http://wilkesflutes.co.uk/Site/Contact.html
10 years waiting list???
In such a long time, I can decide to quit playing the flute and then get back to it, and maybe quit playing it again. And the price? World economy is changing over such a long time!
This is an insanely long time to wait, does anyone actually place and order?
What thoughts do you folks have on long waiting lists…? This must one of the worst things in playing an Irish flute.
sorry for the rant.
This is not news. Chris Wilkes has had that kind of waitlist for years. And yes, go figure; People acctually do place an order from time to time, that’s sort of why he has that waitlist, I don’t think he writes that stuff for fun 
Considering he could charge 3 times as much for his flutes and enough people would still buy them to keep him well occupied I think his prices are very low, and it’s a huge display of unselfishness from his part not to raise the prices to the levels he could. He’s also very adamant that no one gets special treatment, if Michael Flatley or Matt Molloy placed an order tomorrow and offered £30 000 he’d still have to wait 10 years for his turn like everyone else, and pay the same price as everyone else.
Chris makes what is very probably the best and prettiest looking flutes in the world. That’s why the waitlist is the way it is. You have a choice- eighter you get on it or you don’t, as simple as that.
Personally I choose to stick with my old F&P and spend my money on other passions, one of them being exclusive bottles of
whisky 
10 years isn’t such a long time. Just place your order, save yer money and learn/play on some other flute in the meantime. What’s the problem? You could also get lucky and find a secondhand Wilkes, they do surface occasionally. Dave Williams & Allain Froment also had 10 year waiting lists. Geoff Wooff has a 12 year waiting list. Pat Olwell has a 6 year waiting list I think for a keyed flute. There are plenty of nice flutes out there to play on while you’re waiting for your order to come through. 
Patience dude 
Well, it’s only a £50 non refundable deposit - I’d guess a good few people might throw that at it and even if they give up or have an accident or whatever - they won’t have lost much and could even still purchase and sell on at an unethical profit etc. You should look at concertinas - some makers like Suttner have 3&4 year waiting lists and charge 10% non refundable deposits (typical end price Euro4000). I don’t particularly care for the ‘non refundable’ aspect of these arrangements - there are probably many people ‘clogging up’ makers lists who don’t really need the instrument by the time their turn comes around but who feel obliged as otherwise they’ll lose their money. Of course, the maker has a different perspective, though I doubt they really care for the idea of making an instrument for someone who doesn’t particularly want it anymore.
Yes, a friend of mine told me a few weeks ago that he placed an order for one and I have even considered it myself.
I wonder if anyone has recent information about what Chris charges for a standard 8-key Rudall these days? And what’s the premium for the eye candy?*
* I’m not intending to order a Wilkes, that’s why I ask here and not himself, since he should be making flutes and not answering emails of curious people with no intention of buying!
I just strikes me and makes me sad too… 10 years is a long time to wait… I thought 3 years would be almost too long for me, just for a comparison
Thank you for the posts.
PS:
I wonder, if there’re coinsidences when a person who doesn’t pick up his flute by the time it’s ready, be it because he’s short of money or just quit playing the flute or any other reason. What happens to that flute then? This means there’s a ready new flute that can be bought and received instantly! (look at me, already planning shortcuts… ;/ )
“I wonder, if there’re coinsidences when a person who doesn’t pick up his flute by the time it’s ready, be it because he’s short of money or just quit playing the flute or any other reason. What happens to that flute then?” Trip.
The flute is usually destroyed. No, not really. Chris Wilkes has a page on his website where he sells flutes that are not wanted at the time of completion. You have to be quick though, they get snapped up. At a Willie Week piping class in 1998 a young lad came with his practice set on the Monday then the next day he turned up with a full set by Geoff Wooff. Turned out the set was ordered, but the person that ordered the set had changed their mind or didn’t have the cash upon completion. Anyway the lad said that Geoff went through his order book chronologically and rang people to see if anyone wanted the set, but those who were next in line for a set had ordered a certain key, or certain mounts, or certain extras or this that and the other. So in the end the young lad was offered the set as he had just ordered a few months ago just a flat set of pipes with no other stipulations concerning key or special effects. So his parents took the call and fixed a bank loan. I seem to remember back then the waiting list was only four years
Last I heard the wait list for a set of pipes from Jeff Wooff was over fifteen years.
There are other good flute-makers besides Chris Wilkes, you know. You don’t have to have a Wilke’s flute in order to make good music. And how many of us would really sound appreciably better on a Wilke’s flute than on a flute that came with a shorter wait?
that is one big truth david!
his flute isn’t magic stick to transfer bad player in excellent , but someone must warning us ofen to not forget those facts!
and good player usually play one flute for long, long period before he ( she) moves to another flute…
marin
The lengths of waiting lists stand in no relation with the instruments quality. The fact that I just have to wait about a year for my new flute doesn’t make it a bad one. I consider it, in fact, to be the best flute I ever tried.
Don’t worry too much. Your assessment that 10 years is a long time comes from your perception of how long the last 10 years took. Trust me, the next 10 years goes by much quicker. The 10 years following that is even faster.
Ever wonder why old people drive slow? They’re not. They’re driving normal in their time space continuum.
Heck, it’s taken me 10 years to get a semi-rhythmic B roll.
Trip, what are you really looking for ?
If you’ve tried and compared Chris’s flutes with others
Then maybe you’d understand the long waiting list isn’t insane.
But you’re not even sure if you actually keep on playing??!
Be very carefull when you actually stop playing, If i had to stop i’d go insane.
I’d hazard a guess that it won’t be too long (if it hasn’t happened already) that we’ll see EBay auctions for places on waiting lists!! You can jump the queue but at a price - roll up, roll up 
I trade futures on Wilkes and porkbellies all the time.
Also a long long wait list doesn’t guarantee you will like the flute. I’ve
talked with people who didn’t much like the wilkes. No reflection
on the Wilkes flute and it’s still a flute.
God help anyone who wants to take up the flute in their retirement at 60/65!
a bit risky if you ask me, worth considering they might not actually live to collect their dream instrument!
If your older then perhaps your only choice is to buy second hand, that is, if you want those particular instruments
OTOH one could learn to make their own
Anyways people tend to remember the player and the tunes they play, not the Instrument
pkev
You call up the maker and plead geezerhood.
Ah, the Mike Rafferty gambit. Of course, if you play it and succeed with it, you have to be prepared to play that flute well for another two decades like Mike has done with his Olwell.