I just got my Walt Sweet ‘Shannon’ delrin-type D polymer flute this morning, and thought I would write a quick review of how I’m liking it so far after a day of playing. This is an honest comparison review, and am not trying to knock any flute makers out there. Please take this review with a grain of salt, because these are my opinions only. You may have different experiences than I with the same flutes.
I’ve been playing whistles for about 7 years now, and Irish flutes for about 2 1/2 years. I don’t play professionally and am not the best player in the world… it’s just a hobby of mine. I’ve owned several non-wood flutes, including 3 Tipple low flutes with lip plates and wedges, a Rob Forbes delrin D, and 2 3-piece Dixon delrin flutes. Here’s the review so far:
*** Fit / Finish ***
Delrin Shannon: Overall, the Shannon has a nice finish. But I’m a bit disappointed and surprised at the roughness of the finger holes. Drilled at odd angles and not smoothed at all. Looks almost like the holes were never finished. Kind of reminds me of the rough finger holes on my cheapie Dixon 1-piece tube flute I owned a few years ago.
Delrin Forbes: Immaculate. One of the best finishes I’ve ever seen.
Tipple PVC Flutes: All 3 I’ve owned were immaculate and consistent. Some of the best finishes I’ve ever seen.
Delrin 3-piece Dixon: Average finish.
*** Weight / Comfort ***
Delrin Shannon: Extremely comfortable to hold and play. I have larger hands and have had no hand pain. Weight is a bit on the heavy side (which I like).
Delrin Forbes: Extremely comfortable to hold and play. I have larger hands and have had no hand pain. Fairly light weight. Lightest polymer flute I’ve played.
Tipple PVC Flutes: Very light due to PVC construction. No hand pain.
Delrin 3-piece Dixon: Holes were too close together for my hand size. Gave my left hand all kinds of joint pain, especially my left index finger. Weight is comparable to the Shannon.
*** Holes / Responsiveness ***
Delrin Shannon: Holes are on the slightly large side, but I can still play with my fingertips. Responsiveness is great. I can do ornamentation quicker and clearer than on other flutes I’ve owned. Strong low D note. All other notes are very strong. Very close to the Forbes
Delrin Forbes: The Forbes flute has no weak notes, period. I was shocked in the beginning at how strong all the notes are, especially the low D. Wow. Piper’s grip is required for me to play due to the large holes. Responsiveness is average.
Tipple PVC Flutes: F# and E notes is a bit weak on the low C and B flutes. D flute is fine. Piper’s grip was required due to the large holes. Average responsiveness on the D flute, slower on the low C and B flutes.
Delrin 3-piece Dixon: F# and E notes are a bit weak, and low D is ridiculously weak (sorry Tony). Can play with my fingertips due to the tiny holes. Above average responsiveness.
*** Tone / Embouchure / General Playing ***
Delrin Shannon: This is where the Shannon really shines. I just simply cannot get over how wonderful this flute sounds. It is so easy for me to get that dark, woody, reedy tone. No matter how hard I tried, I could never get this sound on my Forbes. Second octave is easy to reach. Plays easily through both octaves. Fairly relaxed embouchure focus. Good volume. Very in-tune.
Delrin Forbes: Ahh.. that big, open fog-horn Pratten tone. Incredible volume. Nice tone, but a bit too open for my taste, even with the more focused embouchure I used. Harder to jump octaves. More effort is required to play at the higher end of the second octave. Average embouchure focus. Very in-tune.
Tipple PVC Flutes: Nice tone, but can’t get that dark, reedy sound most strive for. Volume is average. Very relaxed embouchure focus. Very easy octave jumps. Plays easily through both octaves. Very in-tune.
Delrin 3-piece Dixon: Softer, flutier sound. Very weak volume. Lower end of first octave is extremely weak. Low D note is almost non-existent. Plays easily in the second octave. I’m not too crazy about the newer embouchure cut. A very tight embouchure focus is required. New one played flat. Older one was in-tune.
*** Pricing / Value ***
Delrin Shannon: At $282 new (total with international shipping off Ebay), this flute is an absolute steal. You simply won’t find a better value in a delrin / polymer flute.
Delrin Forbes: At $455 new (total with international shipping) + Paypal fees, a bit on the expensive side, but the fit / finish and silver rings might be worth it.
Tipple PVC Flutes: Starting at around $105 new + international shipping and Paypal fees, these are the Volkswagen Beetles of the flute world. Affordable, quality flutes.
Delrin 3-piece Dixon: At around $200 + international shipping, these flutes seem a bit overpriced due to their poor performance.
Overall, I am absolutely in love with the Shannon. Even with the rough finish of the finger holes, the gorgeous tone, ease of playability and affordable pricing more than make up for it. I have to say that this flute is even better than the wonderful Forbes I owned- regardless of price. Congratulations, Walt. You have created an instant classic with the new Shannon. I am enamored by the heavenly sound.
I also highly recommend Doug’s flutes to anyone looking to try out Irish fluting, or someone looking to get an affordable, quality low C or B flute.
I cannot recommend the Tony Dixon 3-piece delrin to anyone. It’s absolutely the worst of the bunch. Not even in the same class. As a side note, the second Dixon 3-piece delrin flute I owned was an older model with the smaller, oval embouchure cut (before they changed it). It was a much, much better flute than the newer one I owned, which had the rectangular embouchure cut. The older style was louder, had a stronger low end, had a much easier focus, and a better tone. Why on earth did you change it, Tony?!
thanks for the review.
I know Walt put some time in developing this model, and have no doubt it’s a great flute, and the price is amazing !
i played on one of Doug’s Bb flutes and it was an amazing player, with a beautiful full and deep tone.
Just to jump in on behalf of the Forbes, although I appreciate your review of the new Sweet flute.
The Forbes can and does achieve an amazing tone, with complexities, and has no difficulty with octave jumps. Your experience may be the difference between a player of 2 1/2 years, vs. a more experienced player. Even though the playing itself seems to come easily with most Pratten-types, getting a more complex, buzzy tone from them takes time, and a particularly focused lip. Once achieved, the Forbes stands toe-to-toe with the best of them.
So, it may be safer to say that the Sweet achieved a more immediate and complex tone for you than you currently can achieve on your Forbes.
For what it’s worth, I bought a new VW Beetle in 1965 ($1800) as a college graduation gift to myself. I loved that car. With the high clearance and large wheels it would go places (Jeep trails in Colorado and beach sands in Mexico) that I wouldn’t dream of taking my Ford Focus. It was light in the front end, though, so you had a real battle keeping it on the road on a windy day. Hold the steering wheel because here comes another truck. Flutes are much the same, in that they are hard to play outdoors on a windy day.
Ha! You got that right. But have you ever tried to play a whistle outdoors on a windy day? It’s even worse, because that won’t make a sound at all unless you turn at the right angle to the wind. Anyway, thanks for the review. Now I’m seriously re-thinking my choice of what flute to go for. I was either going to get a Copley, or a Forbes. I decided on the Copley, but now I’m not so sure, maybe Sweet is what I want… AARRGGHH!!! Too many choices, not enough money to try them all.
Dave Copley’s flutes were not reviewed here, but in previous reviews they have consistently received excellent marks. If you are looking for a conical flute in Delrin, I don’t think that you can go wrong with Dave’s flute, not that other flutes in this group are not also worthy of consideration.
With regard to the overall finish of a flute (surface, embouchure cut, and finger holes), I think that most people will cut you a little slack with minor performance issues if it looks like the maker cared about how the flute looks. The same is true with buying a car. We don’t understand everything that goes on under the hood, but we sure can see the overall design of the car and how the pieces fit together. My dad was an auto body mechanic and somewhat of a perfectionist, I would say. When a repaired car left his shop, it really looked good. I hope that some of his carefulness rubbed off on me with my flutes.
I wouldn’t worry too much. You made a great choice. Even though I haven’t played one, I’ve heard many good things about the Copleys. As Doug said, you really cannot go wrong with a Sweet, Forbes, Tipple, or Copley flute. They are all great flutes. The only real dud that I’ve played is the 3-piece delrin Dixon. But that’s just my opinion.
And I think every player (beginner or experienced) should have at least 1 Tipple flute. Seriously.
Let’s just say that the Sweet is easier for me to get that complex tone than on the Forbes. The embouchure cuts and hole sizes being different of course has a lot to do with it (Rudallish vs Prattenish?). When I play, the Forbes has more volume than the Shannon, but at the expense of tone complexity. I’m sure as I gain more experience as a flute player, I will be able to achieve nearly the same complex tone and volume on almost any good flute… some being easier than others.
Many thanks to everyone for giving my “SHANNON” flute a try.
About the holes, and drilling them at an angle:
The purpose here is to get a good scale and good octaves. This technique is used on other types of woodwinds, for the same reasons, with good results. The recorder-makers have written articles about “undercutting above” to correct a stretched octave, and that’s also a big issue with the “Irish” flute. A classic problem is the pitch/octaves on F# and C#, and my angular drilling corrects the tuning (as others have so graciously said). I understand that one of my contemporaries (mentioned in this thread) has redesigned his reamer to create a perturbation in the bore, with the intent of correcting the pitch/octave on F#. Well, that’s one way to correct pitch, but I think my method corrects pitch while promoting a better tone (and I’ve been given some credit for good tone and tone development).
I am enamored by the heavenly sound. 
Too many choices, not enough money to try them all.
