(or for several Christmasses to come–and well worth it)
My wife is buying me a Hammy Hamilton flute (it will be a 6 key but I’ll have a keyless to play in about 6 months while he completes the keyed body). 
Something tells me its gonna be a long six months!
Best wishes to all,
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
It’s nice to see someone else going with the Hamilton, considering all these copleys and olwells and what not. I’ve got four more months to wait for mine, and it is a very long wait. Anyways I hope is goes by very quickly for you.
Jack Murphy
The biggest factor in choosing Hamilton was that Conal O’Grada plays and enthusiastically recommends his flutes. Conal’s opinion carries vast weight with me.
Also the lengh of time Hammy’s been building these things, the fact that he can play the fire out of a flute himself, and his academic background in Irish music all played a factor, as did the fact that his prices are very reasonable.
I was a long time deciding which maker to go with–years, in fact.
And I’ll still have my polymer flutes for playing in places I don’t want to risk the wood flute. Playing the McGee RAF showed me two things about my Seery and M&E, one which was not a surprise, and one which was. The expected conclusion was that the McGee is, in fact, a better flute. The surprise was that the Seery in particular held its own against the McGee pretty well.
On a different note, my generous wife is making an incredible little sculpture on a Tolkien theme. It’s a work in progress, but if anybody would care to see it, it’s at
http://www.flutesite.com/shannon’s_stuff.htm
I think it’s pretty neat! 
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
Edited by James to add the stuff about the Galadriel bust.
[ This Message was edited by: peeplj on 2002-06-20 23:10 ]
I also have a keyless Hamilton on order, due to arrive around the end of August. Hammy’s flutes certainly are a bargain, although the dollar-euro exchange rate is making them slightly more expensive right now.
One factor that sold me on the Hamilton is Paul McGrattan’s playing on Hammy’s flutes, which I love. It certainly is an edgier sounding flute than many others. I’m playing an Olwell bamboo at the moment (which I also love), but looking forward to receiving my new Hamilton. I’d love to hear from others out there who are playing Hammy’s flutes.