New Flute

[fsharp]

Hi All, I could do with some advice. I have a reasonable amount of money to spend on a new (to me) instrument, and I have settled on a few possibles: The Prowse or the Wylde in Hobgoblin Manchester UK,
the Seth Gallagher or Ormiston in JustFlutes UK,
the Fentum 4-Key in Allflutes UK
the French or R 'n R in Tony Bingham's shop London,
or the Prowse or the George and Manby in the Early Music Shop Saltaire UK
Any thoughts, has anyone tried any of these instruments, are the Hobgoblin instruments worth their asking price?
Although i have been playing for about 18 years now on a variety of instruments from a Hammy, to a Garry Somers via a Metzler, Mcgee, and Ormiston, I'm not up on the finer points.
I want something which is in tune without too much slide exposed, loud, mellow when I want it to be and good value.
Am I asking too much???
Thanks in anticipation of advice, ribbing, and the occasional patronising...!!!

[jemtheflute]

1) The dealers/shops you mention all charge seriously more than these kinds of flutes are selling for elsewhere at present (cf RRC and other recent threads, e.g.), and so far as I can see/recall from checking them out, most of those flutes are not in fully ready-to-play condition, so further costs might be entailed. The honourable (and reasonably priced) exception is the late RC&Co at Arthur Haswell, which I'd think well worth a trip to Hexham to check out.

2) As you're in Herefordshire, get in touch with benhall1, moderator here (if you don't already know him). He's in the Forest of Dean, has flutes (of his own, not for sale) you could (if you ask nicely - I'm going out on a limb/being presumptuous here!) possibly get to try out to see what's what in the field of good antiques.... and may even have one he'd part with (at the right price, to a good home ), which you could definitely check out/try.

3) You could try contacting Chris Wilkes, as he's local too, but I say this tentatively as I know he is currently in self-imposed purdah for a few weeks trying to get some flutes made/finished, and I also know that recently at least he didn't have anything much in the way of old flutes "in stock".

[planxtydt]

Does it have to be keyed? Why only these possibilities?
If you are visiting All Flutes Plus then ask to try a Doyle. No slide will show and it will be in tune, good value for money and you will **may** experience a wonderful inner peace.

[Steve Bliven]

I'll be the one to say it....
Check viewtopic.php?f=2&t=85390 for a possible option

Best wishes.

Steve

[jemtheflute]

Does it have to be keyed? Why only these possibilities?
If you are visiting All Flutes Plus then ask to try a Doyle. No slide will show and it will be in tune, good value for money and you will **may** experience a wonderful inner peace.

The man obviously wants a keyed flute! He says he's had good keyless ones.....

Re: slide extension - it really doesn't matter how much slide (within reason shows)! As long as it will play in tune at 440, what the hell does it matter whether you need the slide at 5mm or 25mm? Having to pull it further out does not necessarily mean the flute has HP scaling! Nor does not needing to open it much necessarily mean the scaling is well set for 440 - it could be a more LP-centred flute. This is not exactly a nonsense (in that there can be some indication in it of pitch-centring), but is not per se a serious criterion. You need to consider the actual flute as a whole and how it plays for you.

Well said, Steve!

[JohnB]

what the hell does it matter whether you need the slide at 5mm or 25mm

Not sure I'd like a flute that needs to come out 25mm to play in tune - after warming up you'd be even further out.

[planxtydt]

The man obviously wants a keyed flute! He says he's had good keyless ones.....

I must have missed the part in the OP where he states that all of his previous flutes have been keyless.
I'd rather have a good modern keyless than an uncertain fully loaded antique, but then again I'm approaching this from a different outlook.

[jemtheflute]

what the hell does it matter whether you need the slide at 5mm or 25mm

Not sure I'd like a flute that needs to come out 25mm to play in tune - after warming up you'd be even further out.

I meant warmed up - not much point giving a cold slide extension! And like I said, what's the problem if it does play there with good internal tuning? Its the actual working length that matters, and as long as it is secure (which at an inch it should be on most flutes), what the hell? Other factors are purely cosmetic. Of course, if the scaling is aimed at higher pitch, there's always the fallacious option of having a new, longer head made to play with a less open slide but the same working length and the same intonation!

@ planxtydt - you're right, the OP isn't that specific, but some of the makers he mentions don't normally supply keyed flutes, so at least some of his experience (I never said nor implied "all") must be keyless. It also seems probable from his list that one or more of his past flutes have been keyed - so I took it he knows what he wants in that regard, and all the for sale flutes he cited are keyed.

[radcliff]

Those R(R)C&Co at Arthur Haswell look wonderful!
If only I had the money I would give them a try!
anyway, the Hobgoblin instruments are possibly worth their asking price,
but you can find same or better level instruments around (this forum, ebay, ecc) for less...
You just need to wait a bit...

[fsharp]

Thanks for all your advice so far. I'd contacted Arthur Haswell re the RRC but it's out on trial. I'm up in Manchester at the weekend, so I can try the Prowse and Wylde. I'm not in any hurry, so I might hang fire for a while, 'til after the Christmas madness!

[JohnB]

I meant warmed up - not much point giving a cold slide extension!

Even so my slide only comes out 20 mm before it starts to show the internal greased bit - what does this mean - if you are taking the p*ss I shall get very

[benhall.1]

Whereabouts in Herefordshire are you?

[kkrell]

Thanks for all your advice so far. I'd contacted Arthur Haswell re the RRC but it's out on trial. I'm up in Manchester at the weekend, so I can try the Prowse and Wylde. I'm not in any hurry, so I might hang fire for a while, 'til after the Christmas madness!

I don't see the Prowse or Wylde on the website. You can be very happy with a Wylde.

[fsharp]

The Prowse and Wylde had already gone, but there were a couple of other nice things there: a Metzler to be restored before sale, and a Wylde which I bought, It's marked "Wylde from Rudall and Rose" on the section with the top three holes, and Wylde London on all the others apart from the Head which has no markings. I't had a little bit of repair but no cracks, and the second section which houses the tuning slide has a very tight fitting tubular shim, which I've never seen before. It plays A 440 with the slide about a cm extended.
Do you think the head joint is genuine?

[kkrell]

The Prowse and Wylde had already gone, but there were a couple of other nice things there: a Metzler to be restored before sale, and a Wylde which I bought, It's marked "Wylde from Rudall and Rose" on the section with the top three holes, and Wylde London on all the others apart from the Head which has no markings. I't had a little bit of repair but no cracks, and the second section which houses the tuning slide has a very tight fitting tubular shim, which I've never seen before. It plays A 440 with the slide about a cm extended.
Do you think the head joint is genuine?

The headjoints are rarely marked - the stamping is usually on the barrel. Love to see some pictures. Are you referring to a slide cover - them's fancy? See http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/materials.htm (photo at the start of the ABOUT RINGS section). Some slide covers are wood or silver.

Another slide cover at http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/collection.html , the Boxwood 6-key by Bilton, and the Ebony 8-key by William Henry Potter.

Here's my Wylde (marked "Wylde) photos on Facebook (public I think):
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 423&type=3

Perhaps more work than yours had .