New Patrick Olwell excitement!

emmdee · Post by **emmdee** » Sat May 06, 2006 2:51 pm

I have recently bitten the bullet and joined Mr O's waiting list for a 4 keyed. Approx 6 - 7 years to wait (or, if you look at it another way, 6 or 7 Christmas cards to send) so I'll be nearly 40 when it's ready. Blimey! Anyway, I'd love to hear from anyone who can tell me how great they are, how much they love their Olwell, how the wait will be sooooo worth it etc etc.
m.d.

cocusflute · Post by **cocusflute** » Sat May 06, 2006 3:33 pm

I have heard Patrick Olwell referred to as the best flute maker of all time.
He's certainly one of the best ever. You won't ever regret owning and playing one of his flutes. But why four keys rather than six? The wait wouldn't be any longer-- it would be a bit more expensive but the flute would be worth that much more at the end of the day.

Whistlin'Dixie · Post by **Whistlin'Dixie** » Sat May 06, 2006 6:07 pm

Cocusflute, I can't believe you changed your avatar!!!

M

Ro3b · Post by **Ro3b** » Sat May 06, 2006 9:46 pm

Patrick is the best there is. If he were an epidemiologist, he would have cured AIDS and the common cold by now. If he were a nuclear physicist, we'd have cold fusion, no problem. Instead, he makes flutes.

Surely you wouldn't want to get your flute after having waited seven years only to realize you need a long F key. At least get him to put the blocks on. Of course you have plenty of time to change your mind.

jtrout · Post by **jtrout** » Sat May 06, 2006 9:51 pm

I hate to do this to you, but...... For about 12 years, I've dearly wanted an Olwell flute, but couldn't bear the thought of waiting all those years to get one. I've a friend who ordered a flute from Patrick back in the early 1990's and waited the obligatory five years for it. She never really played it. About two years ago, I did, and ever since that moment I've coveted that instrument. It simply came alive in my hands. Needless-to-say, I let her know that if she ever wanted to part with it, I would jump. She has taken up the fiddle, and so I have been periodically querying her about the flute. My music friends also let her know how much I wanted the flute, and how it wasn't so good for such a fine instrument to languishing in the corner. About three weeks ago, I popped the question again, and she sold it to me. I've been about three inches off the ground since, and also very frustrated, as Patrick has advised me to treat it as a new flute, so I can't play it very long at a go quite yet. Without being specific, I will admit that I paid far more for this flute than it cost, but tonight I'm going to play it; not five or six or seven years from now. I feel very very fortunate, and yes, I can tell you that your wait will be worth it; the man makes a marvelous flute.

feadog39 · Post by **feadog39** » Tue May 09, 2006 5:23 pm

you are lucky, jtrout. very lucky. i waited ten years for my fully keyed olwell, which arrived a few months ago. It is a stradivarius in the irish flute kingdom.

Fortunately, i had a keyed pratten style hammy for many years beforehand and I was pretty much ready to hit the ground running when the olwell arrived. However, i tell everyone to get an olwell UNKEYED. And get in NOW. Do not wait ten years to get a world class instrument in your hands. it only takes about one year for patrick to make an unkeyed. and frankly, if you can't get a good tone out of an irish flute, you really have little business messing around with keys. it will take you TEN years to learn to play the irish flute well enough to be worthy of the keyed olwell stadivarious anyhow.

Ro3b · Post by **Ro3b** » Tue May 09, 2006 7:12 pm

You can also order both, get your keyless flute in a year or so, play the hell out of it, and then trade in your middle and foot joints for keyed sections when the time comes, keeping your by-then-well-broken-in headjoint.

JeffS · Post by **JeffS** » Tue May 09, 2006 10:07 pm

I have a keyless Olwell. Does anyone know how long it would take to get it back if I sent it in for keys?

Sylvester · Post by **Sylvester** » Wed May 10, 2006 3:13 am

JeffS wrote:I have a keyless Olwell. Does anyone know how long it would take to get it back if I sent it in for keys?

It depends, if you'd send that Olwell to me, I presume quite a long time...
...if ever...

Whistlin'Dixie · Post by **Whistlin'Dixie** » Wed May 10, 2006 5:00 am

JeffS wrote:I have a keyless Olwell. Does anyone know how long it would take to get it back if I sent it in for keys?

hmmmmm, just guessing here.....

Freakin' forever?

M

Hoovorff · Post by **Hoovorff** » Wed May 10, 2006 5:27 am

Doesn't he have people send the keyless sections in at the time the keyed flute is ready? That was my understanding of how it worked. So, it would take 5-10 years, my guess, to do the swap.

I'm happy with my keyless Olwell Nicholson. I can play any note except E-flat, which I don't really need. If I'm just "dying" to play an E-flat, I have another keyed flute I can use. Definitely order a keyless Olwell now, as a previous post said.

Jeanie

johnkerr · Post by **johnkerr** » Wed May 10, 2006 5:52 am

JeffS wrote:I have a keyless Olwell. Does anyone know how long it would take to get it back if I sent it in for keys?

Not all that long. Here's how the process works (been there, done that myself many years ago): You own an Olwell keyless flute and are on the waiting list for keys. You've let Patrick know that you want to keep your headjoint when you get your keyed body. You play away happily on your keyless flute while slowly you work your way up the waiting list. Eventually, Patrick begins to work on your keyed body, while you continue to play away happily on your keyless flute. Finally, the time comes and your keyed body is almost ready. Patrick will give you a call and ask you to send your headjoint down to him via overnight delivery so he can make a few final adjustments on the fit. (You don't have to send it overnight, of course. You could just send it parcel post at the lowest package rates. But what are you, stupid?) Patrick spends a day or so with your headjoint getting the fit just right, and then sends it back to you by whatever delivery means you choose to pay for. (Again, you're not too cheap to pay for faster delivery, are you?) Then, after a bit more time passes while Patrick makes sure all the keypads are set correctly and such, he'll give you another call and ask you how you'd like him to ship you your new keyed body. Again, you pay top dollar for the fastest possible delivery, or if you live close enough you can drive down to Massie's Mill and pick it up in person. Patrick will give you the option of keeping your unkeyed body or trading it back to him for the keyed body. If you keep the unkeyed body, you pay more. (Not sure what the current price is, but back when I traded my unkeyed body in it would have cost me $400 more to keep it.)

Of course, it is an extremely nerve-wracking process to pack up your headjoint and trust it to the postal gods. So get insurance on the shipment. And, in the extremely rare instance where something might actually happen to your headjoint while it's in the mail, Patrick's such a standup guy that I'm sure he'd cut you every possible break on the waiting time to make you a new headjoint. (You'd still have to pay him for it, of course, which is why you get the postal insurance.)

Patrick is such an excellent craftsman and his tolerances are so tight that the headjoints and bodies of his flutes are pretty much interchangeable. Even without the bit of fine tuning he does while he's got your headjoint, you'd still have a damn good flute. But still you do want that last bit of fine tuning, because this is an instrument you'll be playing for a lifetime.

chas · Post by **chas** » Wed May 10, 2006 6:14 am

johnkerr wrote: Patrick is such an excellent craftsman and his tolerances are so tight that the headjoints and bodies of his flutes are pretty much interchangeable. Even without the bit of fine tuning he does while he's got your headjoint, you'd still have a damn good flute. But still you do want that last bit of fine tuning, because this is an instrument you'll be playing for a lifetime.

I ordered an Eflat section for my Olwell awhile back, and when I was talking to Patrick, asked how long he'd want to keep the head and foot. I was surprised when he said a couple of times that he wouldn't need them. I would think that fitting would be especially important for boxwood. When it comes time, I'll ask again.

johnkerr · Post by **johnkerr** » Wed May 10, 2006 7:03 am

chas wrote:I ordered an Eflat section for my Olwell awhile back, and when I was talking to Patrick, asked how long he'd want to keep the head and foot. I was surprised when he said a couple of times that he wouldn't need them. I would think that fitting would be especially important for boxwood. When it comes time, I'll ask again.

If he says he doesn't need them, then he doesn't need them. Trust him - the man knows what he's doing. He probably has detailed notes and measurements of all the relevant bits of your flute on file and can work from that. But ask again, if it will ease your mind - although I'd wager his answer will be the same.

Since you live fairly close, Charlie, if I was you I'd just offer to come down to his shop and pick up the new piece in person. While you're there he'll give your flute the once-over and maybe even adjust something slightly. Although your concern about the variability of boxwood is surely valid, I'm thinking that perhaps that also might be why Patrick wouldn't gain anything from having your head and foot joints in hand while he finishes the new middle piece. With boxwood, he's shooting against a moving target. The way those pieces are now is not the same as the way they were when he built them, but then again they'll be different tomorrow from the way they are today. So he's probably just as well off in building the new piece against the way the other pieces were when he first made them as he would be in building against the way those pieces are today.

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Wed May 10, 2006 7:22 am

Sockets don't tend to shrink or go out of round a whole lot, usually what causes a poor fit at the socket tenon joint are tenons that go out of round, or swell excessively, both of which cause a tight fit.

So, building a new 1 piece center section, those particular issues wouldn't be a significant factor, and one could reasonably build the section to spec and not have to worry too much about fit, other than how tight/loose the cork will be. It does surprise me that Pat wouldn't want to custom fit the cork, but then the way I learned to do corking is radically different than most other makers, so that probably accounts for it - just a different methodology.

Look at it this way Charlie: The flute is Boxwood, so even if Pat makes the fit a little loose, within 15 minutes of playing the flute, that top joint is going to swell tight! Gotta love (and hate) boxwood!

Loren

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