fyi
currently there is a keyless Chris Wilkes flute for sale on eBay at:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=891131028
The price you are asking for this flute
seems very high for an instrument you did
NOTHING on, a keyless retails for 460 quid
that is 707$, the wait for a keyless flute
is less than a year closer to 6 months, it
seems like pocketing 400$ for this instrument
is a wee bit of a ripoff…
Nicolas
Nicolas,
The opening bid on the flute was $100. I don’t know what the reserve was for this auction but it is an auction and the price is now driven by what the bidders are willing to pay.
I’ve done business with David before and he provides quality items at fair prices. At one time he provided a service to buy and sell flutes and whistles. He charged a commission for that service. I felt it was very fair for the service offered and I don’t remember anyone on the flute or whistle forums ever reporting anything but positive experiences, whether buying or selling.
There have been other discussions here about how flutes/whistles can sometimes go for many dollars more than what the item originally cost…sometimes without a long waiting period. I don’t understand it either but we certainly see it.
Anyway, I mostly wanted to point out that this flute is being sold at auction and to state the quality of service that David provides.
Peace
Namasté
jim
[ This Message was edited by: livethe question on 2002-07-03 08:21 ]
[ This Message was edited by: livethe question on 2002-07-03 12:41 ]
I think I’ll stay out this, but it is a beautiful flute.
On my screen the Embouchure hole appears to be quite round, interesting.
Just a thought about auctions and Ebay: yes, flutes (in good condition) almost always sell for more than the maker charges for a new flute.
However, if for some reason you need a new flute now, and can’t wait the several-months-to-several-years for a maker to make you one, getting one through auction is a way to get one very quickly.
So the way I look at it is that part of your purchase price pays for your ability to get the flute next week instead of around Christmas or later.
Since it’s an auction and no one makes you bid, I think it’s reasonably fair. That’s just my $.02 though…opinions may well vary.
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
I just wanted to add from personal experience and from reports of quite a few friends:
David has a reputation for being a good judge of flutes and whistles. That counts a lot in an auction where you can’t handle the merchandise before bidding. He backs it up with service and integrity and a true passion for flutes.
I appreciate the positive comments! Now, a note to explain why the flute is on eBay.
The seller wanted to ensure a strong committed buyer at the going price. That price, according to Wilkes, is about $900 for that flute. So, whether higher or not is barely the issue here. Rather than scope a buyer at the exact price, my choice was to maximize my client’s product. I’d likely have done the same for a client’s Olwell. This is NOT…I repeat, NOT…my own flute. My commission for this sale (and someone noted accurately that I do not do this service any longer, but this is a favor) is set already. So, the market of flute buyers will decide where this flute should be. In due fairness to the flute’s owner, this is the best method to decide what that amount should be. So while the profits are the owners, the decision to place it onto the open market was my own.
Thanks again for the thoughts. I won’t begrudge anyone the chance to slam eBay flutes and the prices they get…but don’t do it because you can’t afford one at that price, or aren’t willing to wait the year or more to acquire your own. I’ve paid my fair outlandish share for eBay flutes in the past.
About the only flute I remember going nuts on eBay (I mean, REALLY whacked out on sale price relative to new) was an Olwell about a year or two ago. I think it sold at about $3,000 or so (a keyless one, that is).
I doubt an Olwell would get that again…or would it?
Nicolas, did you join the board for the express purpose of breaking David’s balls? 'Cause I noticed that this is your first post.
A quick David experience - he helped broker the sale of my Healy piccolo to Michael Eskin without ANY talk of commissions or fees.
And a little tidbit for David. I was at a party last weekend where there were a lot of old time fifers and drummers. There was a discussion about who everyone’s favorite fifer was, who was the best living fifer, who would win the Northeastern if everyone competed, who were the greatest champions ever, etc. When all was said and done, they were down to two names and your’s was one of them! For people who aren’t familiar, this is especially remarkable since David has been away from the scene for quite a while, and because several of the people under discussion were there at the party!
Capitalism. It gets economies moving…please buy and consume…make more people wealthy through cash flow velocity. That goes for flutes too. Market prices rule.
Nice flute, Dave! Reminds me of…well…a very nice but cheap copy of mine but with the same headjoint! 
Hi - Just wanted to say that the wait for a Chris Wilkes flute is not 1 year. If he sells new for £420-460 at the moment and you have to wait six years if you order now (the website says 5 years, but I believe its slightly longer)you can do the maths… This is a flute (I have one and adore it) which has been described by one well-known and respected flute player with an English band as ‘the Rolls Royce’ of (contemporary) wooden flutes… I bought mine for £500 about 5 months ago and will never regret the extra £40 to £60 I paid over the current ‘new’ price - I have it 6 years earlier. Trust David - he clearly knows … (This is more of a defence of the incredible Wilkes flute in general - it stirs that much emotion in the soul of its owner! - than an attmept to sell this individual flute.. I guess the sale date for this particular flute has probably come and gone)…
many thanks to all for your kind words…and interest in the flute.
It has a new home now (and a very reasonable price I’d say!) and likely will give its new owner many hours of joy.
Jim Mc…Unbelievable that my name is still around Fife&Drum circles, least of all, as one of two who would win…geeze. I don’t think I could articulate Yankee Doodle, much less my old competition solos.
Who was the other name? No…lemme guess…John McD
But others I’m sure who were in the running, so to say (and likely should have displaced me long before it made it to just 2 names). Among the contemporaries I would say could do it:
Jim Shea
Stan Sheeds (this guy scared me he was that good)
John Benoit
John Ciaglia
Skip Healy (in his Sr. days, although he was pretty good Jr. player, too)
Marty Andrews (if he were alive today)
Danny Culkin (although he was behind me in years)
Mike Pileki (he was a great player that got w/in 3 points of me once)
Bill Hart (when he was really on)
Mike Bonomo
of the old-timers (whom I never competed against, but would have loved to)
Jim Douglas
Jim McEleney
Tom Sifranic
George Carteris (well…I did beat him as a senior a couple times)
Curly Camarda
Jim Eddington (as a youth)
…
so tell me…who was the other name?
Good list! Benoit, Ciaglia and Healy were all short listed, but lots of the older guys think the 3 of them have turned from fifers into “musicians” and so they have lost it. Plus this was a New York crowd. McDonagh and Carteris are certainly up there. Marty Andrews is a sentimental favorite, may he rest in peace. Bill Hart was about number 3 on the list. Have you been away long enough that you don’t know Catherine Cuccia? Or do you just not know how good she is now? Bucky (don’t know his last name - formerly from the Dickersons, now with the Posse) plays like a man possessed.
No, the man in question is Dave Bender, formerly of the New York Regimentals. Dave is in his early 50’s now, and plays better than ever. For a while he wasn’t playing with a corps at all. Now he has a Spirit of '76 and does some parades. He usually pulls a couple more people together from his old corps and does a reunion show at the Troopers muster. Not to be missed. Bill Hart also goes on with Ameri-Clique at that muster. There’s a mighty fine jam session that night.
I saw Dave Bender’s sister (Sue Piscitello, who is also a fine fifer, NYS champion, plays with the Regulators) at a parade on Friday and told her about this conversation. She told me that Frank Grady once told her that her brother and Dave Migoya were the two finest fifers he knew! So the good taste of our little group was verified from the beyond.
Don’t you boys know any nice songs?
[ This Message was edited by: Jim_Mc on 2002-07-08 03:26 ]
[ This Message was edited by: jim_mc on 2002-07-08 03:27 ]
Dave - I forgot to mention Larry Winters, another ex-Regimental. He’s a favorite of mine because he was the first fifer I ever heard. We were neighbors from when I was a little tyke. Did you know him?
Anyone who gripes about the price of a flute on Ebay obviously hasn’t seen what happened to the price of a McGee flute when it appeared for auction… hoooolllyyy Toledo that sucker went through the stratosphere. And what price, avoiding 5 years wait? I’m considering trying to sweet talk Geoff Wooff into making a chanter for me, and his wait is around 13 years at this point… would I pay more if I could get it now? oh yah shoore you betcha!
Jim Mc:
oh yeah! I know Bucky from years ago. You’re right. A nut. We met/traded tunes the first time at Westbrook, i think outside the muster fence(ballfield) by the convenience store. We agreed at the time that we were both nuts. He was at the time much more into jazz style.
I know Cuccia very well (she’s married now, so the name is different I think). In fact, I watched her grow up (and her whole family!)on F&D, and when I retired from competition, gave her my music to my best solos, so the tunes could continue to be played. I understand she did well with them. One tune I never gave her (or anyone else, but probably should have) was the piece I scored the perfect 100 with at the NYState Field Day in 1989 (my last). Grady was the judge and I still have the score sheet framed with a note from John McDonagh congratulating me on the first 100 since his in the 1960s. I think it’s still the last time a fifer has done that. I know Nick Attanasio did it on bass at the Northeastern a few years back.
Dave Bender is a lunatic from way back. A former Regi, yes, he was with the Wayworn Travellers at one time, I think. They recorded an album (of which I think I’ve got a bootleg cassette hiding somewhere in the attic).
If they’re looking at the old timers, they should include a couple other Regi greats, like Bucky Buchanan and Noel Ceriani.
And I did know Larry Winters. Not very well, but enough to know he was a great player in his own right.
The one everyone thought (me too) would break my junior record of 7 consecutive Northeastern Titles was Danny Culkin, but I guess he won just 5. I never did compete against him and last time I saw him (1997?) he was working on my old version of Carnival of Venice, which I got through McDonagh and the Arban trumpet book. Actually, my version was closer to what Herbert Clarke played on the cornet in the 1920s for the Sousa Band. If you’ve never heard it…wow.
Another fifer who was promising, but never went that far was Marty Groody (sp?). I think he moved out to Calif. Then of course the younger set of Greg Bacon and crew.