I’m looking for a flute recommendation. I’m currently on the waitlist for a keyed Olwell, which should be ready in 2025. I’d like to get something while I wait so I can get used to the keys. Who is making good flutes that doesn’t have a long waitlist, and has a lower price like around $2,000?
I’m curious about Steffen Gabriel and Jil LeHart. And I’ve heard Eric Juilleret makes great flutes - has anyone tried his stuff?
Hi there!
If you have 2000$ and your aim is to own a very good flute with a short waiting list then Lehart is your man.
I vote for him, considering this.
Regards!
S.
Dave Copley, here in the states, lists a 10–15 month lead time for a blackwood keyed flute with a price around $2500. Delrin with no tuning slide is around $2000.
Best wishes.
Steve
Dave Copley is great…I love my 8 keyed delrin with tuning slide, but it ran me around $3,200. If you would be happy with 4 or 6 keys, you’ll slide in better around your 2K price range. You can also find some nice, used flutes on the Irish Flute Store site as well.
Eric
Haswell has an 8-key flute ready to go. A Begg -Ormiston for £1600 ($2204)
“This interesting flute combines a classic London body with a modern headjoint. The flute plays at modern pitch, and the tuning slide allows lots of leeway. Fully prepared by George Ormiston, who has fitted one of his own headjoints, it has warmth and power aplenty. The large tone-holes give lots of dynamics. The cylindrical body gives superior and very well centred intonation, while the new headjoint provides power right to the bottom.”
https://www.arthurhaswell.co.uk/begg-ormiston
Otherwise Solen Lesouef’s flutes are as good as, prehaps even better than, Olwell’s flutes. A 6-key Lesouef is €2500 ($2936)
http://sosolaflute.com
Owen Doyle, a known participant in the Facebook Historical Flutes forum is selling a William Hall 8-key flute - good coccus flute at a great price. The embouchure will not be as generous (i.e. easy) as the Olwell, but if you work for the next four years, then your lips will be in great shape.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/154560579652?hash=item23fc874844:g:pxgAAOSwc4hhDnBS
In what specific ways do you feel Lesouef’s flutes are perhaps better than the Olwell’s?
If this is an interim thing then even 10 months is a long time to wait. Have a look at the used market - there is bound to be at least one decent keyed flute out there, which is all you need to start getting used to the keys. You are not agonising about finding “your” flute for eternity - you seem to have already decided on the Olwell for that. Which is probably not a bad decision in itself anyway.
How about a good antique? There’s a nice 8-key William Hall & Son on ebay for less than $1800 including shipping (not mine). These American flutes usually have good intonation at modern pitch, and that seems to be the case with this one, according to the seller’s description.
n what specific ways do you feel Lesouef’s flutes are perhaps better than the Olwell’s? Loren
Listening to people playing Solen’s flutes I perceive the tone/timber/sound of her flutes to be more more interesting than that of Olwell’s flutes. They have to my ears a bigger range of tonal colours, more complex. Olwell flutes I’ve heard played, including my own, seem to be more limited as regards tone. The tone is sort of mushy/rounded/breathy, not edgy or sharp. This is a nice sound that I like, it’s not unattractive. I really like my own Olwell, a Pratten model, but it has how to say, just the one sound. This could be because my own shortcomings as a flute player perhaps, but I’ve noticed that I can get more tones/sounds out of my Wilkes, Rudall & Rose, and Rudall Carte & Co. flutes. They are also more responsive I feel than the Olwell. Hard to describe in words, but something I notice when playing tunes. Playing the flute is a very subjective experience as regards what you hear, and how it feels to play the instrument, which is why I wrote “prehaps better” Otherwise both makers make finely crafted instruments with good intonation.
Eric Juilleret’s flutes are great, no doubt about that. Easy to play and good tone. But waiting time could be a bit long compare to your Olwell’s order.
I’d advice you to order a Jil Lehart or any second hand keyed flute.
Solen Lesouef’s flutes are also great, some would say better than Juilleret’s. But waiting time is long too, at least two years.
Thanks for the great advice everybody! This was helpful for me to consider. As luck would have it, I was able to connect with a few other c&f members over the weekend and had the opportunity to play some great flutes: Olwell pratten style, Copley delrin, LeHart, Lesouef, and a Gallagher large hole Rudall. It was heavenly!
I also had a chat with Blayne Chastain, and after some deliberation he ended up recommending LeHart. He shared that he commonly sees players in my position acquire a LeHart while they wait for their “holy grail” flute to arrive.
A few subjective thoughts from a newbie:
I felt the Copley behaved and sounded similar to the Olwell pratten. Both had a strong and roughy tone that I really enjoyed, good volume, and a forgiving embouchure.
I liked the feel of the LeHart in my hands, and the tone was nice a strong on the bottom end, and sweeter in the second octave. Also easy to play and fill, though not as forgiving as the olwell.
I struggled a bit with the low octave on the Gallagher. I sense that after a few weeks I would develop the ability to really find the sweet spot and be able to make it bark, but it wasn’t readily available for me on day one. Also the flute was big and on the heavy side (it was an 8-key model)
The Lesouef spoke very easily and readily. Strong low octave, singing second octave that I had a tendency to overblow. Slender feel in the hands, it was elegant and the mopane was lovely.
I think for my purposes, budget, wait time, and resell value, a Copley or LeHart will do just fine!
I agree. You now have me wondering what a Lesouef in blackwood would be like. I saw her FaceBook post where she had received a big shipment of blackwood billets & I was impressed at her fussiness in selecting out the best pieces.