There are some really good flute makers out there with shorter waiting lists. Seems pretty silly to me to wait that long for a good flute IMHO. 
In Certificates of Deposits I think itâs called âladderingâ. In this case, you arrange for new flutes to be delivered on an ongoing basis, at least one per year according to various makerâs waiting lists.
I doubt there are many names on Wilkesâ list who do not already have at least one excellent flute to play in the meantime.
Anyways people tend to remember the player and the tunes they play, not the Instrument
pkev
This is so true. And the way it should be.
(Granted, itâs important to have an instrument that a person canât blame for their own ineptitudes! But, even so âŚ)
Jim
The spirit is willing, the flesh is another matter. Mike R. is made of iron, not an ordinary man, even setting aside
his extraordinary talent. And Pat O is a very good fellow.
Hereâs the story, from Johnâs link.
âAnd then one day I was down in Glen Echo Park, in Washington, and Jerry OâSullivan, the piper, he says, âThereâs a vendor down here,â he says, âhe makes flutes, and heâs selling flutes and everything, come on down.â There was eight flute players standing around, they were all trying it out. It was a demonstration [model], of course. And, at the time I didnât know whether it was Eb or a B whatever the case may be. When I got it in my hands I tell ya I got great satisfaction! âJesus,â I says, âI gotta buy this.â So I went over to him, I says, âCan I buy this off you?â âOh no,â he says, âThatâs a demonstration.â But, he says, âIâll make you one in six months.â âAnd sure,â I says, âI could be dead in that length of time!â Anyhow, Billy McComiskey was there, and Seamus Egan. And I conned him into it, I gave him 800 bucks for it, and it was well worth it! He sold it to me. He had pity on me. And there you have it. It was Patrick Olwell that saved my life!â
Perhaps a year or two after Mike Rafferty got his flute from Pat O at Glen Echo, I was at the same festival and walked up to his flute table to try out some flutes. I knew I was ready to upgrade from the Casey Burns Honker model Iâd been messing with for a couple of years, so I asked Patrick how long Iâd have to wait to get a flute from him. He says âWell, I have this one here thatâs two weeks from being done and itâs not spoken for yet.â I pulled out my checkbook and the rest is history. I have no idea why that flute was available at that moment (perhaps someone had backed out on an order, perhaps he was experimenting with some new design elements without the pressure of having to deliver the flute, whatever) but it just goes to show that oftentimes luck or serendipity trumps the waiting list. Which is why people put their names on 10-year wait lists and keep in touch with flute makers (itâs a fine line doing that without becoming a stalker, though, and stalkers never get flutes) because serendipity or luck rarely happens unless youâve laid the groundwork for it.
Exactly right. One wants to define oneself as an entirely patient and appreciative customer,
who stays in touch but is never a pest. It is a fine line. One never, ever expresses
frustration. Told that the flute isnât ready, it may be a couple more months, in fact,
one says: âThatâs fine. Shall I call you back in March?â This with maestros, the really
fine flutesmyths who are doing their best and then some and are nonetheless
overwhelmed occasionallyâthe nature of the business.
You know, there are few professions that do so much unadulterated good
as instrument making. Music delights people, it brings people together,
it is definitely a Good Thing. Hard to find a down side. And providing people
fine instruments to play is a great thing to do. And when you find people
who are masterful at it, and who love doing it (and who have passed over much
more lucrative pursuits to do it), well, I admire them and I do try to
treat them accordingly. Very few things in this world are as good
as what they do.
There are a lot of flutes and flute makers. You donât HAVE to buy a Wilkes flute.
Many other makers produce Rudall copies.
Waiting lists are a fact of life in Irish Trad.
Thereâs a readily accepted way of getting your instrument, one that many trad players have followed:
You buy a flute for now, from whatever maker you fancy and can get in a reasonable time (or second hand) and you also put your name on whatever waiting list you desire. So you can get the flute of your dreams eventuallyâŚit will be all the more precious 
when it arrivesâŚand often you will be a lot better as a player than when you ordered it.
Its a common issue in uilleann piping, where the majority of pipemakers have a waiting list of several years.
Thats just the way it is.
Boyd
Yes Boyd⌠it takes even longer to get a hold of the music than to get the instrument.
Hi,
Think of the poor maker, each one of those orders is hanging around his neck! When I was making flutes, I never even wanted to receive any money until about a week before the flute was ready, as I didnât want to have the stress of trying to fill the order. What if I got sick, and the money was spent already? What if I wanted to start making bright green Hawaiian Ukuleles?
âYes, a friend of mine told me a few weeks ago that he placed an order for one and I have even considered it myselfâ
iâve been considering placing and order for 10 years now
BTW ~ trip is a great player.
One thing that comes to mind with a ten year waiting list is that the flute wonât seem to cost as much that way. Just sock away 100 / month or whatever and do it every month, and then when itâs ready, well, itâs already paid for .
Itâs called saving for something, and EVERYBODY likes cash, . In the mean time, you can play on whatever you have or can dig up, and get better, and better, and better. and then when itâs finally in your hands, youâll have the chops to really appreciate what youâve got (and likely youâll be good enough to sound great on a garden hose). Regardless, itâll be time well spent.
I am going out of town for 5 days, but when I return Iâll put my Wilkes keyless stained boxwood D flute for sale. Itâs Rudallesque, but has very large finger holes, Wylde-style embouchure, wide D rings. Just think of avoiding that long waitâŚ
Cheers,
Hugh
Again to flag the assumption that a ten-year wait means a flute that will
be for you, or that you will like, or that is good deal better than
other flutes. The wait shows demand for this instrument seriously outstrips
supply (which may partly be a consequence of slow production).
That speaks well of the instrument, of course, but itâs no reason to go
gaga. It may be that most of the folks on the list have never
played one or seen one in person. And what somebody else may really like may not
be my cup of tea. I have owned some very good flutes
that I did not want to play. There is no guarantee, short of checking
one of these out in person, that one wonât wait a decade to
be disappointed. And even if you check it out, what you want may
change quite dramatically in a decade.
Nothing against Mr. Wilkes, of course. Iâm sure he makes good flutes.
And he appears to be a splendid craftsman. Love to try one.
But itâs obvious by now that not everybody wants to keep
their Wilkes. Which is the way of flutes, including very good
ones.