Has anyone ever played one of Fred Rose’s flutes?
www.fredrose.co.uk
Looks like a good beginner’s flute. I have one like it, almost the same price too, and I think it was worth the money.
(I’m just going by looks here, so my opinion is worth next to nothing)
Interesting! Nice looking instruments. I’ve not heard of Mr Rose before now.
He’s been mentioned on the board chiefly as a maker
of whistles.
I played one of his wooden whistles, and it absolutely blew me away. Fantastic.
P.S. Willie, I love your clip, there.
Mine (mopane) has a tuning slide; I could record something if it can help.
Best
Thanks Chas!
Hey Whistling Willie,
Guess what I’ve got! 
The Fred Rose Flutes are really exceptional, excellent intonation, nice tone, good response and a strong voice. Their simple appearance is misleading. They look a lot like a Sweetheart Folk Flute, but are much greater in every regard (I’ve had one Sweetheart Rosewood Flute and we parted as friends).
The Bubinga Wood is lovely and holds its oil. It has a density and sound similar to Cocas wood. There is a bit of iridescence in the wood like the polished stone tiger-eye. I expect to see other makers using Bubinga in the future.
Fred said he was going to make some flutes in Rosewood in the near future.
Here’s a picture of mine:
Now that I’ve gushed over my flute, I went and sold it! I’ve just got to many flutes right now and there are so many more yet to try.
Keep Makin Music!
Jordan
Could you please tell us how can you get such a perfect picture?
Best
I could vouch for Silly, I just bought a Flute from him and I love the Flute and it came here very quickly.
Jordan’s defintely a good guy, and I could go thump him if needed… 
He lives just across town.
Hi Jordan! Feel free to drop back into the session if you get a chance this fall.
Eric
I thought I should expand on my previous post.
I’ll also add that my flute has my unpatented Accoustical Sound Wave Amplification Device incorporated (a.k.a. section of wooden dowel) to replace the stock cork.
Here is a link to a sound clip played on a Fred Rose flute by Mick Woodruff (there is a lot of reverb), but it shows what the flute can do in capable hands. http://fingertrip.net/clipsnip/milltown_jig-mick.mp3 Funny my flute never sounds that good when I play it! 
I am very impressed by the Bubinga wood, it is probably lighter in density than Cocas and perhaps more comparable to Boxwood (I’ve never had a boxwood flute, so I can’t say for certain). When I first got my Rose the wood was quite “thirsty”, but seemed to drink up its fill of oil and now does not appear to absorb much if any more.
The Fred Rose flute is Rudallesque with a broad range of expression and a fairly narrow outside diameter on the body. The embouchure is larger than most, which helps give the flute a broad range of voice. The flute has an inherent economy of air: produces a lot of volume for the air consumed (very much like my Copley). However, the Rose can not be pushed as hard as the Copley. The response of the Rose is very good, among the best of all wooden flutes. I believe fully lined heads speed up the response on a flute. The intonation is excellent, equal to that of the Copley.
I find the size and placement of the tone-holes familiar (See Photo):
Top to bottom: Copley, Rose and CB Folk flutes.
The tone-holes look almost identical in size and placement, but these 3 flutes play so differently! 
The Rose’s voice is a bit bright. I like dark reedy sounding flutes, the antithesis of a silver bohem flute.
I think the Casey Burns Folk flute is the quintessence of a beginners flute. The Rose is an easy flute to play, but a beginner may have a harder time learning with the larger embouchure. But, there is no waiting list to get a Fred Rose flute, or at least there wasn’t when I got mine. I think the price is very modest (currently about $300 U.S. - £165) considering the quality and finish of this flute.
I believe that Fred Rose is an exceptional flute maker and many people would be happy and well served by one of his flutes. Check out his website: http://www.fredrose.co.uk/
Keep Makin Music!
Jordan
The Fred Rose flute has found a new home!