I have a D flute (Burns), C flute (Sweetheart), and a Bb flute (Burns).
I also have a bunch of home made PVC and bamboo flutes, but I don’t tend to count those.
I don’t really use the C flute all that much, so I probably don’t really need it, but I like to have it around just in case.
I would like to have one more D flute as a sort of backup flute/other option to play (keyless, and have more keys added to my Burns), but it’ll be a long time before I could afford it.
Well, y’know, levers, keys, what’s the difference? 
I have my fancy-dancy concert flute (which I can actually make sound almost decent for irish music… I have a thick tone on the flute) And then I have my PVC E-flat thingy I made, except I screwed up on it so I have to use my pnnky to cover the last hole. Or maybe I just have wierd hands (I have long hands, but thin and not very flexible). Either way, flute is not my main instrument, though I oughta get/make a good one soon.
I had two Martin Doyles and I only ever played one of them. Now I have only one as I had misplaced the other.
I think you can only have one instrument (that you play all the time).
Of course, it’s nice to have a few of them.
After you can “play,” I beleive that you might end up going through a few until you find the proverbial right pair of shoes. Perhaps, flutes in a few different keys if you fancy that.
On the other hand, if you’re Mr. or Mrs. McMoney-Bags..Then anywhere between 20-65 flutes would be about right. If that’s the case, you’re required to by a 5 gallon container of Almond Oil to keep all the wood you get around to once a year (if that) from cracking.
Here is a recent image taken a short while back of what I have in the way of flutes. I never seem to have enough of these as I always have to send them away as soon as they are completed and thus I have to make more and more and more.
I feel like a wood worm sometimes - or something like that Mopane caterpillar to the left.
Casey
(p.s. these are all spoken for - so nobody get any ideas…)
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Two is good - because you can play them each every day, or play them each every other day, or play one to practice on and one in the session, or one for slow airs and one for fast tunes, or one for accompanying singers and one for solos…endless options!
Three is tricky and full of guilt - because the third tends to sit in the drawer only coming out when one of the others is off for it’s annual holiday.
More than that and I would find it difficult to sleep at night too!
Happy fluting,
pamela
Casey, that’s a jaw-dropping photo of some lovely work!
On a different subject, I don’t guess you’d consider accepting bribes towards changing your avatar?!?
/me shudders…
–James
The McGee Flutes Research Collection runs to thirty five at last count. You can see them at:
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/collection.html
Terry
I have a Cochran Blackwood keyless (thanks Doc and John - bought it from Doc who shipped it to Jon for a tune-up who shipped it to me to play!) I also have a Seery Delrin as a back up and for playing out in the woods or on the beach. And I have a Tipple which, I figure for the price, I’ll just keep because I like it.
This is my collection of flutes. Hopefully will be adding some more to this shortly 
We need only one, of course, when we play.
The question is always: Which is the RIGHT one?
Therein lies the cause of Flute Acqusition Disorder.
Once acquired a flute is very difficult to part with.
It is never a monagamous relationship. Flute players are by their nature polyamorous sorts willing to take on a new partner at the flash of a new flute, the tone, the sight, the feel.
But we hardly ever part with the partners we already have.
We happily take on a mistress after mistress, each one filling a desire the other cannot. Though “married” to one, we quickly change which one carries the latest moniker of “wife” while the mistresses gather and multiply.
Then when we think we have no use for one of the harem, we wonder whether it’s time to part, to send it along like a slave to a new owner. We give it one last farewell, one last tune…only to find it has improved since the last time we held her, made herself more robust, more responsive and better able to provide to our every request and whim. She is now our main partner and the others are relegated to the drawer, the stand, the box or the holder, to pine for our attention.
There is no ONE flute for a flute player.
We just think there is.
dm
well said David, and don’t forget the curves, they are all slightly different, OK, i’m not going any further, like hole size…
David, you totally set me up 
Mary
i do like that idea of "One Flute to Rule To Rule Them All "
who has it ? who will rescue it ? who will be the one ?
who will tune the damn thing ?
will it be made of Mithril , Cocus , or Waterford Glass ?
will it control the one who holds it ?
(i believe i have the other nine , by the way .
2 Martin Doyles , 1 Trevor James , 1 Arie de Keiser , etc.)
by the way , David Quinn , could you take that shot again ?
an interesting collection , but the picture reminds me of myself at the end of the session in the smoke chamber of Moroney’s of Mullagh , very fuzzy around the edges..
[quote=“Jim Troy”]by the way , David Quinn , could you take that shot again ?
an interesting collection ,
Jim a lot of these instruments are getting overhauled just now and some loaned out.
There is 3 b flat bass flutes 3 f flutes and 2 piccolos and 2 b flats some Hawkes and son Crown A z models, Rudall Carte and Hy potter.
What flutes do you use yourself Jim?
Would be interesting to talk to a fellow simple system flute collector.
David
i use a Maurice Reviol when i’m trying to look cool and competent in a session.
i use my Martin Doyles , C and D ,when i want to play music
my Arie de Keyser is out on loan , to a piper pal who wants to see what all the fuss is about ( a lot of pipers are doing that ,you know ,playing flutes and discovering music , like ..)
i use my Trevor James , when i visit my posh friends at La Scala .
i did have a Hammy Hamilton , aluminum , which i played at traffic lights , and Dublin rush hour , in me oul Transit . it also doubled as a “spanner” , traveling through certain areas.
waiting for the one , though , to rule them all
i believe it’s just coming , bit of a delay in some place called Moria .
It all makes sense, some how, A flute for every season… 
Oh Ed, there is a huuuuge difference from flute to flute. My Cotter is a huge, Hum-Vee, pipe organ of a flute, whereas the Bleazy is a facile, warm, lovable hummingbird. If you have the money, why not have one for each mood?
I’ve got a Tipple 2-piece, 8-hole d with the lip plate and the Tipple-Fajardo wedge. I can afford to get a couple more of Robert’s instruments, ut then I’m stymied: MONEY. They sure aren’t as easy to acquire as whistles. How do you all manage to collect that many?
With best regards,
Steve Mack