and you ask 'OK, how much will it
cost me?' there is no fixed answer?

I don't mean to be difficult, I really want to know.

This intrigues me as well. Waitlists can vary, they seem to be estamated at best, and that's accepted, but I don't think I would accept a deal that commits me to buy in 6 years, and maybe pay 30% more for it than I calculated.

Well well, this is not a concern for me any more, and you shall all know why in due time, just you wait and see

And I promise, it has nothing to do with
whisky

[chas]

The keyless price is fixed but that's delivered within a ~12 month timeframe.

If I understand this correctly, the price of your flute is fixed at its cost
at the time you order. I believe it does not go up (or down).

This is, of course, consistent with the price of the keyed flute
being fixed, too. So far nothing said here contradicts this, e.g. that
the unkeyed price is fixed, that the price of keyed flutes goes
up over time.

Question: Does anybody know for a fact that, when you
order a keyed flute from Pat O, and you ask 'OK, how much will it
cost me?' there is no fixed answer?

I don't mean to be difficult, I really want to know.

When I ordered, they told me that the price was somewhere around 3k, but didn't even give an exact current price. Aaron told me that they'd be in touch not too long before starting the flute to give us a price and see if we still wanted it. Note that they don't take a deposit on the flute, so if the price goes up astronomically and you decide you can't afford it, you don't lose anything. Also, if inflation is 20% per year between now and then, they don't lose anything because they can adjust the price accordingly.

[daiv]

i also recommend a pratten. rudall style flutes are great, but the small holed olwell is not a rudall style flute, as far as i understand, it plays more like an olwell (which is a good thing) than anything. so, have fun with it, get a keyless pratten style olwell, and a keyed pratten style olwell, if you want a keyed flute.

The Pratten Olwell also plays more like an Olwell.

I have played my Olwell Rudall side-by-side with Patrick's (virtually) exact copy of the original, and they're really similar outside of the tuning. Chris Norman has played mine side-by-side with his Rudall, which is the original, and has said the same thing. Olwell has put his own stamp on all the designs, which is why he prefers calling them large- medium- and small-holed flutes rather than Prattens, Nicholsons, and Rudalls. But when I asked for a copy of the Rudall rather than his small-holed flute, he said I really didn't want the copy, that all he'd done was change the scale. Of course, embouchure cuts are very individual, and he does his own. But the guts of the flute are as close as you're likely to find in a flute with modern tuning.

well, the embouchure is what i think makes an olwell play like an olwell. there is, of course, more to it, but i think that a pratten style best fits his embouchure. i like a rudall with a more traditional cut. in a pratten, however, it is very nice to have a sweet and powerful olwell cut, as it lets you rip into the flute. the joy of a rudall is in its difficult complexity, i think. and there's nothing difficult about an olwell embouchure! and thank heavens for that,

[daiv]

Question: Does anybody know for a fact that, when you
order a keyed flute from Pat O, and you ask 'OK, how much will it
cost me?' there is no fixed answer?

I don't mean to be difficult, I really want to know.

This intrigues me as well. Waitlists can vary, they seem to be estamated at best, and that's accepted, but I don't think I would accept a deal that commits me to buy in 6 years, and maybe pay 30% more for it than I calculated.

Well well, this is not a concern for me any more, and you shall all know why in due time, just you wait and see

And I promise, it has nothing to do with
whisky

when i talked to pat, i believe he said that he cannot guarantee price, and that you have an option of opting out. but who would want to opt out after 6 years?

[MJ1619]

Hey everybody,

I should have put these quotes up sooner. Here are direct quotes regarding pricing and 8-key flutes from the e-mail I received from Sabra Guzman at Olwell Flutes.

"A keyless flute in blackwood with a sterling silver tuning slide
currently costs $1550. Currently, the wait for a keyless flute is
about 12-14 months. To reserve a place on the waitlist, you must send
a $300 deposit. The address is: P.O. Box 117, Nellysford, VA 22958. If
it is too much trouble to acquire a bank cheque in US dollars, drawn
on a US bank, please let us know and we can arrange another method of
payment."

"Our keyed flute waitlist is about 6 years at this point, although if
you'd like fewer than six keys, the wait could be less. The current
price for a 6-key flute with silver fittings, right now, is $3350. We
do not take deposits for the keyed flute list since the wait is so
long; you only need to put in a request. After that, you must contact
us regularly (once per year, and then more frequently as the time
nears) to let us know you're still interested in a keyed flute. Our
whole system with the keyed flutes is based on these reminders, so
don't take this point too lightly."

"As for our cost, right now, you are correct. Our keyed flutes
generally cost about $3350, give or take a few dollars depending if
anything special is ordered with the flute. But our prices are not
set. We change the prices when the economy is effecting it. The
price of silver and other materials can alter our prices, as well as
cost of living, shipping flutes, etc. However, the change in price
would be fair and not a huge increase. For instance, our flutes
before this Feb 2008 were priced at $3150 for an African Blackwood
keyed flute with all silver fittings. We hadn't changed the price in
a few years (and probably will not have to for another few years) but
saw it fit to increase the price since silver costs have gone up, as
well as shipping and other raw materials."

"As for your question about an 8-keyed flute, at this point in time, we
are not making these kinds of flutes, but are actually in a "research
& development" stage with this idea. We could, by the time your end
date nears, be making these in the future, but are sticking to what we
know best, and hoping to satisfy customers' playing needs with our
6-key or 3-key flutes."

Hope this helps those who are interested.

Michael

[chas]

Thanks for posting that. I wasn't aware of the need for reminders. It's been over a year since I visited down there, probably time I let them know of our continued interest.

[Juan Pablo Plata]

Thanks for the reply. I think it's a fairly good price for an Olwell keyed flute for europeans, actually, with the exchange rates dollar/euro...

[Rob Sharer]

i also recommend a pratten. rudall style flutes are great, but the small holed olwell is not a rudall style flute, as far as i understand, it plays more like an olwell (which is a good thing) than anything.

What's this "as far as I understand" thing? Sounds like you haven't actually played one, Daiv.

As it so happens, I own all three - Rudall, Nicholson, Pratten - plus some original Rudalls for comparison. Patrick's Rudall plays like an original Rudall, minus the tuning bugaboos. It does this because, despite your claims to the contrary, it IS a Rudall-style flute. Where exactly did you get the idea that it wasn't?

well, the embouchure is what i think makes an olwell play like an olwell. there is, of course, more to it, but i think that a pratten style best fits his embouchure. i like a rudall with a more traditional cut. in a pratten, however, it is very nice to have a sweet and powerful olwell cut, as it lets you rip into the flute. the joy of a rudall is in its difficult complexity, i think. and there's nothing difficult about an olwell embouchure!

Oh, there. You're confusing your opinion with fact. Just because you like a Rudall with a more traditional cut doesn't mean that a Rudall with a modern cut like Patrick's is any less a Rudall. When I put one of Patrick's headjoints on my Wylde-from-R&R flute, it doesn't magically transform into an Olwell; it's still itself, just with an embouchure cut that responds to a different kind of blow than does the original. I still manage to wring sufficient joy from it without having to interface with an original-style embouchure cut, which I might add has been so popular down through the years that almost none have survived to modern times without having been altered. The embouchure cut is not what makes a Rudall, original or in reproduction, a Rudall. Cheers,

Rob