Olwell vs. Grinter

[R&R]

Hello all!!! I am trying to buy a flute, and I'm tryin to decide between Olwell or Grinter. Please help! please give me info on Gilles Leheart and Eamonn Cotter as well please. Thanx so much.

[Steampacket]

Olwell and Grinter make nice flutes but why not go for a Tom Aebi flute. The waiting list isn't that long, seven to twelve months depending... last I heard. Tom has a very good reputation as a flutemaker and craftsman. His flutes are said to have the feel of a Wilke's flute, which can't be bad.

[BMFW]

I've played both Lehart & Cotter. Both played beautifully. Lehart was quite refinded sounding, even though my style is quite forceful. Cotter is a great flute. Similar in style to a Hammy and I know a couple of people who have picked a Cotter over a Hammy. Very popular in Ireland.

Try listening to some recordings of each flute, always bearing in mind however, that the player has far more influence on the sound than the flute. (Sorry, that's not meant to sound patronising!) Try Michael McGoldrick (Morning Rory) for Lehart, Lunasa (Kinnity Sessions) for Grinter, John Skelton & Kieran O'Hare (Double Barrelled) for Olwell, and.... uhm, oh yeah, Eamonn Cotter for Cotter!

Also visit the WFOsite for information on who played what on WFO2.

Graham

[Jens_Hoppe]

To the best of my knowledge, all of the makers mentioned make excellent flutes and as you haven't talked about your of preferences in style or playability, you really can't go wrong with any of them. I also think you should consider other factors, such as

- how much are you willing to pay?
- how long a waiting list is acceptable?
- does it matter (with regards to shipping, import taxes, etc.) where the flute maker is located?
- any specific features you want in the flute, eg. exotic wood type vs. "normal" blackwood, keys, number of flute sections, etc.?

Cheers,
Jens

[R&R]

Hello! I've decided to get the Gilles LeHart flute, I love the sound of Michael McGoldrick. Thanx for all your help!

[Whistlin'Dixie]

Good Choice!

[David Levine]

Polls like this are pretty dumb.
How many people are sufficiently accomplished to tell the difference between the makers' work? How many have played fair examples of all these makers' flutes?
Olwell's current flutes are consistently good. Grinter's are not. I have played some Cotters I have liked and some I have not. My feelings may have little to do with the flute and more to do with circumstances.
The poll tells us nothing. Worse, it conveys a certain amount of misinformation.
The thing to do is try a flute you are buying. If you can't do that then ask for a money-back guarantee from the maker, so that if you don't like the flute you can return it in a timely fashion for a refund. Most good makers have people backed up for their flutes, so this shouldn't be a problem.

[rama]

my experience is opposite of mr. levine's. never tried i grinter that i didn't like, tried well over a dozen, and even own a few. tried a few olwells that left me wanting though. owned one for a few years, sold it after i got my first grinter.

i stopped to get coffee this morning. i asked for it 'dark/no sugar'. that's just the way i like it. the coffee was then made for me. i could see that was way-too-light. so i asked "is that dark???" and the coffemaker looked at the coffee and said "looks dark to me". took 'em 2 more tries to get it dark enough...according to my taste. flutes are like that too i suppose - different strokes for different folks...

anyhoo...i have very little experience with leharte other than testdriving a couple of them... very, very impressed. i agree...good choice.

good luck!

[gcollins]

Olwell's current flutes are consistently good. Grinter's are not.

does this convey any misinformation? Polls aren't dumb--if people didn't want opinions, hoever misleading or biased, there wouldn't be a flute forum.

G

[meemtp]

The differences between all these flutes is way too subjective for a poll to be truly informative. One person may love an Olwell, the next may prefer a LeHarte. It's not that the flute is neccesarily better, it's just personal taste.

Corin

[Cathy Wilde]

took 'em 2 more tries to get it dark enough...according to my taste. flutes are like that too i suppose - different strokes for different folks...

AHA! That's the secret! I'd like a five-key with an extra shot, please ....
rama, where do you go that they can make coffee darker? That's-a nice (well, at least when it works)!

I agree wholeheartedly with the personal preference angle, and also with the point that these blanket comparisons are rather futile. Especially when I consider that each flute is an individual as well. They hardly roll off an assembly line -- neither do the trees they come from -- and it's their uniquenesses that can help make them so endlessly fascinating ... not to mention frustrating!

Shoot, just refer back to the whole endless discussion around the crack in that Wilkes -- did the CRACK actually make the thing sound so wonderful? A few thought perhaps it did!

I can't tell you how many people, some of whom are seriously good players, have picked up my Hamilton and been UNABLE to get a note out of it (in fact, this is turning into a mildly amusing session gag -- sort of a "stump the flute player" thing).

But others have absolutely no problem at all.

Still others can't get it in tune, but say it sounds fine when lame ol' me plays it.

I've sounded better than I ever dreamed I could on it; I've also sounded worse than my worst nightmares.

I have other flutes on which I don't experience these wild mood swings, so I've concluded that's just the way of this particular Hammy. Maybe it's an invisible crack, maybe the humidity's wrong, maybe that danged F key isn't seating right again, whatever.

But it's different every time: when things are right, it's a joy. When things aren't, ugh. I'd rather dig ditches.

(And PLEASE. Don't make any judgments on Hammys based on this, okay? It's only ONE PERSON'S experience on this ONE flute.)

My conclusion? It's a crapshoot. And sometimes, just as with playing styles, tune selection, etc. what suits one person isn't going to suit another. So then you either move on or, until you can, make a point of learning everything you can from what you have.

Seems pretty simple, really.

[Nanohedron]

Olwell's waiting list for an unkeyed is something over a year. If you want a new fully keyed flute, the wait ramps up to seven-plus years.

[ChrisLaughlin]

I have a keyed Grinter and an unkeyed Olwell and the answer is.... I don't have to choose.

Chris

[Whistlin'Dixie]

I will never own a Wilkes 8-key flute.
I will never own arguably the "best flute in the world".

First, because I'm not entirely sold on keys.
Second, because I don't know where I'll be in 9 or 10 years, so who needs to be on that kind of a waiting list?
Second, because

Who cares?

I'm happy with the flute choices I've made and I'm playing and enjoying the flutes I have.

The Lehart is a good choice, as are the other maker's flutes you have listed.
It's fun to hear other folks' opinions about the various flutes they have owned/played. Of COURSE you already know that this is all very subjective. But it's still fun!

(Cathy, the Hammy is a beast! I love mine!!!!!! )

Mary

[Whistlin'Dixie]

Another way of looking at it might be this:

For anyone who has more than one flute:

Which one do you find yourself playing most often, and why?

I bet the answers would be as individual as the players themselves!

Mary