I bought this from a list member about six months ago, mainly because I have a matching Sweetheart F in blackwood that I LOVE, and I thought they would make a great pair. (Which, of course, they do).
This flute is in mint condition, and is a fine player with wonderful tone. It’s a slimmer and smaller-holed flute than my Burns large-holed standard, though. This makes it fast and responsive, but also means that it has a very different feel. Going back and forth between them has been awkward, and I’ve found that I don’t play this one as much as I’d like. Rather than hoard, I’ll move it along if it’s a fit for anyone out there.
I don’t have pictures, but I can take some if anyone’s interested. I was fortunate to get this for $450, and I’ll let it go for that much, (shipping included if in US, additional if overseas). The new price is $575.
Just to add some support for the Sweetheart Resonance flute, I got one in blackwood w/o rings last year, and it’s a really nice flute. It’s a two-piece flute, with a cork wrapped tenon, and includes a useful tuning slide feature, without any metal lining to it, all wood.
Bump… Here are a couple of pictures, but they don’t do it justice. It’s a very sleek and attractive blackwood flute — just one too many. Any takers before it goes to eBay?
My first wooden flute was a padauk sweet purchased from a C&Fer. I liked the tone, but I nursed an old dead german back to health and eventually ended up preferring that one and sold the sweet to a friend.
At the end of last year, I had a chance to play a Resonance model as well as my old Sweet, and was impressed by how much the new model is an improvement. If I’d started with that, I might still be playing it.
Technically speaking, the newer Resonance flute is an improvement over the older Irish flute, the older Irish model as designed by Ralph Sweet, and the newer Resonance model as designed by Ralph’s son Walt. However, while the newer model has its improvements, the older model has its strengths, as well. I play both of them, and while I can and do appreciate the qualities of the newer model, I really like the older model, too, and I think of the older model as being something of a hot rod, on the wild side, just like Ralph!
For different reasons, therefore, I enjoy them both.
I have a rosewood Sweetheart flute - I guess it’s one of the earlier models (1175). I bought it from another C&F-user and I like it very much. But I was wondering - what is the difference between my flute and this new Resonance flute - sound wise?
Long story short, there are a number of differences between the older Sweetheart flute, the one with the thread wrapped tenon, and the newer Resonance model. I like them both, but the Resonance flute seems to be a “better” flute, technically speaking.
The older model seems to have a greater range of tonal qualities, on which I can get more of an “edge” to the tone in particular, while the newer model has better internal tuning, giving a greater scalar range.
Well, thanks for the bumps, and I think Cork is on the money there. This is a really nice flute, but I guess timing is everything. I received one pretty low offer, and decided I like it too much to let it go for that. Really, I like it as well as my Burns Standard. I just find it difficult to move back and forth between them, and have too many instruments!
If it were me shopping for a roughly $500 flute, and I wanted wood, it would be be a pretty even toss-up between this and a Burns Folk Flute. They’re both great — just different.
If I thought I could get the money out of my M&E polymer, I might consider
trading in for wood, but I can’t afford 2 flutes, and, as demonstrated here, it’s
a buyer’s market with no buyers.
Folks, here’s a financial perspective. For instance, I bought a new, Sweetheart Resonance flute in blackwood last year, and I paid $485, plus state sales tax. However, unlike the one for sale here, which currently sells for $575, the flute I got does not have silver rings, and does not have an end cap, and it is a model variation which Sweetheart apparently no longer offers, so that price is history. Therefore, $575 - $425 = $150 savings, thank you, crookedtune.
As for the playing qualities of the blackwood Resonance flute, well, apparently Sweetheart has enough confidence in this model as to now only offer the better grade of it, with end cap and rings.
On the one hand, the Sweetheart Resonance flute is relatively easy to play, but that’s not to say that playing a flute is an easy thing to do. However, the Resonance flute does not pose any particular difficulties, so, yes, it would be suitable to begin on, and it’s also good enough to continue on. Indeed, it’s possible that it could serve you for a lifetime of playing.
On the other hand, because flutes just don’t seem to be everybody’s favorite instrument, beginning players more often make a smaller financial commitment. For instance, if you read through some of the threads on this forum, you’ll likely notice that plastic flutes are popular, in part because they can be purchased for relatively small money.
