There has been much discussion on Delriln vs wood but not much in the way of comparisons among the Delrin flutes. I have an older M&E (just had him repair the snapped tenon), sold a Seery and am hearing great things about the Forbes. I’m primarily a wood player (Copley, CBurns, JonC, Healy) but am thinking about the Forbes for travel, camping, defense, et al.
Anyone care to make some comparisons for me? I’m especially looking for a compariston of the Forbes vs any or all of the others.
Thanx,
Note, too, the emergence of the Copley delrin flute
(Doc’s site) for 349. Such a deal!
The Forbes feels a bit lighter than the Seery (as I recall the Seery; it’s been a while), and quite a bit lighter than the M&E … so if it’s a cudgel for chasing off bears you’re looking for, it might not be the flute for you. 
Can’t speak for the Copley, but David’s other flutes are very graceful, so that might be out in the whomper-stick department, too.
There were a fair number of Burns keyless players at Augusta who took a turn on my Forbes – anyone want to make size and weight comparisons? I only played their Burnses a bit, but the Forbes felt a trifle lighter to me.
I should say, however, it’s not “toy”-light like, say, the infamous Dixon Duo flute; to me it’s about the same weight as my keyless Murray but with a bigger bore and short foot so the balance is a touch different.
BTW, Tomorrow, (2Aug) I should receive a Copley Delrin flute from the Doc for evaluation. I will be happy to put up a review. Cheers, Cyril.
The M&E I’ve played felt a lot like my Cameron - smaller holed R&R based, but without the wood resonance. It’s a nice enough flute, but I couldn’t get excited about it. I owned a Seery for a while, and ultimately sold it, as it was very different than the Cameron I was playing at the time. Since then I’ve played other Pratten type flutes, and each was more approachable than the Seery. I’m now on a Grinter, and when I played Cathy’s Forbes it was ‘Wow, this is great!’. I’m not really in the market for a plastic flute, but am strongly considering getting a Forbes to leave around the house for those times I want to pick it up for a quick run through a tune I’m working on, etc. It’s a really nice flute.
/Scott
I’ve owned a delrin M&E and a small-holed Seery. The Seery was much lighter and prettier in my opinion. But, it was much harder to play when I was beginning (I haven’t played a Seery since I can really play the flute…). The M&E I own is a newer one, and it is a great flute. It has strong tone and is fairly easy to play. They all sound like great flutes to me!
My impression is the Seery, while quite a good flute, in fact,
has a demanding embouchure that some folks
struggle with. It’s doable.