Sam Murray and Delivery times

Alber · Post by **Alber** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 8:37 pm

BrazenKaine

Sam M. is lovely guy but a very particular man to deal with when it comes to business and you are either 'lucky' or not with your order..
He makes extremely good flutes though..

AL
http://homepage.mac.com/alberto20/FileSharing5.html

andrewK · Post by **andrewK** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 5:39 am

Does Mr Murray hope to die owing a lot of money ?
I know I do !

franco · Post by **franco** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 9:09 am

I ordered a blackwood keyless flute from Sam Murray maybe 7 years back. He told me it would take 6 months when I placed the order, but I waited about 15 - 18 months before it was done.

He was friendly to chat to over the phone, but I got the impression he deliberatly understated the length of his waiting list to get my order. His flutes are great though. If I placed an order now I would probably go for Hammy Hamilton's flutes instead. Waiting time and apparently they're just as good.

Brazenkane · Post by **Brazenkane** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 7:05 pm

I highly recommend the Seth Gallagher Pratten style flute.

If you would like to hear a clip of mine email me :

okaine@gmail.com

big ballsy perfectly in tune, can play sweetly too, great key work (Bb can be keyed w/ right hand or left thumb), key blocks are low so if you play w/ piper style flat fingers on flute -there's no problem. NO HASSLE quick delivery time-ON TIME! Seth is a great person to order from. He's no -bs, efficient, great buisness ethics.

hows that for a plug!?!

sturob · Post by **sturob** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 11:41 am

What do you think of the bore of that flute? I remember a while back seeing one for sale on the board, and the comment was that it was billed as Pratten-style, but that it had a really narrow bore. And that came from someone who's got a lot of experience with flutes, I think.

(That flute == Gallager's)

Stuart

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 9:15 pm

Yes, that was me. I also disagree about the keywork. I found it very tight, clumsy and unresponsive.

It also took about 3 months longer than he said it would to arrive, but after that he was very gracious about exchanging it for a keyless version.

bang · Post by **bang** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 12:57 pm

where do Murray flutes sit in the Rudall-Pratten continuum? large or small bore/toneholes? many of my favorite players have Murrays & i quite like the range of tones they seem to produce. is there much variation in sound from one Murray to another?

tia! /dan

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 10:14 am

OK, Bang, I'll take the bait ...

You will have to pry my keyless Murray out of my cold, dead hands; it's that much of a cracker of a flute. (Actually, it's already willed to someone, so I guess they'll get to pry it out of my cold, dead hands)

Warm, rich, woody tone with a fabulous bark when you push it ... super-responsive, so responsive it almost feels and plays like a thinwall. Conical bore, average to large-ish holes. Bottom D like a bell; it just bongs, clear and true. (with, of course, that fabulous woody Murray tone)

Being a McGee & Hamilton Pratten girl, I'm not really experienced with Rudallesque flutes outside a hybrid Ormiston -- but I would say the Murray's less Prattenesque in build and volume than the Hammy & McGee. David Levine could probably make a more intelligent comparison, especially on the Rudall end of things ... but regardless, the Murray's sound is so unique that it cuts thru anything; volume isn't an issue.

Anyway, I think Sam's managed to somehow invent a flute that's very much its own; to me Murrays look, feel, play, and sound different from just about anything else. Ironically, they're very simple to look at; nothing fancy at all. Thread tenons on mine and narrow silver rings & slide; that's as dressy as it gets. One of the things I've noticed is that there's a longer distance between the embouchure hole and the tuning cork/end cap. Seems like that might have something to do with the sound? And then of course there's the characteristic Murray "bump" at the end of the head ....

So combine their utility and sound quality and their low prices (right around 475 GBP for a new keyless last I heard), and it's easy to see how a one-man operation like Sam could be perenially overwhelmed, especially if he's not particularly interested in the business end of things. (I also think Sam does 'favors for friends' which puts the people he doesn't know or hear from often back a bit on the list.) So perhaps the wait with Sam is one of those karmic self-regulating deals, I don't know.

Personally, I wonder if Sam shouldn't just charge more IF he could deliver more on time. Then perhaps he wouldn't need to make so many flutes to make a living and could enjoy himself a bit guilt-free. But whatever the case, the man who mine made a hell of a flute, and I thank God I was able to get my hands on it!

xo,
cat.

P.S. If you want, I'll try to take photos of the Murray & McGee side by side tonight for visual comparison purposes.

eilam · Post by **eilam** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 10:32 am

<P.S. If you want, I'll try to take photos of the Murray & McGee side by side tonight for visual <comparison purposes.

Cat - yes he wants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(what kind of question is that)

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:22 am

OK, OK, I'll take some pictures of both your babies.

eilam · Post by **eilam** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:51 am

Thanks cat, in the meantime I'm Ebaying for a Pry-bar, they come in 4-pc, so I figure there meant for Prattens?

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:56 am

Yah, yah. But I did say my cold DEAD hands, so you'd better ebay for a shotgun, too.

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 11:25 am

OK, Bang and E-ski (hey! B&E!) ...

Here's my attempt at creative visualization ....

The Murray's the keyless one.

Turn on the slide show feature to see the images bigger. Sorry for the focus issues -- I tried to show bore and thickness differences at the foot ends, but apparently my camera lens has astigmatism, too!

http://homepage.mac.com/zootfloot/PhotoAlbum1.html

Anyway, I found the differences (and similarities) kind of interesting. Oh, and sorry for the fingerprints too. I ended up playing all three for a while & didn't wipe down between beauty shots.

bang · Post by **bang** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 4:04 pm

many thanks for the pix Cathy. very pretty, esp. the Hammy, imho. on first glance, the holes in the foot of the Murray suggest Rudall (& Carte?) influence. anyone w/ more experience care to comment?

couple more ?s if you have time: what's the outside diameter of the headjoint? (i'm assuming inside diameters are all ~19mm) inside/outside diameter of the body at the foot joint? (the flare to the inside diameter at the end of the foot is pretty variable.)

of course, the details of bore, embouchure, etc. are too many to specify, so this is largely a matter of curiosity.

thanks again, & enjoy! /dan

eilam · Post by **eilam** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 12:43 am

cat - thanks for the pictures.
three amazing pieces - are you saying I need to ebay two more pry-bars?
I'm not much of a Pratten guy, but playing your Hammy almost made me place an order for one it's a real beauty, Hammy wrote back that he does not have Cocuswood anymore.

is the embouchure on the Murray the widest (front to back), which one is the narrowest cut?

again, thanks for the pictures of the Three Musketeers

.
eilam.

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