Casey Burns or Terry McGee?

Irish Flute
1

Hi!
I wrote a message about playing irish flute with small hands some days ago and I see that both Casey Burns and Terry McGee have a model of flute for small hands. I haven’t saw other names, but now I’m asking: which is the better one?
I was thinking to get a keyless flute or, at least with one or two keys, but it’s quite expensive and I’m jut thinking, at the moment :smiley: Maybe I’ll buy a flute with just the tuning slide. What maker do you prefer?

Another question: what do you think about the Casey Burns’ folk flute? I need a professional flute, and I can’t understand in which it’s different from the other models.

Thank you so much!

2

I think you’ll find that you’ll receive differing opinions. Both makers have excellent reputations. I’ve heard a McGee played by an accomplished player in person, and it sounded great. I’ve never played one myself though.

I do play Casey Burns flutes. For the price, you can’t beat a folk flute. It’s extremely well made, has great volume, it is tuneable to a degree as it has a long tenon (33mm I think, but Casey would know better of course!), and is responsive. I love it and I think you’ll find that people that own love it as well. It’s a great way to get started.

3

ciao, è sempre un piacere trovare compaesani in forum inglesi :smiley:

Forse è una domanda stupida, ma hai dato un’occhiata ai loro siti?
Considera anche che flauti di questo genere si possono rivendere molto facilmente. E informati sulla lista di attesa, in alcuni casi può superare l’anno.

Ricorda che il folk flute di Casey è senza tuning slide, ma non dubito che considerando il prezzo (e il fatto che si può rivendere facilmente) è un’ottimo strumento, anche se chiaramente spendendo di più ne puoi trovare di migliori.

Entrambi i maker sono utenti attivi (soprattutto Terry) del forum, forse ti potranno dare dei suggerimenti.

Buona fortuna,
Othannen

PS: sorry if i wrote in italian, i just wanted to do it at least once, there aren’t many italians on the forum :smiley:

4

:confused:
I love the sound of Italian, but I can’t read it. Sorry.

5

:laughing: don’t worry, i didn’t say much :wink:
In her first post (on another topic) Valeriapiper said that she’s from italy, so i guess she will understand what i wrote.
Anyway don’t worry, i won’t post in italian anymore :smiley:

6

I think I get the gist of Othannen’s post in Italian - good advice! (Too much listening along to operas with the libretti parallel texts in hand, plus a background in Latinate languages…!)

7

Can you guys fill in the rest of us as it may help others that are in the same spot. I can understand some of the words from some of my days studying spanish, but I’m afraid I missed some things. Thanks in advance.

8

As being italian, you might want to go with an european maker to save taxes and duties. Eamonn Cotter, George Ormiston and Gilles Lehart for example are making flutes that sound great, are easy on the hands and come with a reasonable wait (especially Lehart flutes). This doesn’t mean that Terry and Casey make bad flutes - I played both and loved both!

9

I’ll translate Othannen’s message:

"It’s always a pleasure to find people from Italy in an english forum!
Have you visited the web sites of the flute makers you are considering? You should consider that you can re-sell this kind of flutes very easily and you should consider the waiting lists too.
Remember that the folk flute by Casey is without tuning slide, but I’m sure that, considering the price and the fact that it can be re-sold very easily it’s a very good instrument, even if it’s obvious that if you buy a more expensive one, it’s better.
Both the makers are active in the forum (above all Terry) and maybe you can ask him something more.

Good luck

Othannen"

I hope that this translation has been useful!

Thanks a lot

Valeria

10

I can’t find an email :slight_smile:

11

Doesn’t look like he has one. Or at least, not publicised. Here’s the conventional contact info for him from Brad Hurley’s listing:
Eamonn Cotter
Balleen, Kilmaley
Co Clare, Ireland
Tel/Fax: +353-65-68-39141

12

:laughing:
yes, the translation is quite right, even if in english i would have probably chosen different words :slight_smile:

13

While I have never played a Burns flute, I have the McGee GLP and it is wonderful. A few things to consider:

  1. Keys- I don’t know what Casey’s policy is on keys, but I do know that Terry can add keys onto a keyless flute after a period of time. I founnd this atteactive because I could spend the money on the keyless and then invest in keys later. Some makers cannot add keys after the fact.

  2. Importing- You should see which one will be able to send it to you the easiest. Both makers ship around the world, so I’m sure its possible. Depending on their country of origin, one might have less export to pay.

  3. Folk Flute- If you want to get keys eventually I would not go with he folk flute. The whole idea with this is that they are made to be very good flutes, with a low price. Because of this there are no tuning slides or keys. You also cannot upgrade or add any other options to this flute.

14

Ordering from the states at the moment has two aspects to consider:

  1. Will you get hit for taxes and Duty when the flute is imported? Not an issue if you can find someone to hand carry the flute and then post it from within the EU, but otherwise a potentially nasty surprise. VAT in Germany is 19%! For an expensive flute with keys, it is almost cheaper to fly out there yourself and collect it!
  2. The US Dollar is very cheap compared to the Euro right now which makes lots of US makers suddenly a lot more attractive price wise.

I have flutes from both makers (Folk flute and GLP) and I am very happy with both.

Good luck,

Chris.

15

Can someone post measurements from a McGee flute for comparison purposes? Measurements for my Casey Burns small hand flute (in cm from the end of the flute) are:

29.7
26.5
23.4
16.6
13.6
10.7

16

I already sent Valerie a PM, but the gist of what I said was that the folk flute differs from the more professional models in that it can’t be upgraded with keys and has no tuning slide. The tuning slide is necessary for playing with others.

I take my folk flute to the session and it’s in tune enough most of the time. But the fiddle players have a tendency to go sharp after a while and the only thing pulling out the tenon will do is go flatter.

Has anybody tried the new boxwood folk flute? Mine’s the mopani one. I’m curious how the boxwood feels and sounds. Must be extremely light.

17

My folk flute is in tune with the tenon not pushed all the way in, so I can go sharper if I need to. I understand that they are designed this way. I don’t think it’s fair to say that the folk flute generally can’t be played with others, although it’s possible that yours is an exception.

18

In answer to your question, Burns or McGee, my answer would be a resounding yes!

They’re both great makers, although their methods differ somewhat. I have a McGee GLP, and had a Burns Folk flute before the McGee. I should probably add that my McGee is his MDT design, and has no tuning slide. Both have longer than normal tenons where the head connects, and as such are completely tunable for most situations. Both were in tune for me with the head pulled about 1/4."

As far as keywork is concerned, Casey Burns will not put keys or a tuning slide on the folk flute, so if you want to add keys later, you’ll have to get one of his regular flutes. On his regular flutes, he uses post-mounted keys, so adding keys shouldn’t be a problem for him, although you’ll be without your flute while he does the work. Terry uses block-mounted keys, so f you want to add keys to one of his flutes, then he’ll make a new body for the flute with the blocks in place and put keys on that. Then you can either trade in the keyless body or keep it and buy the keyed body to go along with what you have. (I believe that this is still the case… Terry?)

From Terry you can order the MDT design and add a tuning slide later if you want (this is how I ordered my flute, and saved $400). I asked him last year what it would cost to add a tuning slide to my existing flute, and he said, you guessed it, $400. My guess (and it’s only that, you’ll have to ask) is that Casey has some similar policy.

On your question about flutes for small hands, the folk flute that I had was in the standard configuration, not the “small hands” layout, and the measurements were VERY similar to the GLP that I have now, although the Burns had a little bit of offset in the tone holes, #3 and #6, I believe, while the GLP has the holes in line. Hole size was pretty close as well.

Someone asked about hole measurements on the GLP. These are the measurements on mine. The T designation in the chart is for a C-nat thumbhole.


NOTE: I believe that I took the distance measurements as center-to-center measurements, not edge-to-edge, but it’s been a couple of years, so I can’t be sure without looking at the flute.

Additionally, here’s a chart with the measurements of all of Terry’s flutes:

Thanks to whoever gave me the comparison chart… Was that you Jordan?

I hope this helps. Regardless of which maker you end up going with, I’m sure that you’ll get a first rate flute.

Good luck!
dow

19

thanks dow for posting the measurements, it’s a very interesting comparison. :slight_smile:

20

You’re welcime.