Does anyone know how long the waiting time for a McGee flute is?
According to the guy I spoke to last night (who bought a McGee just a few months ago), the current wait is about 18 months for a keyed flute…I’m not sure about a keyless.
I had the opportunity to play his McGee, too - pratten model with double circle embouchure and eccentric bore - and it was a great flute. Easy to fill in my opinion and a very good tone.
Eric
He’s replies to his emails pretty quickly, drop him a line. He’s also happy to help you pick the right model and wood for you.
I bought a Rudall 5088 from him and love it. However, it was one he had in stock, and order someone couldn’t pay for, so I can’t help you on wait times.
I can certainly vouch for Eddie’s McGee flute.
In addition to being beautiful, I found it easy to play, lightweight and it sounds GREAT!
M
thanx for your replies.
Terry made a 2-key GLP flute for me this last spring and he did it in about 4 months - about what he quoted in wait time. I love the flute, by the way.
Which two keys did you get? I’m considering G# and F-natural, but can’t decide if I should get short F or long F. Anyone have suggestions on which F might be most useful?
The only tune I really play with an F-nat right now has a phrase that goes E - Fnat - E - D… which makes it pretty easy to half-hole but this gives a weak fuzzy note on my current flute.
-Brett
that sequence would be good for a short f
If your going to get only one F key make it a long F. I had a flute with only a short F and it drove me nuts. You can’t go from D to F (or vice versa) with a short F. My flute should be getting back from Casey Burns today with two keys I had added, a long F and an Eb. G# and Bb are easy to cross-finger on my particular tooter.
Doc
Last time I talked to Terry a keyless was something on the order of 4-6 months.
If you want a GLP Grey larsen usually has a few keyless and a six-keys in stock on his website for a bit more money (what’s your time worth?).
cheers,
Doc
Finally, I have just ordered a new flute from Dominic Allan.
It’s Hans who is to blame for it 
as his enthusiasm is contagious. But Dominic’s prices are also very convincing (660 Euro for a keyless boxwood flute with a lip plate made of artificial ivory).
Perhaps you can give us a report one day.
Boxwood is a very nice choice.
ok, I promise to let you know as soon as I will have it.
Claudine,
I would offer a cautionary word regarding the artificial ivory lip plate: In our shop we have used several types of material for artificial ivory (as well as plenty of real Ivory), and it’s been our experience that a number of the ivory substitutes are somewhat prone to absorbing color from other sources that come in contact with it: Case material, lip stick, etc.
I imagine Dominic has used the same artificial ivory for some time, and knows it’s resistant to this process, but you might want to confirm with him, just to be certain, that he has used this material for lip plates before, and that no problems were reported.
Best,
Loren
Loren, thanks for your advice, I will ask him. But I never use lipstick anyway. Hey man, I’m the reincarnation of Jeanne d’Arc!
Loren
I’d like to ask Loren and anybody else who
might know the point of lip plates on simple
system flutes.
One use, I know, is protecting against
allegies to cocus–but this sort of thing
aside, does it help tone?
They are rather pretty.
Especially against the shine of the blackwood.
I hope to have a silver one installed on my Wilkes keyless when funds permit, partly for the interest in seeing it installed, if Chris doesn’t mind.
I find no problem with lipstick when using silver lip plates.
I tend to find artificial anything rather tacky ! Silver is pretty cheap and attractive.Why not use it ?
Am I right in concluding that there is no acoustic
advantage?
To my best knowledge the purpose of lip plates is as a stopgap against allergic reactions to tropical hardwoods. Other than that, it’s cosmetic. A silver lip plate on a keyed stick does look good; sorta like adding a bowtie to the tuxedo, but there isn’t a lot of practical point to it if you’re not experiencing allergic reactions. Of course, that shouldn’t stop one. A well-made flute is a thing of beauty as well as of music, and a lip plate can add to a good appearance.