Has anyone played the Sweetheart Baroque flute and the Aulos, either the Grenser or Stansby?
I am interested to know what the differences in tone and playability are between The Sweetheart and the Aulos flutes.
Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.
Kim
I’ve played a sweetheart rosewood baroque flute–it had two
bodies. I can’t compare it with the Aulos and I know nothing
about baroque fluteplaying, but it seemed a nice flute.
It plays no terribly differently from your typical
Sweetheart rosewood D, though it’s a bit more refined
and focused, IMO.
The Aulos is a far superior traverso, in my opinion. I’ve had a black walnut Sweetheart for probably 15 years. It’s a bit dodgy in the tuning, and very weak sounding. The Aulos Stanesby flute is a very nice traverso. I had mine at Boxwood a couple of years ago, and the Baroque flute teacher, Marten Root, tried it. He liked it as a good travel flute, and wanted to know where to get one. It has a more centered tone, less spread. I have not tried the Aulos Grenser. It’s my understanding that they’re not quite up to the standard of the Stanesby. Of course, I prefer my Cameron Grenser in boxwood to either one. But the Stanesby is a very good traverso, particularly for a beginer. I believe these flutes have been discussed before. You might do a search for more opinions.
Jeanie
I had both the Sweetheart and Aulos Grenser matte-black till earlier in the week, when I sent the Aulos out to Jordan. I feel pretty much the same as Jeanie. The Aulos is a real traverso, a reasonably faithful copy of a 18th-century flute, and very well-made. The thing I like about it is its power and really pretty good tuning. The Sweet is almost a hybrid between a traverso and an Irish flute. It has an embouchure that’s not very different at all from Ralph’s Irish flute, but the hole layout is like a Baroque flute. So you can play chromatic music but it doesn’t feel quite right to play Baroque music.
So in a sense the Sweetheart is a good flute for the transition between Irish flute and traverso. One big advantage is that it has midsections for A415 as well as A440. The reason I sold the Aulos is that I much prefer A415.
As with Jeanie, my go-to flute is a Cameron Grenser (and an Olwell Rottenburgh).
Hey Kim,
I’ll concur with Chas! 
I traded Chas the Sweetheart Baroque flute, some time ago, and I just got his Aulos. So our sample size is limited!
I initially found the Sweetheart to be a weak player. I thought the flute required a little work: rethreading the tennons, hardening the tuning cork face and polishing the bore. After these modifications I found the tone to be fairly strong and rather complex for a traverso.
So I guess the question is what do you want to play on a traverso? The Sweet sounds better for folk music and the Aulos is better for classical (IMO).
All the Best!
I’m looking for something to play classical and some jazz. I think Aulos is probably the way to go. I don’t mind transposing, so the Stanesby might be better tone-wise. Thanks for your input!
Kim