Chris Wilkes Flute on Ebay

Jens_Hoppe · Post by **Jens_Hoppe** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 1:07 am

$3300 for a keyless flute is bleeding out of this world... The free market never fails to amaze.

(Especially so since all flutes have the same potential

).

cocusflute · Post by **cocusflute** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 1:42 am

Blame it on hormonal disorder.
I can't explain the insanity of the other bidders.
People with too much money never fail to amaze me.

treeshark · Post by **treeshark** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 2:21 am

So what would an 8 keyed Wilkes go for then?

Steampacket · Post by **Steampacket** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 2:35 am

Congratulations Jessie - you'll have a good flute there I'm sure. It's expensive but you won't need another flute if you're playing Irish traditional music. It's a keeper. I'm still growing into the Wilkes I have, keep finding new tones/sounds. It'll play both sweet and focused, and big and raspy depending. I still haven't figured it all out yet, and still get pleasantly surprised. Chris makes quality instruments that sound good and look good, form and function.

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 6:26 am

The price is staggering, but the way I justify it is this: I used to have between 20 and 30 great keyless flutes. That's a lot of money in flutes, even if I got most or all of them at reasonable prices. I sold ALL of them, many for a slight profit. $3349 for a keyless flute is ridiculous, but if it's the ONE FLUTE, as I am hopeful that it will be, why should it matter that it cost 2-3 times that of what a good keyless flute should cost? It is a beautiful flute made carefully and painstakingly by a highly respected (with good reason) craftsman, and it cost less than a factory-made student Boehm flute.

Keyless flutes don't go out of adjustment as keyed flutes can. For chromatics (which I don't need in Irish trad), I have Boehm flutes. I came to the conclusion a while ago that keyed simple system flutes are not for me.

I REALLY want(ed) this flute. So I am spending a ridiculous amount of money on it. If the underbidder had bid just a little bit more, I would have been outbid. But I wasn't. And I intend to love this flute for a long, long time.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 6:32 am

Happy Birthday, kiddo! If my wife didn't watch me like
a hawk, I'd buy a Porsche.

dwinterfield · Post by **dwinterfield** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 6:49 am

Congratulations Jessie. It's always worth it to pay more to get the best.

Now that the e-bay keyless flute market has a new top, I suspect we'll see more good keyless flutes. There are people watching e-bay thinking "I love this flute. I wouldn't sell it just to make a little money, but if I could double my money, or more..."

Time will tell.

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 7:15 am

Jessie, enjoy it!

Musical instruments that are intelligently purchased are very rarely a mistake. You'll get tons of pleasure from it, and if you ever choose to sell, you'll get something close (or even better) than what you paid. I rationalize my purchases by considering the costs of alternative hobbies, (cars, sports/concert tickets, ski trips, diving, hang-gliding....you name it). There are MUCH worse places to put your money!!!
Congrats!!

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 7:15 am

jim stone wrote:Happy Birthday, kiddo! If my wife didn't watch me like
a hawk, I'd buy a Porsche.

Hee hee. Thanks. My husband knows all and is actually supportive of my buying certain instruments - he was included in the decision of how much to bid on this flute. He records music (which involves a costly sound engineer) for fun (and artistic expression), so we both have an allotment for musical pleasure-spending.

crookedtune wrote: I rationalize my purchases by considering the costs of alternative hobbies, (cars, sports/concert tickets, ski trips, diving, hang-gliding....you name it). There are MUCH worse places to put your money!!!
Congrats!!

I agree! Since our daughter was born, we haven't gone on any vacations. All we spend money on, other than necessities, are musical things.

KateG · Post by **KateG** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 8:32 am

I agree with Jessie. When it comes to great musical instruments, go for it! Especially if you're being prudent and reasonable in all other aspects of life. As the guy who built my husband's mandolin said regarding instruments: "Buy it...then figure out how to pay for it!" In the big picture music is a fairly inexpensive obsession. After all good instruments tend to appreciate, and learning new tunes keeps the brain active which should reduce the risk of nasty and expensive problems like Altzheimers! (at least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it).

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 8:50 am

Yes, I suspect that learning the concertina is a good
fix against Alzheimer's.

Jessie, when you've had some time alone with the Wilkes,
perhaps you can post your impressions.

scooter587 · Post by **scooter587** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 10:15 am

I hope the flute market works like real estate. When a neighbor's place sells at a premium, all the other homes on the block also go up in value. Does this mean my keyless Copley is now a $1,500 flute?

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:31 am

Apparently. Doc Jone's Olwell G bamboo flute on e bay
is now at 232 dollars, with 8 and a half hours to go.

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:48 am

Crap, I was (seriously) just going to post an ad to see if anyone was interested in trading an Olwell Bamboo F for my Tipple F.

Guess there's no chance of such a trade now. The current G price shouldn't surprise me though, an Olwell Bamboo C went for well over $400. a week or two ago on ebay.

Loren

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 8:36 am

jim stone wrote:Apparently. Doc Jone's Olwell G bamboo flute on e bay
is now at 232 dollars, with 8 and a half hours to go.

Holy Moses! That means my Olwell bamboo F might be worth more than the car it's presently sitting in?

Congratulations, Jessie. That's a good 'ern.

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Chris Wilkes Flute on Ebay

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