I have a dixon one-piece cylindrical flute and it is worse than the one I made for myself out of plumbing pipe.
Thinking of selling a guitar and putting the money towards something better. Which is better, Dixon 3-piece or Hammy Practise flute, in people’s experience?
This is just for casual noodling around, not for anything serious.
You might want to ask over on the flute forum.
But since you asked I’ll give an opinion.
I have no experience with the Hamilton practice flute - but Hammy knows what he’s doing. That is for certain.
I do have a couple of the Dixon three piece flutes. I start new players out on them if they don’t have a flute yet. It’s a decent flute - small holes, lightweight and fairly quiet. The embouchure is a bit smallish too. But if you can get on with the Dixon 3 piece you’ll be able to play most any other flute.
There are better choices for a little more money. But isn’t that always the case?
Gary Somers makes a very nice flute for a fair price. http://www.somers-flutes.com/introduction-irish-flutes I have the Pratten with delrin slide. Nice flute.
Dave Copley also makes a good entry model flute. It is a lot of flute for the money. http://www.copleyflutes.com/ I’ve had three of Dave’s flutes. The three piece delrin flute is a real bargain IMO.
And all of these do show up second hand on occasion - the Hamilton being the rare one.
Feadoggie
Whoops, I thought I’d posted this to the flute forum.
I maybe should have added that I’m in the UK, so I’m looking for something over here.
[ Moved to Flute Forum. - Mod ]
I would suggest Vincenzo Di Mauro, not in UK but he lives in Ireland which is close enough for post. No doubt it will be better than both the flutes you mentioned…
http://vdmflutes.free.fr/UK/AccueilUK.html
I have (unusually for me) several modern keyless flutes in stock at various prices - details to follow. I’d recommend any of them over the OP suggestions unless hand/finger size/span is an issue - and the Hammy wouldn’t be good if so. Where in GB are you? If in reach of me you’d be welcome to try them out.
OK, here’s what I have: For Sale - 4 assorted modern keyless D flutes
I’m in York - hands aren’t large but I’ve never found span a problem.
Hmm - your flutes look interesting - particularly the top one. What effect does a short foot have on the sound?
IMO overall there is very little sound difference if any between short and long foot keyless flutes. Others think otherwise. I think the chief difference to the player is that the bell note D seems closer to the player and more “open”, so less well integrated with other notes tonally, but I doubt a listener out in front would share that experience. The length of the foot does affect intonation and response of some 3rd 8ve notes, including the D and sometimes the C# at the top of the 2nd 8ve, which may affect choices of fingering or cause one to wish for an Eb key… assuming one uses such notes at all.
FWIW, that short foot flute is IMO the least desirable and the least good player of the four, though not necessarily because of the foot configuration. Not that it’s “bad”… A good reason to try them out if at all possible.
York, eh? About 2.5 hours from me, I think.
Your flutes are probably out of my budget range, depending on what I can get for my old guitar.
I’ve found a sweetheart flute for £90 - unfortunately not near me so I can’t try it out. What do people think of these?
Personally I don’t like them. I have never thought they played up to their (new) price. The doctored Q1T I’m offering plays significantly better - and it’s cheaper. (Hell, even undoctored it played better than a Sweetheart!)
The Hammy is really better than the dixon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3KQKVVzDD0
I’d suggest Vincenzo Di Mauro Delrin too.
Or maybe Casey Burns Folk flute…
If you want a delrin one, take a VDiMauro or Baubet, in my opinion better than others.
Is the Hammy Practise flute cylindrical or conical bore?
Hammy Hamilton Cylindrical, though I believe there’s some sort of taper in the head to correct the tuning at least partially. The Dixon all-cylinder things are abysmal - I seriously can’t understand why they make/sell them 
If they stuck a wedge in them (as Doug Tipple has shown us how) and did the necessary slight redesign of tone-hole placements, they’d be fine and need cost very little more. Because they are as they are, they inevitably go horribly flat in the 2nd 8ve and that is really bad for a beginner (the most likely buyer) because if said person’s ear is any good at all they’ll naturally compensate by trying to blow them up into tune. Then, when they switch to something better, they’ll have compounded the in-any-case natural tendency to blow sharp in the 2nd 8ve and have a double dose to unlearn/learn to control properly as they develop a decent embouchure! Unhelpful or what!!! 
ah, thank you for the information. I wouldn’t want a cylinder bore again.
I do have a little flute with a wedge/taper insert, bought from a chiff and fipple member (sorry, I can’t remember who). It has a much much sweeter tone through first two octaves. Unfortunately I’ve been pretty much banned from practise inside the house, due to the ear-piercing high tones produced when I make a mistake. Previously we didn’t have a catflap. We do now, since the cat clawed through the door in under 5s to escape the beautiful music I was creating.
One of these? 
uhuh, that’s the one.
Playing that quietly really focuses and tightens embouchure.
My niece, who has done boehm flute up to grade 4, couldn’t get more than one note out of it.
Mrcharly, honestly, if you need a good flute take a good one. Don’t care about cylindrical ecc…It has to be well made to produce a good sound. And the 80% of the flute is in the embouchure. Hammy is a top 5 world maker. Zac Leger has said that Baubet has the best delrin flute that he’s ever tried and Vincenzo follows him nearly.
Hope you’ll find a flute
Despite Jem’s dislike, some of the older ones are quite nice. it pretty much depends on the model and the vintage. I’ve had two of the older, 1-key versions. In one case John Skelton (not Joe) wanted to buy it, in the other, several folks have expressed interest. So, some good, some not so much.
Best wishes.
Steve
Second that. Both Brendan Mulholland and Kevin Crawford liked my Baubet very much. I take that as about as good seal of approval as one can get 
It is this model, in maple:
http://www.hobgoblin.com/local/products/GR2115/Sweet-wooden-D-Flute/
You guys are making me think I should get the hammy - it is very cheap and durable. Wish I could try one out.