Thanks, Doc!
Sorry - but the reason to buy a flute is because you like the way it sounds. People buying low-end flutes probably haven’t played many high-end flutes and have no way of making a comparison based on dollar value even if they had. Most beginning players haven’t an embouchure sufficiently developed to get the most out of an expensive flute. I certainly couldn’t get out of a Strad the sound that it’s capable of producing.
I know of no accomplished player who would prefer a free Tipple to a higher priced wooden flute - even though “bang for the buck” would be maximized with a free flute.
I mean no insult to Doug Tipple, for whom I have a lot of respect and who does offer good value for the money. But dollars shouldn’t enter the equation. You hear with your ears and you play with your mouth - not with your wallet.
If all you can afford is a Tipple, then by all means buy one. But don’t buy one based on some assumed dollar value.
This was the original question: “For performance versus price, can anybody top that?”
The majority of posters referenced the Tipple as the leader within those critieria, and none said it was the best flute out there. Which part do you not agree with?
Maybe you should tell me what you mean by “performance.” Something more than just a sound, yes?
A free flute would offer the best performance for the money, right?
Would a free Tipple offer better performance than a better flute for which you paid?
Can you quantify a Tipple as being a better value at $100 than a Burns at $300 or a Copley at $525?
The Tipple doesn’t offer better performance than either of these. But can you say that the Burns is 3x better, or the Copley is 5x better?
Is this a good way to evaluate flutes? Like Toyotas? Give me a break.
True.
My comments were meant for those wanting to experience the flute without breaking the bank but still getting a very playable instrument.
None of the flutes I mentioned are in competition with $1000+ instruments.
Once a person has made a commitment to the flute I would certainly encourage them to upgrade.
The flutes I listed are instruments that are inexpensive but still play well if you blow into them correctly. That’s what a beginner “testing the waters” of flutedom needs.
If a novice wants to give it a whirl with a Wilkes right from the get go and can afford it, more power to them. He could likely sell it for more than he paid so what’s the harm?
Take home messages for new flute buyers:
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Get the very best flute you can afford under the guidance of someone that knows what they’re talking about. If it doesn’t work out you can likely sell it with little or no financial loss.
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If you’re budget is limited, or you want a good-playing flute for venues that are less-safe for an expensive instrument, Get one of the many nice instruments mentioned so far in this thread.
Doc
So you’re really saying the original question was invalid. OK by me, break is granted.
“So you’re really saying the original question was invalid.”
I think so. I haven’t quite worked it out. If you were to ask whether it was “worth it” to have a Bb key on a flute that was already stretching your budget and meant a month’s rent, I’d admit the validity of that question.
As Doc intimates, if you’re a serious musician then you’re prepared to make sacrifices for your art. Then it isn’t a question of “value” but becomes one of of “utility.” I.e., what is the best flute for you, period. Then you go about finding the money for that flute.
Many serious classical musicians go into a deep hole to get a suitable instrument. Granted, they make more money than many of us. But I’d rather drive a ratty car and play a great flute than drive a BMW and compromise on my instrument. An incremental improvement in a flute can seem like a really big deal.
As a beginning player who is looking for his first flute I have to say I’ve found this thread very, very informative. Certainly it can be said that one should obtain the best instrument that one can afford, but from the standpoint of a greenhorn like me who has no exposure to flutes, manufacturers, etc, it’s nice to be able to hear the opinions of musicians who DO have the experience of playing flutes of different manufacturers and materials.
It is BECAUSE the general population doesn’t have access to information like this that cheap Pakistani flutes (like the one I almost bought) lure so many people away from a quality instrument and, as a result, discourage people from playing.
Buying a flute when one has never played before and wants to try something new (after hearing the beautiful music that can be made with something that, when looked at it through the eyes of someone with no exposure to the flute, appears to be someone simply breathing into a stick with holes in it) is a daunting, frightening experience…and at the price many of these instruments sell for…a very expensive indulgence. Hearing the opinions in this thread is, again, very helpful and informative.
I’m looking forward to learning more from all of you. Thank you for opening this discussion!
Hunter
Thanks, Hunter. The affirmation feels good. We can bicker and nitpick sometimes, but I agree there’s a ton of good info here. It helped me greatly when I jumped into fluting more seriously a year ago.
About the Tipple again.
I was a plastic scoffer. A PVC flute has to be a novelty item or something like that.
A Tipple was offered for sale here with a video clip of it being played. I was amazed that the Tipple sounded so good, and to me sounded better than the other, fancier plastic flute he was selling. I scoff no more.
I also have a Folk Flute. It sounds different but not better or worse than the Tipple. It’s lovely to look at, smells wonderful, much easier to finger and play fast. One ought to be able to say it’s way better than the Tipple, but it really isn’t. Not because the Folk Flute isn’t good, but because the Tipple isn’t bad.
I can impress people with the Folk Flute because it is so beautiful. I can impress people with the Tipple because they can’t get over such nice music coming from a plastic pipe.
When I play both of my flutes I make the same mistakes and play just as well or poorly. Sometimes I can make one of them louder, sometimes I can make the other. Sometimes one of them sounds more beautiful, sometimes the other. The Tipple with the small embouchure makes me play the Folk Flute much better than I did before.
Best of all, and most important thing I learned from the video that sold me the Tipple flute was – get ready for this – the music and the wow factor come from the abilities of the musician, not so much the flute. So, if you want any of the above flutes you really can’t go wrong. But the only way those flutes will ever sound good is if you yourself get good at it. You are going to have to practice every day no matter what flute you get.
Bang for the buck is good, but now that we’ve got a good list, you have to add your goals into the matrix for the final selection.
Don’t worry too much. Most of the flutes discussed in this thread (and any flute from a good maker) will hold their value pretty well if you decide it’s not for you and you want to sell (just as Doc said, and he should know!).
Hehehe…
I really love the flute and have a strong desire to take myself a long way with the instrument. I just need some info to do two things:
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Convince my better half that it’s a better investment than house repairs, stuff for the kids, family trips and other such things.
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Launch a pre-emptive strike against buyer’s remorse if step item number 1 fails.
The argument for 1 is that the money spent on the flute
isn’t lost, it’s recoverable, more or less, especially if
you buy a good flute. This isn’t like money spent
on clothes, a vacation and so on. It’s money in a
different form. You keep it.
Of course if the kids are starving, the roof leaking, etc.
spend the money on that!
I sure wish I had grown up around people who were
playing musical instruments.
It’s better than growing up with people who do, and moving out into a world where people don’t! (Damn televisions! 
).
True, true.
I’ve played some sort of instrument my entire life (trumpet, piano, percussion instruments, etc.). Sadly, when playing something as specialized as the Irish flute, there aren’t very many local resources to get hands on experience. That’s another reason why I’m so glad this site is here!
I’ve been playing Irish flute for getting onto five years.
I’m pretty isolated ITM-wise, however there are
adequate sources to learn on the internet. Occasionally
there is a workshop at a festival. I’ve taken a handful
of lessons, mostly at the beginning. Sometimes
I’ve traveled to meet a teacher.
ITM is the spine of the instruments repertoire.
However most of the flute playing I do with other
people is blues, country and western, rock n’roll,
some American Old Time, etc.
The gutsier, dirtier sound of the Irish flute works
wonderfully for blues, etc. I believe the instrument
has extroardinary so-far untapped potential
for other sorts of music than ITM. much of the
technique and ornamentation one learns in
ITM transfers nicely.
What I really love is flute, not an airy-fairy flute with
clicking keys (I know this is unfair, I know…), but
a dirty, fingers on holes folk flute.
I sure don’t let lack of local resources stop me.
I have to admit that I am losing on the first argument. So far in the past two weeks, we have a new roof on the garage and six new windows for the house, and that is just in the house repair category. I’m afraid to think about the other two categories of grandkid expenses and planned trips. My wife has a slick book of expensive cruises that she looks at every day. I figured out that if I were to make and sell 500 flutes, then I might just break even.
Also, with regard to another posting on this thread, I have just been informed that my granddaughter is bringing me to her first grade classroom for “show and tell” day. She loves my room with all the instruments. She is getting pretty decent on the djembe drum. Now I have to think of something to play that would interest first graders. I think that I will take a mandolin and a fiddle and explain how the mandolin makes music by picking the strings, while the violin makes music by drawing a piece of a horse’s tail across the strings. I wonder how many kids will doubt me when I tell them that, like this guy is pulling my leg.
I think they can handle the horse-tail concept. Just don’t tell them what some fiddle strings are made from! 
Yeah…if you tell them THAT they’re going to go into shock when they find out where THEY came from!
Easy enough! Bring a flute with you. After all, a mandolin and a fiddle all but explain themselves, with strings to vibrate and make musical sound. However, if musical sound can also be made on what is essentially a one piece instrument having no moving parts (gee, how does that work?), then just maybe you could ignite the imagination of a future musician, or physicist, etc.
You could be the pied piper of the first grade, to inspire a generation!