Hi all, i’m an aspiring flute maker from the UK. I’m pleased to now be offering flutes in Delrin and select hardwoods for sale.I don’t have a website yet but invite people to view my flute facebook page, more details & pictures/prices etc here - https://www.facebook.com/thompsonflutes/ Many thanks, Damian
One thing that really helps introduce flutes by new makers, is recordings of the instrument by strong players. Do you have any recordings? Your flutes look really nice! Good luck!
Unfortunately, the link is not public, and one must have and be signed into a Facebook account to view.
Thanks for the feedback, my apologies to anyone unable to view.I’m hoping to have a basic website up and running later today, I agree sound samples/videos are important too.I will post a new link up as soon as this has been done.
Hpinson, there’s a short clip under “videos” of the flutes being played. A lot of background noise, but they sound good!
Here’s a brand new website, more to be added, thanks!
https://www.thompsonflutes.com/
Hi Bigsciota - I did see that video. Respectfully, it is not of a quality that can be used to judge really the flute. I would not buy based on that video. I can give an example of what would be convincing - Rob Forbes managed to get David Migoya and Kevin Crawford to demo his delrin flute (links on this page http://forbesflutes.com/ ), and those videos convinced at least me to purchase. Both players really did justice to the instrument, and the video provides a great way to judge sound, which in my mind looks are secondary to.
Just a suggestion - find a top-flight player to demo, and do a quality recording using a good microphone. No added post processing please. If your flutes are good, it will really help sell them.
Yes hpinson, thanks, you are absolutely right, it is the sound that matters most. There is actually a couple of videos on the facebook page, if one scrolls down the posts far enough (one of them is actually me playing in a session in Birmingham) but neither is great in regards to sound quality. I am going to make it a priority to upload some better quality sound/video recordings of the instruments being played to the website as soon as possible, I’m very new to this! Cheers.. 
If you are looking for feedback, you might consider an instrument tour.
Here’s a link to one from a couple of years ago.
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/geoffrey-ellis-pratten-style-flute-tour-anyone/87573/1
As great as the tours have been, they now may be confounded by the recent changes to the CITES provision regarding international shipments of blackwood and other rosewood species. Bottom line, there might be a cost for permits to ship across borders. Although it might be interesting to hear the conversation between the shipper and customs officers—“So you’re not selling the instrument, just sending it out for free for people to try out and then they will send it back to you once they’ve used it for a bit? Let me check my regulations and get back to you.”
Check Casey Burns excellent thread on the CITES provisions in action at https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/cites-recap/96597/1
Best wishes.
Steve
Or just tour a Delrin flute and skip all the paperwork! Probably no appreciable difference between the Delrin and blackwood instruments.
Fully agree with the first statement. The second might engender some discussion. Either way, a delrin instrument should show quality of workmanship, intonation, etc…
Best wishes.
Steve
It’s true that the “materials debate” does tend to come up from time to time And I don’t want to start that hare again (and I mean that sincerely). But I would say that any difference between them is likely going to be small enough not to matter for the sake of evaluating the workmanship and such, as you say. For people who prefer wood, they can safely assume that if they really like the Delrin than they will probably love the wood! Looking at the background of the maker and the photos of the instruments I’m guessing they’ll be solid, regardless of material.
Sigh! CITIES is complicating things…
There’s always the possibility of getting around the irritation that comes from international shipping by limiting any tours to only people within the UK.
If there’s any interest in a UK only flute tour, I’d be interested in participating!
m.d.
ahem… that won’t work, AT ALL. Some of us live in Canada.
Thanks for the ideas, the possibility of a tour is certainly something i’m happy to consider, especially as there seems to be a fair level of interest. I agree that a delrin instrument would be potentially less problematic considering the recent CITIES regulations etc, and I definitely wouldn’t want any cross border red tape/paperwork to limit the flutes travel or cause problems for people along the way..so hopefully this way anyone in the U.S/Canada or Europe/UK (or wherever) can participate if they would like to. I will start a separate ‘Tour’ thread when the instrument is ready to go, in the meantime I have added a bit more to the website, including pictures of the three models I am currently offering. Many thanks again! Damian. https://www.thompsonflutes.com/
Damian,
Any chance a smaller holed flute is showing up in your crystal ball? See the future…
Scouter
Scouter, I have tended to be more drawn to the larger holed flutes thus far as they seem (with good reason) to be the preferred choice within Irish music circles, but in actual fact I have been looking at offering a smaller holed version of my delrin ‘Student’ model, perhaps even with off set tone holes for those with smaller hands, so its on the cards at least as far as that for now.
Two small thumbs up! 