There was another thread discussing weights of Seery and M&E tooters. Alas, many were expressing what they “remembered” and lamenting that they couldn’t do a side by side comparison.
Well lament no more. I happen to have a Seery, an M&E (several actually), and a couple of Terry McGee blackwoods handy.
I used my veterinary scale to meaure in ounces.
M&E R&R Model…10 oz.
Seery polymer Pratten…15 oz.
Terry McGee Pratten Blackwood 10 oz.
Simba the labrador…132 lbs.
So, as you can see, the flute weights are not likely to be noticible in a backpack though they are noticible in the hands.
On the other hand, the labrador would be significantly noticible no matter how you were holding him. He also has the poorest tone but then none of the flutes could fetch so there you have it.
Interestingly, I suppose all the flutes could be used for fetching with the labrador in which case you could sort of “have your cake and eat it too” but, if you’re going to go that route I would definitely go with the polymer.
Doc - I’m really surprised the Seery is that heavy! I never weighed it or the M&E R&R side by side, but playing the two back and forth I would have sworn the Seery the lighter of the two…perhaps it’s just an illusion based upon the feel of the two with the M&E being thicker than the Seery.
I just weighed my Seery Delrin (on a kitchen scale). It came in at 13 ounces. My blackwood Copley (kept at 65% humidity and played regularly) weighed in at 11.5 ounces. Then I weighed just the head joints and they were identical–5.5 ounces each.
I’m guessing balance has much more with how heavy a flute feels in playing position than does total weight.
Doc, it would be interesting to see the difference between the Seery and M&E headjoints. I wonder if the M&Es feel heavier in our hands because their barrels are heavier in proportion to their heads, relative to Seery’s.
Don’t forget that some flutes have longer headjoints or shorter feet – it’s amazing how even a centimeter or two can shift the balance and make one feel heavier in the hand than the other.
That’s all very strange. I could’ve sworn that my Copley weighed half of what my
Seery does. A few ounces makes a big difference… or the balance does, perhaps.
(The fully-lined head in wood body definitely makes the Copley more head-heavy
than the Seery.)
I agree that the reason for the M&E feeling a bit heavy when you play it probably is that it’s a bit unbalanced. The head is quite heavy. My M&E acctually feels perfectly balanced with the Cocobolo head (which is quite a bit lighter than the polymer) and the five keys on the body. That would suggest quite a severe unbalance in its original configuration. That said, I’ve never had any trouble with playing it caused by unbalance, and I played it unkeyed with original head for quite some time.
Yes James, I hear you. I’ve also noticed that Rockstro helped quite a bit when it came to unbalanced or heavy flutes. I believe that Rockstro grip is superior to pipers grip in almost every regard. I can’t imagine what it would be like to play with arthritis though, and I hope I never have to experience it. Sounds like hard work. You’re a role model for us all James.
So, Jayhawk, you went to Docs in Idaho, and he weighed your Seery on his veterinary scale, and you came home, and weighed your M&E R&R with rings on your postal scale…?
Actually I was just wondering what your scale might read the Seery’s weight at, with differences in scales, but it really doesn’t matter. My Seery feels lighter by a good amount compared to the M&E standard with rings. No, I don’t have a scale to weigh them on either.
