Jessie sold me the best flute I’ve ever played and that is and it’s an Olwell unkeyed. I also use his headjoint on a Seth Gallagher keyed body.
kp
Ditto to all the above for me. I’ve only had the Hammy a couple of months, and I’m gonna give it at least another year or two. Somehow I don’t see myself selling it at all because it’s SO different from my other flutes.
How is an Olwell Rudall-style watered down? I played an exact duplicate of Chris Norman’s Rudall at Olwell’s place and asked him to make me one of those. He said his Rudall model is the same flute with a couple of tone holes tweaked to play easily at modern pitch and the Olwell embouchure cut, which is just a teensy bit wider.
I have a Pratten style flute made by D. Allen and whilst the tone was good when I got it, after a year of playing I have to say that it is now very focussed if I want it to be - you really have to put the time in with a Pratten to get the most out of it. More than two or three days none playing and it can take several days for me to get the sound I like back. That aside if you push a Pratten it will wake the dead and i just love the feeling of my flute jumping underneath my fingers when I’m really giving it some stick. I have found big hard cranning to be no problem at all. It’s just a case of getting out what you put in
I’ve owned a Dave Williams Rudall & Rose replica for some years now, but could never get a decent sound out of it as I never bothered to play it. I took it to Willie Week in the late ´90’s and a couple of decent flute players had a blow and couldn’t get the bottom end notes to sound. I was told it was probably leaking. Now since I’ve been playing the flute on a regular basis this last year or so it’s really come into it’s own and has a powerful bottom end, can be played very loud, and is easy to play. The problem before was me, my lack of technique, and lack of practicing, nothing at all wrong with the flute. I can imagine that the same applies to these Pratten/R&R Grinter’s, Olwells, Murray’s etc. They’re all decent instruments, it’s the players that need to practice and improve and get to learn their respective instruments.
I’ve never played an Olwell Rudall, I was refering to his Pratten models.
I’m getting much better on the Byrne rudall, which is becoming
something very beautiful sounding. Lots of work learning to play it,
still at it.
The Olwell I have WANTS TO PLAY! There are no eccentricities to it that stand in the players way whatsoever. Patrick is amazing for a good reason.
I learned something tonight–if you’re going to play
blues and such with other instruments, a Pratten is a good thing to have.
The Jazz flute scene from “Anchorman” is starting to come to mind… 
What about the Cnat and C#, any special fingering/lip to get it proper?
Eivind
I find myself in agreement with MurphyStout & Tintin here regarding the “one dimensional” nature of certain if the flutes in question, particularly the Hammy, which has been mentioned a few times. It is almost as if the very thing that makes them appealing (the power, the instant playability etc) is the very thing that proves to be their undoing. I found my Hammy wonderful for a year or so - and then it just wouldn’t give me any more. I would describe it as “hollow” and “one dimensional”. I had the chance to play many other flutes and the more Rudall-orientated ones certainly gave me more in return for my efforts. So I switched to Murray and now evangelise on their merits at every turn. (I also played a Wilkes and within a couple of minutes of picking it up it was capabable of every bit as much power as my Hammy)
Someone mentioned Dave Williams and I believe that Niall Keggan plays one. I saw him earlier this year and witnessed the most powerfull flute sound I have ever heard.
I have never played an Olwell but I do know a professional Wilkes player who rates them as very special indeed.
Graham