A student of mine wants to buy an Irish flute for under $400, and I wondered if someone could advise me as to which makes are good. The holes shouldn’t be too far apart – in other words, no Pratten model. Rudal Rose would be best. I guess wood would be out of his price range. Perhaps Delrin (or whatever it’s called)?
Thanks for any advice,
Susan
As it turns out, there are several excellent choices. The one I would recommend in Delrin is Gary Somers Rudal model. It is just a wee bit over the stated $400.00 mark, but not much, you get a lot of bang with the buck. It would be a new flute, but a good one. In the used flute market, you might keep an eye on the Irish Flute Store, you may be able to pick up a decent used flute within the stated price range. The Irish Flute store is an excellent source of used and new instruments in my estimation. In fact, there will soon be a Gary Somers Rudal model for sale on the Irish Flute Store site that happens to be within your students price range, minus the shipping.
With regard to wooden flutes. Casey Burns makes an excellent Folk Flute; however, it is just a bit out of your stated price range, but well worth the extra $75.00 or so dollars. It would be a new flute and your student would have a selection of nice tone woods, with the chance to order a flute that would suit your students hand size. Casey has been making flutes for a long time and he’s great to do business with. From time to time, you can find used Folk Flutes; however, it isn’t very often you see one up for sale, they are that good, and people hold on to them.
Copley delrin flute with no rings $360. Absolutely the best for under $400.
And there is a Ralph Sweet rosewood instrument for sale in the Used Instrument Exchange 
Nice flute. I started on one.
Best wishes.
Steve
Listen to Jason (Akiba above) - he’s smart!
Pat
I’m in agreement, the Copley is the way to go.
Copley is a great choice. Personally I favor Somers Rudall FWIW.
Will you say why? I’ve played only the Copley, so I’m interested in your impression.
I have both the Somers and Copley and either one is good enough for a a life of fluting, from beginner through advanced.
That said, there are differences: The Copley is more than three inches shorter and a fair bit lighter than the Somers, which does look more traditional, if that’s important to you. I find the Copley emboucher hole to be cut more “neutral” in how it plays, whereas my Somers requires an approach more along the lines of that required of a Murray, and so different from most other ITM style flutes. This is not inherently a bad thing, but can make transitioning to other flutes more difficult later. The Copley OTH, requires little change in emboucher to play something like an Olwell, Hamilton, Watson, Byrne, or even Grinter, although I know some find Grinters perplexing, lol. Anyway, The Copley strikes me as a better choice for a beginner who might want to own other (additional) flutes in future, as transitioning from the Copley to most other flutes may be easier for beginning players.
Finally, Dave Copley is here in the U.S., while Gary Somers is in Brazil, which makes service/adjustments of any sort more time consuming and possibly more expensive with shipping. Hence my recommendation for the Copley if one lives in North America, and The Somers if you’re down that way.
My $.37, fwiw, ymmv, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah… Lol
“Will you say why? I’ve played only the Copley, so I’m interested in your impression.”
Jim - I’d just say they both are great choices and leave it at that. Beyond that IMO it’s not fair to compare. Every flute is unique and so are the players, so every flute experience is unique, and IMO all flutes have good and bad qualities that it’s up to the player to overcome. No maker makes the same flute exactly 2X. It’s like finding the shoe that fits is how I look at it.
Best,
C.
Thanks to all of you! What a font of information this board is! I will pass these responses on to my student and let him choose.
Thanks again. I really appreciate your valuable feedback.
Susan
There is a two year old Copley Blackwood with silver rings for sale on the used instrument exchange for a very fair price of $350…incredible price for this flute IMO.
Michael Cronnolly’s M&E flutes are seriously good flutes in this price range. His international shipping is very inexpensive too. Recommended.
V