Thanks to all. I think my original question was answered by information about rosewood’s being endangered, its unavailability and expense and also the allergenic risks of working with the stuff. One wrinkle seems to be that rosewood flutes are in fact being produced in large numbers by an American flutesmyth, and these flutes cost significantly less than their blackwood flutes. Some of the pictures I’m linking to are of flutes in higher keys, but lots of regular D flutes are also being produced in rosewood (at least that’s what the maker calls the wood) at a much cheaper price than blackwood. It would be interesting to figure out what’s going on.
I dunno about the fife, but the F, G, and A flutes/folk fifes on the Sweetheart site appear to be Honduran rosewood, D.stevensonii. It’s a fine tone wood, density about 0.9. It’s not nearly as resinous as African blackwood, and coarser grained, a little more susceptible to tearing while you’re working it. I have a strong preference for ABW or kingwood in terms of workability.
Let’s not forget that African Blackwood is a rosewood too, Dalbergia melanoxylon.
No, if you check the thread you’ll see we haven’t forgotten. And the distinctions you and others are proffering are worth counting, IMO, and interesting in their own right. Still, talk of ‘rosewood’ simpliciter isn’t meaningless unless, of course, the Sweetheart flute site is meaningless. I did ask Ralph once about the acoustic difference between their rosewood flutes and their blackwood flutes. He said they sound different ‘under the ear’ of the player, but the audience can’t hear the difference. As Sweetheart is making lots of these flutes, and pricing them well below their blackwood flutes, one supposes they may have found a way around some of the rosewood-related impediments mentioned in this thread. Thanks again for the conversation, Jim
No problem, Jim.
Maurice Reviol also seems to like Honduran rosewood. In fact, I just sold one on Ebay. I thought it had a nice warm tone, very pleasant. I would not think of this wood as being inferior to blackwood at all although I agree it is not quite as biting. I only sold it because I promised myself that when I bought my R & R that I would try to sell a couple of flutes and I thought that one had a chance of being picked up in this very down market. It was and I think the buyer got a very nice flute. I don’t know about Indian rosewood, but Honduran is an excellent tone wood. So limiting my answer to the O.P. to Honduran, I think he may have a point.
I love my Casey Burns “Honker” made of Honduran rosewood.
Here’s another maker (http://www.martindoyleflutes.com/flutes.html).
‘Martin Doyle’s keyless flutes are made from the best hardwoods: African blackwood, cocus, boxwood and rosewood.’
FWIW, I just saw this on a hardwoods web site:
Please note: On June 12th, 2013 Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa) was listed on CITES Appendix II which placed strict regulations on the international trade of the species.
I had no idea it was being harvested so quickly.