Seriously Seery

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Wed Jan 29, 2003 11:52 pm

I took my Dixon to a session tonight.
The fellow next to me had brought
a Seery Pratten style flute, which
he'd received in Dec. He dislikes
it, can't play it. So I let him
play my Dixon and he let me play
the Seery--at the end we traded
flutes for a week, the idea being
that he may take the Dixon as
partial trade.

I find the Seery remarkably
easy to play--can't quite figure
this out, as it's supposed to
be harder to play. What's going on?
Also it's loud, which I like.
I always figured a Pratten style
flute would be some sort of beast,
but I like the volume fine.
It sounds considerably better
than the three piece dixon,
which sounds pretty good to
begin with. So I'm pretty impressed
with the Seery. But it doesn't
sound as good as my Copley,
it sounds like Delrin...

What do you all think of
these flutes? Why is this easy
to play? this guy can't play
it, he says. The top end is
very accessible, and the bottom
honks. It's the easiest
celtic flute I've ever played.
He wants full price, what he
paid for it. Well, I can
charge full price for the
Dixon. Best

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Thu Jan 30, 2003 12:07 am

Well, like you said, if he wants full price, the new price for a Dixon is somewhere around $269 US after converting currency if you order from Tony direct, plus S&H. I mean really, he can't play the thing - he ought to be glad you want to trade in the first place!

herbivore12 · Post by **herbivore12** » Thu Jan 30, 2003 12:14 am

Actually, from what I've gleaned from people who've played the M&E, Seery and Dixon flutes, the Dixon may require the most focussed emouchure of the three, and thus may be more difficult for some players to handle.

I generally hear that the Seery's tone is most "wood-like" of the bunch, although the recordings I've heard of M&E's R&R flute sound pretty damned nice, really.

I've only had my Dixon for a couple days, but I'm impressed, especially considering the price. Excellent value for money. But iof a Seery was the same price, I'd have bought one. Alas...

I'll just put those savings towards a nice keyless woodenflute.

Jens_Hoppe · Post by **Jens_Hoppe** » Thu Jan 30, 2003 3:00 am

I like my Seery, which has a good tone. That being said, I find it harder to play than my Copley, and the Copley has a nicer sound.

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Thu Jan 30, 2003 7:01 am

I think the Seery is a hard flute to learn to fill.

That being said, I don't think it really hurts anybody to learn to play a flute that's hard to fill.

Once you learn how to handle it, it's a great flute, very projective, very loud, very efficient with air.

I had done some really heavy "training" with my Seery before my Hammy got here. I'm glad I did--the Hammy has been responding and sounding good from the first day.

Best,

--James
http://www.flutesite.com

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Thu Jan 30, 2003 8:22 am

Sounds like we're in the same ballpark.
The Seery beats the Dixon, the
latter being quite good, in fact,
and the Copley beats the Seery.
I'm having no trouble at all
filling the Seery--must be
eating my wheaties!

Has the price of the Seery gone
up in the last few months?
Is there a distributor in
the USA? I see Custy's in
Ireland. Where did you'all
buy these flutes? Thanks

kkrell · Post by **kkrell** » Thu Jan 30, 2003 1:40 pm

On 2003-01-30 09:22, jim stone wrote:
I'm having no trouble at all
filling the Seery--must be
eating my wheaties!

Has the price of the Seery gone
up in the last few months?
Is there a distributor in
the USA?

I find my Seery very easy to play, and if I play outside, I can see people about a block away turn their heads - designed for busking.

Jim, I think you've already contacted me for the USA distributor (Frank Simpson). The Seery web page has had over 10,000 hits since I offered to put it up on Desi's behalf. Desi has raised his prices over the last 2 years, just as some wooden flute vendors have raised keyless prices to what their keyed flutes used to cost.

Kevin Krell

beowulf573 · Post by **beowulf573** » Thu Jan 30, 2003 1:53 pm

I love my Seery, and will be keeping it after I get my Copley in a few months to use as a travel or knock-around flute. The thing seems almost indestructible.

I bought it after taking a class from Frank Simpson, the US distributor. I wanted to buy a decent flute but as I was just starting out didn't want to spend a large amount of money.

I like it much better than the Ralph Sweet I flute, mainly cause it's got more heft and feels better in my hands.

Eddie

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Thu Jan 30, 2003 8:03 pm

Thanks to all. The fellow sessioner
in question just e mailed me
to say he wants to keep his
Seery. So I can't buy that one,
anyhow. Such is life! Best to all

gan-ainm · Post by **gan-ainm** » Fri Jan 31, 2003 8:39 am

I too play my Seery a lot - it has good tone and will take a lot of air, so it makes me play better, stronger. And I love the low maintenance. Here's my question - I think the cork has shifted, and I'd like to open up the headjoint to reset it, but for the life of me I can't get the cap off. Have any of you Seery aficionados had any experience with this? Any tips? Thanks.

Mark Byrne · Post by **Mark Byrne** » Fri Jan 31, 2003 8:44 am

I phoned Desi up and called out to his house when I bought my Seery about 8 months ago. The price was 380 euro which included a case. The euro and the dollar are almost even these days, so I guess you should be able to get one from him directly for around 400 dollars including shipping. (I'm not sure if he offers this service but it may be worth a phone call),

regards,
Mark.

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Fri Jan 31, 2003 11:35 am

Yes, that seems right. 380 dollars
plus 25 shipping. Well, when one
of these was plumped in my lap,
I would have bought it, because
it was there. Don't really know
if I'll spring for one at
a distance. But these are
impressively good flutes!

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Sun Feb 02, 2003 10:48 am

A seery is on e bay.
With an hour and a half left
to go, the highest bid is
425, which strikes me as
a bit daft. Nothing to
do with the goodness of
the instrument, but this
one is over two years old
and a new one is available
for less without much waiting.
ebay appears to be
a sporting endeavour. Oh, well...