This certainly LOOKS like a nice flute, and the ad clearly says it's made in the USA. For the money, however, how good can it be? This guy has a couple of his flutes on eBay at the moment.
As we all know from the mass-produced products from Pakistan, looks can be deceiving. Has anyone here ever heard of the HWK (HAND WERKERS KAMMER, BAYERN), who this guy is supposed to be a member of?
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Irish-Flute-Irische- ... dZViewItem
Is this one from Pakistan?
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crookedtune
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deisman
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USAstani flute
Purple Heart wood? --- gawaaann
IMO you'd be better off with a bamboo in D.
IMO you'd be better off with a bamboo in D.
I'm on it...
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Sillydill
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Hey drewr,
Go for it!
Someone has to be the Guinea Pig.
I was watching those flutes and contemplating an aquisiton, if the prices don't go to high. But I already caught a flute this week, so I'm good!
The other flute made of Bocote appears to have a better embouchure.
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Purple Heart = Amaranth is a very hard dry wood.
Ralph Sweet made flutes out of it for a while and Skip Healy makes his "Freedom Fife" out of it:
Go for it!
Someone has to be the Guinea Pig.
I was watching those flutes and contemplating an aquisiton, if the prices don't go to high. But I already caught a flute this week, so I'm good!
The other flute made of Bocote appears to have a better embouchure.
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Purple Heart = Amaranth is a very hard dry wood.
Ralph Sweet made flutes out of it for a while and Skip Healy makes his "Freedom Fife" out of it:
Keep on Tootin!
Jordan
Jordan
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chas
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Re: USAstani flute
Whatcha got against purpleheart? My experience is it doesn't make a half-bad instrument, finishes up really nicely. Not that that says a thing about the maker/seller.deisman wrote:Purple Heart wood? --- gawaaann
Charlie
Whorfin Woods
"Our work puts heavy metal where it belongs -- as a music genre and not a pollutant in drinking water." -- Prof Ali Miserez.
Whorfin Woods
"Our work puts heavy metal where it belongs -- as a music genre and not a pollutant in drinking water." -- Prof Ali Miserez.
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ChrisCracknell
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The Handwerks Kammer is the quasi-state run association of which independent craftsmen in Germany must be a member if they want to trade on their own behalf. (i.e. not as employees of a firm). I believe they also coordinate the apprentice/journeyman/master examination system which is still active here in Germany. Each federal state in Germany has its' own, hence Bayern.
Still doesn't say anything concrete about his ability to make flutes though. If true though it probably does mean that he made the flute himself.
Still doesn't say anything concrete about his ability to make flutes though. If true though it probably does mean that he made the flute himself.
19th October, 2012:
Flute: Rookery
Flute: Musical Priest
Flute: Swinging on the Gate
Flute: Sally Gardens
4th June 2012:
Flute: Rolling in the Ryegrass, Green Gates
2 April, 2012:
Smallpipes: The Meeting of the Waters. Corn Riggs
Smallpipes: Mrs Hamilton of Pithcaithland
Flute: Rookery
Flute: Musical Priest
Flute: Swinging on the Gate
Flute: Sally Gardens
4th June 2012:
Flute: Rolling in the Ryegrass, Green Gates
2 April, 2012:
Smallpipes: The Meeting of the Waters. Corn Riggs
Smallpipes: Mrs Hamilton of Pithcaithland
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ChrisCracknell
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Interestingly it seems to be a metal tuning slide with thread on it... Never seen that before. Or am I misinterpreting the picture?
19th October, 2012:
Flute: Rookery
Flute: Musical Priest
Flute: Swinging on the Gate
Flute: Sally Gardens
4th June 2012:
Flute: Rolling in the Ryegrass, Green Gates
2 April, 2012:
Smallpipes: The Meeting of the Waters. Corn Riggs
Smallpipes: Mrs Hamilton of Pithcaithland
Flute: Rookery
Flute: Musical Priest
Flute: Swinging on the Gate
Flute: Sally Gardens
4th June 2012:
Flute: Rolling in the Ryegrass, Green Gates
2 April, 2012:
Smallpipes: The Meeting of the Waters. Corn Riggs
Smallpipes: Mrs Hamilton of Pithcaithland
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kkrell
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I think it's just a metal tenon (on the headjoint side) which fits into the body. So a tenon would normally be threaded, or corked. Probably provides some stability, block some air leakage, and a firm fit, and may also allow some length for tuning.ChrisCracknell wrote:Interestingly it seems to be a metal tuning slide with thread on it... Never seen that before. Or am I misinterpreting the picture?
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plunk111
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bildio
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He's got a second flute listed. Made from Bocote wood. Looks nice.
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 0274748877
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 0274748877
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azw
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I bought the bocote flute and will let you know what I think of it. Sillydill, I hope I haven't caught this disease you've got!
The maker is Kevin Jones, an American who was living in Germany but now lives in the US. From the few emails we've exchanged, he seems like a decent guy. I'll invite him to join us here.
He had very good feedback, 100% if I remember correctly, as a seller in Germany using the username "metalsmithe". Of course, many of his buyers were probably beginners.
The listing wasn't really on the Canadian eBay. The link was for Canadian eBay because the first poster is in Canada and thus he found it using Canadian eBay.
The maker is Kevin Jones, an American who was living in Germany but now lives in the US. From the few emails we've exchanged, he seems like a decent guy. I'll invite him to join us here.
He had very good feedback, 100% if I remember correctly, as a seller in Germany using the username "metalsmithe". Of course, many of his buyers were probably beginners.
The listing wasn't really on the Canadian eBay. The link was for Canadian eBay because the first poster is in Canada and thus he found it using Canadian eBay.
Art Zoller Wagner
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azw
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Given that there is another Kevin Jones flute for sale now on eBay
( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0279309538 )
my first impressions of the Kevin Jones' bocote flute might help someone else decide whether to bid.
The flute is quite nice looking and appears to be carefully constructed. Bocote has a striking golden and dark brown grain pattern. The contrasting black palm end cap and bocote body work well together visually. The palm wood has an interesting end texture, too. (Note that the flute on eBay now is made with purple heart/amaranth, not bocote.)
The brushed brass rings and slide look good and the slide is substantial. The male tendon on the head piece, which fits into the body, is solid brass, not wood. Kevin says that he thinks it will hold up to being stored in one piece because of the design of the joint. My understanding is that it's adapted from Skip Healy's Ferrule Tube Design.
I've never seen bocote before, but it looks like it may not easily take a smooth finish. At any rate, this one has a matte finish on the exterior, which makes it easy to hold on to. I suppose that with the grain pattern and the matte finish it may look to some more like a furniture leg than an instrument.
Inside the wood seems to have a slightly "hairy" textural quality, perhaps from raised grain. It's a bit rougher than my Casey Burns flute. I don't know enough to judge, but given what Casey once wrote on the flute forum, this may not matter.
The finger span (how wide the furthest right and left hand's finger holes are) is greater than on my Casey Burns, which may be one of his ergonomic models. The finger span is very close to that of the two cylindrical flutes I have: a Dixon one-piece plastic flute and a Steve Cox bamboo flute. It's about 7 mm on the left hand and about 6.95 mm on the right hand, whereas my Dixon is about 7.2 and 7.0. Kevin Jones said that this consistent with the Prattens and that his design is based on Pratten's design, along with some influence from a Romantic Era German Flute (ca. 1850) he owns.
The flute is made in two pieces (a regular size head joint and a long body), not three, so it's too long to fit in a pistol case. I'll probably cut a piece of PVC pipe and slide on some end caps to make a carrying case. Kevin shipped it assembled.
I'm hesitant to say much about sound quality because I'm a beginner. I'm sure that I'm not the best judge of flutes. Someone who plays Prattens well may have very different judgment. I've found it pretty easy to play. I doubt that it's as loud as my Casey Burns. Nor is it as rich and deep sounding as my Burns. (I'm not sure which model my Casey Burns flute is, but you can see pictures here: http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?p=791565#791565 .)
Obviously, I'm not going to be a great judge of intonation, so I'll have to let others judge that. But I don't hear anything unpleasant in it.
For a very inexpensive flute it has a decent sound quality and it's prettier and easier to play than the Dixon one-piece. So, given the very reasonable price, I think a beginner would be pleased starting off on one.
( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0279309538 )
my first impressions of the Kevin Jones' bocote flute might help someone else decide whether to bid.
The flute is quite nice looking and appears to be carefully constructed. Bocote has a striking golden and dark brown grain pattern. The contrasting black palm end cap and bocote body work well together visually. The palm wood has an interesting end texture, too. (Note that the flute on eBay now is made with purple heart/amaranth, not bocote.)
The brushed brass rings and slide look good and the slide is substantial. The male tendon on the head piece, which fits into the body, is solid brass, not wood. Kevin says that he thinks it will hold up to being stored in one piece because of the design of the joint. My understanding is that it's adapted from Skip Healy's Ferrule Tube Design.
I've never seen bocote before, but it looks like it may not easily take a smooth finish. At any rate, this one has a matte finish on the exterior, which makes it easy to hold on to. I suppose that with the grain pattern and the matte finish it may look to some more like a furniture leg than an instrument.
Inside the wood seems to have a slightly "hairy" textural quality, perhaps from raised grain. It's a bit rougher than my Casey Burns flute. I don't know enough to judge, but given what Casey once wrote on the flute forum, this may not matter.
Hairy and matte may be different degrees of roughness, but I have no idea how to judge this. I have to admit, though, that I'm tempted to running some Scotch Brite through the bore.Casey Burns wrote:I want to see scientific proof that a polished bore translates into a better flute. Have yet to - and most claims are just repeating the opinions of others going all the way back to Rockstro.
I find that a little bit of matte finish gives a flute a little more resistance which may be a good thing.
The finger span (how wide the furthest right and left hand's finger holes are) is greater than on my Casey Burns, which may be one of his ergonomic models. The finger span is very close to that of the two cylindrical flutes I have: a Dixon one-piece plastic flute and a Steve Cox bamboo flute. It's about 7 mm on the left hand and about 6.95 mm on the right hand, whereas my Dixon is about 7.2 and 7.0. Kevin Jones said that this consistent with the Prattens and that his design is based on Pratten's design, along with some influence from a Romantic Era German Flute (ca. 1850) he owns.
The flute is made in two pieces (a regular size head joint and a long body), not three, so it's too long to fit in a pistol case. I'll probably cut a piece of PVC pipe and slide on some end caps to make a carrying case. Kevin shipped it assembled.
I'm hesitant to say much about sound quality because I'm a beginner. I'm sure that I'm not the best judge of flutes. Someone who plays Prattens well may have very different judgment. I've found it pretty easy to play. I doubt that it's as loud as my Casey Burns. Nor is it as rich and deep sounding as my Burns. (I'm not sure which model my Casey Burns flute is, but you can see pictures here: http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?p=791565#791565 .)
Obviously, I'm not going to be a great judge of intonation, so I'll have to let others judge that. But I don't hear anything unpleasant in it.
For a very inexpensive flute it has a decent sound quality and it's prettier and easier to play than the Dixon one-piece. So, given the very reasonable price, I think a beginner would be pleased starting off on one.
Art Zoller Wagner
