I just put a flute on Ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=014&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=330058302242&rd=1&rd=1
If that link doesn’t work, it is auction # 330058302242.
In keeping with the C & F policies, any questions, offers, etc. should be done through Ebay.
Thanks,
John
it appears to be a left handed flute from the pictures.
Rama - you’ve confused me…looks normal to me.
Eric
Only if you are standing on your head, would it be left handed… 
so ya think the picture’s upside down? 
No, I think Rama was upside down, that is why he needed to stand on his head! 
Being an specifically designed left handed bamboo Olwell 
, how much do you think this auction will get up to?
My bet: 450$
Ok- So this might not be what the guy originally paid for it, but if a person were fluteless and nothing’s coming up for sale in their price range, would this be a good option?
Just in case someone really does think it’s a left handed flute, I’ve revised the auction.
I always enjoy the clever conversations on these forums.
John
Based on recent past auctions for these, I think it’s a safe bet to say this is going to sell for about the same price you could buy a new Seery or M&E for.
Loren
Naw! Just teasin’
It’s certainly a good option at Pats price. At the end of the day,
though, this is a good bamboo flute, not an Irish flute.
At the price these are going for on e bay one can get,
as I think Loren implies, a reasonably good flute better
suited to ITM. To my mind there are better flutes available
at that price. Not to denigrate Pat O’s excellent
bamboo flute.
If I had a time machine I’d go back and buy eight of these.
Indeed, I’d buy most of them and sell them on e bay
one by one for the rest of my life. Just mail the
checks to Costa Rica.
But I don’t seem to care for Seery or M&E’s. I might have gotten spoiled with Noy and Olwell flutes but I think I just like thinner-walled instruments. I had a really great rosewood Sweet that I sold to fund my keyed Noy. If I’d known what the future would bring, I would have kept it.
Well, I confess I sold my Seery and bought another flute–
but not a bamboo flute!
My understanding, though, is that Patrick designed these bamboo flutes for playing Irish music. I have one in C and it sounds remarkably like a good wooden C flute. The only significant differences you’ll find between one of these flutes and a “real” Irish flute are:
The tuning is different. Notes that you would expect to be sharp on an Irish flute are flat on a bamboo flute (I’m thinking mainly of the higher notes above A in the second octave). So you have to blow differently.
It’s a one-piece instrument and therefore less easily portable.
The finger spacing will be a bit wider than most conical-bore flutes. The stretch on my Olwell bamboo C flute is wider than that of my boxwood Bb from Chris Wilkes.
But apart from those issues I think anyone would be happy with an Olwell bamboo - the sound is very good indeed. At their original price there was no contest…at the price they’re going for on eBay it’s more debatable but they’re still good flutes.
Yes, they’e good flutes. Yes, they’re made for Irish music.
Yes, at the original price they were a good deal.
And, here’s my subjective opinion. At the end of the day,
they don’t sound, in my hands and my ears, the way
I want to sound when playing ITM. I think they’re good
entry level Irish flutes and better still for music
where the openness and flexibility of the bamboo sound
helps.
If folks think these compare favorably soundwise with conical,
blackwood flutes, they’re just about as good, good for you,
but it’s not my impression, having owned a couple.
FWIW.
Yeah, might be that you’re spoiled Nothing wrong with that though.
I had a really great rosewood Sweet that I sold to fund my keyed Noy. If I’d known what the future would bring, I would have kept it.
Oh, how I can relate, my friend!
Olwell Bamboo D flutes are fabulous, if you don’t mind spending the money (several hundred for one these days), and a sound that is different from wooden flute, then by all means. Personally, much as I love them, I found the Bamboo D uncomfortable to play for long periods, due to the tone hole spacing and embouchure hole position, but then I have small hands, occasional neck problems, and more than occasional wrist tendonitis issues, so my experience is likely atypical.
Loren
Okay, just to be annoying…
Have a listen to this clip on my Olwell C and see if that doesn’t sound like an “Irish flute.” Sorry for the gratuitous reverb… watching those Michael Flatley videos was just too much for me!
Sorry dude, if you’ve thrown a ton of reverb on there, I’m not even going to listen
Loren
Nice sound clip. Sure sounds like a good flute. There’s some reverb, but it isn’t overdone in my opinion. Just sounds like medium-sized room reverb.
-Casey