Hello all!
I know House of Musical Traditions sells the bamboo Olwells, but I understand that they sometimes suffer in the process of shipping. Is there an e-mail address directly to Patrick, or another seller who packs the flutes in sturdier shipping tubes?
-Bob
Your best bet is to order directly from Patrick Olwell. You’ll have to contact him by phone or mail. I’ve misplaced the info at the moment, but I’ll see if I can find it and get back to you - unless someone else posts it first.
Good idea to avoid HMT.
Loren
Okay, here you go:
Patrick Olwell - 804-277-9215
P.O. Box 117
Nellysford, VA.
22958
I agree with Loren. My experiences with HMT have been quite poor. The Olwell bamboo I got from them was so dried out that it cracked within half an hour after opening the package. The bamboo Eb Patrick himself sent me has had no such problems, despite all sorts of abuse.
Chris
What Chris,
You’re Olwells from HMT actually didn’t crack until AFTER you opened the box?!? Lucky man, mine were all busted by the time I got them.
I’ve had really bad experiences with their customer service (if you can call it that) on multiple occasions as well.
HMT is to be avoided at all costs, IMO.
Loren
The one cane Olwell that I bought from HMT, while playing fine, seems to have a slowly increasing black “growth” (the blob ?)in the inside just under the tone hole…don’t see this with the other 3 I got directly from Patrick…
I also have an Olwell D Bamboo Flute and was wondering what needs to be done with it to maintain it - so that it doesn’t dry out and crack.
Can anyone offer any advice?
Cheers 
Gerry
When I asked him about this, Patrick just said to occasionally oil it with pure sesame or olive oil…
Thanks - I also got that advice, but was wondering exactly how to do it. Are we talking about the inside of the flute only?
These may seem like silly questions but I have never done this before so I want to do it right.
Cheers
Gerry
I’ve had my Olwell bamboo for a few years, and I really love it. It recently started to develop a small crack, so I decided to start keeping it in its case to keep the humidity more constant. The case is made of this fake leather-type cloth. I think I kept it a bit too moist, because now I too have a growth under the blow hole - smells like rotting wood too. The smell really decreases my joy in playing the flute!! I’m thinking that it might be time to upgrade to a real wood flute now!
Diana
On 2001-12-06 13:57, toddyboy50 wrote:
The one cane Olwell that I bought from HMT, while playing fine, seems to have a slowly increasing black “growth” (the blob ?)in the inside just under the tone hole…don’t see this with the other 3 I got directly from Patrick…