Ive noticed when I Google Image mopane Flutes, there is a very wide range of shades from an almost reddish cast to dark brown…my questions are… will mopane darken with with age, how much and how quickly?
Regards, Ben Shaffer
In my experience, mopane does darken with age and becomes still more beautiful.
How much and how fast I don’t know.
http://caseyburnsflutes.com/cat_low.php
Note the pic of the flute on the bottom. This is John Skelton’s mopane flute.
The footjoint is new, a longer one that John wanted after awhile.
If you click on the picture, Casey says the foot is lighter because
it is new and it will darken to the color of the rest of the flute
in a few months.
Thanks Jim, good info… I have had the opportunity to play and own Terry McGee’s GLP in E flat in both Blackwood and Mopane, and I think the Mopane may be a little softer , a little warmer sounding
That is my impression of mopane, too.
<— That’s a five-year old mopane flute. Looks about the same at six years. In good, bright light, it still has reddish-brown highlights, but in most light, it looks very uniformly dark brown.
Would the frequency of oiling affect the speed of darkening, I wonder?
Certainly John S is into oiling flutes.
TinTin,
Amazing, I never would have guessed that Flute was Mopane 
Ben
Yeah, it’s darkened substantially over its life. I oil maybe twice a year; when it was made, it was given a linseed oil bath.
linseed darkens with age…that could be part of it.