Yes, I keep being surprised. My embouchure is getting
better after 8 months of fanatical practice, and I
figure I can pick up a new good flute and play it well enough.
Not so. Sometimes have to learn again (pracitice,
practice) on a new
flute before I can make it sound good.
P.S. ‘Serial monogamy for flutes’
–I like that!
And the alternative is ‘transverse promiscuity.’
Think about this…
Yes, I suppose this is what I was saying when I agreed with Brad’s first post on this topic; the alternatives are not necessarily unethical, but they just don’t feel right to me. When a flute is being considered, there are certain aspects that attract – reputed or desired volume, big/small holed fingerings, aesthetics, etc. – and questions between you and a maker can fill in the rest. Once in hand, though, it takes a bit of time to know if this particular flute is a good flute for you. Monogamy is not necessarily the most fun path, but it is certainly the most satisfying in the long run, since the relationship only grows with familiarity. I am, of course, talking about flutes. Still, as new ones are added, the “older” ones are like old friends you can always return to, or get to know anew if there has been a break in playing. Again, I’m talking about flutes.
At the very least, all this ordering, buying and selling is timely, exhausting and distracting from the real process of playing music and getting to really know your flute above all others, not to mention what it is doing to the wait-lists. If the point is to juggle income and savings and make out with a profit and still have a flute around, then I guess it’s a fine game, but real estate is more profitable.
Gordon
By the way, I also practice the same approach with breakfast cereals: I stick with the same one for years before switching. I guess that makes me a cereal monogamist.
Yep, serial monogamy for me as well. Come to me, blackwood beauty.
But one needs to find a way to pay for that wife, the ring, the honeymoon. So, while I haven’t had the courage to do it yet, I see the opportunity to buy a few more custom brides and sell them to my mates for a profit. 
That was horrible, Brad.
Here’s what I think:
After 2 years of research and trying many flutes, I ordered, waited for and bought the 3 flutes that I had decided had the most potential for me. I played them all over 6 weeks (practice at home and classes/sessions at East Durham) and chose the one that fits me the best. I am happy.
I sold the Hammy to someone who really wanted one, for $200 less than I paid for it, and he didn’t have to wait 10 months like I did. He is happy.
I will sell the Noy to someone who really wants it, most likely for several hundred dollars less than I paid for it. They won’t have to wait 8 months like I did. They will be happy.
These 3 makers all have waiting lists into next year. There is also an active secondary market for all of their instruments. Each maker now has one more flute out there in the community, being played, loved, heard, and passed around in sessions. The makers are happy.
The only unhappy thing going on here is that people would suggest that I:
Didn’t buy these flutes “in good faith” (I did - they were all equal candidates until I could play them all as much as I personally needed to to decide, which everyone is welcome to do.).
Deprived someone more deserving, such as a “14 year old Irish prodigy.”
Am somehow bad because I am “an American buying on spec.”
Am “selfish.”
That I did this for financial gain (I’ve never made a profit on any flute I ever turned around. I even dicussed splitting any potential resale profit with one of the 3 makers.).
Yuk.
I understand that some of you may prefer the “serial monogamy school” of flute choosing. That’s fine! I prefer something else, and that’s fine too. I’m a serious flutist and who’s been playing for over 30 years. I have a really good idea of what I want, and I would like to enjoy the journey. I haven’t harmed anyone; in fact, because of me, 2 other people got lucky breaks - not the reverse.
Hey guys - you don’t know me, and I don’t think you’ve been fair. People are different and there is rarely only one way to accomplish any given goal - why can’t we be more supportive of one another? I’m happy that you are traveling the path in the way that suits you best, and I would like to receive your good wishes in return.
Yours in (only one) flute -
Heather M.
Heather, we weren’t talking about you (at least I wasn’t). It doesn’t bother me in the slightest that you did what you did. What bothered me was the suggestion that this could start a trend and that other people might use the same strategy to ensure that they get a flute that suits them.
It’s fine if a few people want to follow this approach; but if 20 or 30 people do it there starts to be an impact. That’s the only thing that bothers me. For example, if 30 people all ordered keyed flutes from Patrick Olwell, Chris Wilkes, and Michael Grinter, it could push those waiting lists out another 7-10 years. Most flute makers produce only a handful of keyed flutes each year, compared with their keyless flute output. At that point it starts getting ridiculous: who wants to wait 15 years for a new flute?
Anyway, I’m genuinely sorry that you feel like you were being attacked personally, and I’m sorry for bringing all this up. But I stand by my argument as a general principle (that if a lot of people were to use this strategy it could add years to the waiting lists).
Heather, I think you misunderstand.
Your circumstances have simply set up an interesting thread that has brought up concerns over practices that many others engage in; I don’t believe anyone was judging you, specifically, or even implying that you personally were doing anything nefarious or wrong.
However, on these forum threads, we have all seen listers resell flutes for much more than they were purchased for, for all sorts of rationalized reasons, and even on this thread, several people have talked about borrowing one sale against an order.
I know of many circumstances (some justified, others not) where flutes were ordered and simply cancelled just as they came up on queue, which has to mess up the wait-list time-table; I don’t know that this causes problems for a fact, but it just seems a strange way of doing business.
In any case, I don’t see anything wrong with the way you went about finding the right flute for you, although I think there were probably smoother ways for you to find out which flute you liked best. Still, you were clearly not out for profit, and you were happy (as were the buyers of your used flutes) with your final flute (for now 
).
Again, I just think the discussion itself has brought up some philosophical differences among us, as well as concerns; sorry if any of it seemed like personal false assumptions or attacks.
Gordon
Well, I suppose that we at least agree that anybody
who gets on multiple waiting lists with the intention
of reselling flutes for a profit will be reborn as
a recorder player.
This flute that generated so much discussion has sold for $950. That’s $450 less than direct from the maker and without the 8 month wait.
Hmmm, what does this tell us, other than that Heather took a major hit in everyway.
There’s a thread on the Uillean (the only reason I play the flute is because it’s easier to spell) piping forum about a trend towards declining waiting lists. Maybe the bubble is starting to burst as far as the very high demand for our instruments is concerned as well. I would have thought that Heather’s Hammy would have fetched a premium and a $450 hit on the Noy seems harsh.
I’m guessing that the really long list guys, Wilkes and Olwell being the two who obvioulsy spring to mind, would still command a hefty premium. Anyone else think the market is settling down a bit?
Here’s another thought. If you really want, say, a Hammy, you’re probably on his list already. Now maybe it’s just me, but if I was on the list (which I am, incidently) and bought one privately before my time on the list came up, I’d still get the brand new one on the offchance that it was a better instrument - it’s possible. However, with apparently no garantees of profit in the current market, I would be unwilling to pay too great a premium on the “list skipper”, lest I couldn’t recoup it on whichever one I subsequently sold.
Now I’m sure there are loads of reasons why profit no longer seems a certaintly, but my explanation above details why I would not pay way over the odds - anyone else want to chip in to this heavyweight economic discussion?
Cheers,
Graham (6 months to go!)
I do think the market is down a bit from when I first started lurking on this board (I think a little over a year ago). Prices routinely seem to be below the rate of a new flute. However, it’s not so down that the makers are lowering their prices.
I seem to recall a thread saying that when many European makers discovered in the 90s that the US market was wide open and willing to pay more, they raised their rates. Well, now for the past year (and actually a little longer), the US economy is in the toilet and Americans are spending differently. It’s just a thought, but I wonder if with fewer Americans spending on higher priced items right now it might account for the slight drop in market value for used flutes.
Granted, this all depends on if it was the US market that initially drove up flute prices anyway…
Eric
I think you could be right, Eric and Graham.
I remember hearing a couple of years ago from a source in Ireland that at least one flutemaker was charging domestic Irish customers less than US customers.
There could be other factors as well. The lists that seem to be getting shorter are also perhaps for those folks who have whole “shops” with other people helping them. Some of these outfits are larger than just a guy with a lathe in a shed. Also, I think we’re in the golden age for a few makers who’ve hit their sweet spots . . . I think Pat Olwell fits that. He knows his stuff. I think Bryan Byrne is an excellent maker as well, but he’s quite a bit slower than Pat. Not that it’s bad, but as the years progress he’ll either gain confidence and speed or will second guess himself more and slow down.
It’s been kind of interesting to me to see the makers whose flutes are selling below list for as-new instruments. Sometimes they’re folks whose lists aren’t all that lengthy.
Hmm!
Stuart