Chiff and Fipple Forums

I'd like to buy my first 6 keys Irish flute, and I am looking for something affordable. Which would you recommend between the polymer M & E (700 Euro) and the McNeela in delrin (1050 Euro) ? Thank you for your opinions.

You might consider saving a bit more for a keyed blackwood flute from Francois Baubet for 1730 euro.

Jose' Scotte' Este' wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 11:37 am You might consider saving a bit more for a keyed blackwood flute from Francois Baubet for 1730 euro.

I too was thinking about the wisdom of getting a keyed flute on the cheap. But to each their own.

Don't know about McNeela's flutes, but a student of mine had a keyed M&E on loan for appraisal around 4 years ago. He let me try it for an opinion. Whereas I like M&E's keyless flutes, I did not like the keys on the M&E at all, and on my recommendation, he sent it back. My personal opinion, but that's what you asked for.

only 1530 euros for Francois' keyed delrin flute, if you need delrin.

Whatever flute you choose, I think that in the long run you would be much better off with a high quality flute. I think that Francois' flutes are very much undervalued....

My recommendation would be to find the right keyless flute to your tastes, and then save up however long it takes to get a keyed version of that.

Yes, it may require more patience, but you will actually like what you get and it will be cheaper in the long run, because you won’t feel a need to upgrade later.

And yes, if you do find that you like Baubet flutes, then you can get a keyed flute from him much cheaper than from others (imo they are really good, as well)

Think about basic economics for a second. Every time I search for something related to Irish music, I seem to see a McNeela ad. I see his instruments being "reviewed" on YouTube by people who have gotten them for free in order to try them out. McNeela seems to put a fair bit of money and effort into marketing his instruments, certainly much more so than any other maker I know.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of makers who barely have much of a website, and yet have long waiting lists and are in high demand. They get there from word-of-mouth and people experiencing their product. In other words, their work does the talking.

I've only been around one McNeela flute, and I can't say I was impressed. I'm not sure if all his flutes are this way, but I know that many of his flutes are made in much the same way as the much-reviled "cheap eBay flutes" you can read about in a sticky on this forum. They're then delivered to McNeela's shop and they "hand-finish" them. Maybe it makes for a better flute, I don't know, but you're not getting something built by a craftsman the entire way.

I've played M&E flutes, they're decent flutes. I'd also probably steer you towards a keyed flute by Baubet, Lehart, or Copley if you're looking for something on the less-expensive side. But if the choice is strictly between these two, M&E wins hands down. It may not be the flute you play forever, but it will be a much better one than the McNeela.

Big Sciota nailed it.

Eric

100% what BigSciota said.

I’d prefer a good keyless to a moderate keyed flute.

The Francois Baubet and Damien Thompson flutes are good players and good value.

Neither of the two, for that price range your best option is to get a restored antique, I do have a nice English one for sale for 1200 euro, 8 key, you can contact me for more info.