I’m borrwing a friend’s boxwood Olwell Rudall at the moment, and I am so in love! It’s all wood too, no slide. It suits me really well. It’s just a good match for my style. I’ve never played a flute that responds like this one does(granted I haven’t played a huge number of different flutes). My friend, a piper, never ever even plays this lovely flute. I wish he’d sell it to me. He got it cheap because it has a little knot in the wood that had to be filled in.
I really think that the issue is your embouchure. Patrick wouldn’t send you a flute that is out of tune. It probably just requires a more accurate embouchure than you are used to, so work on it for a while. Many people receive a flute and think it is a problem with the instrument when it is really a result of the fact that they have never been forced to create a good embouchure.
b
Make him an offer he can’t refuse. 