I am a beginner at the flute and I need a little advice. I have a Dixon 2 piece plastic flute now and I am ready to upgrade. I’ve found 3 in my price range. The Dixon 3 piece polymer flute, the Casey Burns folk flute, or the Sweetheart keyless irish flute. At this point I am favoring the Dixon 3 piece polymer flute because it just seems more maintenance free and durable. Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Mike
Can’t go wrong w/ Casey Burns. Regarding your comment on durability, mopane is more durable than blackwood from what I remember. Correct me if I’m wrong.
You should have the Sweet keyless flute I have just sold, if the Canadian purchaser doesn’t like it !
I will happily recommend you the dixon 3 piece poly, have one myself and also am a beginner still… indeed the easy care is great to have till you are ready to upgrade again and with tony’s great customer service you can simply not go wrong!
This flute will help you learn to develop a good focussed embouchure and you will be surprised what you will be able to get out of it once you do.
warmest greetings
berti
Both mopane and blackwood are durable.
These are tough woods. Hard to see maintaining
them as a problem.
I’ve owned both the CB folk flute and the Dixon three
piece–both are good and I prefer the CB.
Also it’s cheaper.
If I were you, I’d go with the Burns folk flute. I’ve tried one of these for several weeks (I had one on loan while Burns made my boxwood flute) and it was, in my opinion, far superior in sound and feel to the Dixon. I sold the Dixon after a few months. (My preference may have been in part because the Dixon made my left hand cramp after 5 minutes of playing it!) The sound and feel of wood is an important factor to me. It’s more “fun” to play than plastic/delrin/whatever.
Just my opinion and experience, Jeanie
Not to sound like the Deutcher I am but, its time to mature and learn to caress and care for the wooden flute. Hooveroff hit it on the head! Part of the joy and love of the flute is caring for it - oiling, swabbing, and even hand rubbing the exterior - makes it look cared for and improves its surface sheen. Plastic (Delrin) are great for having around put together and picking up in a moments notice and playing a tune or two - or for taking on a hike or camping trip. But the JOY of fluting is in the wood. .02
BillG
Is the price for the Dixon you’re looking at the 327USD as quoted from Bigwhistle? For 350USD you’ll get an M&E polymer which is a full blooded Irish flute in the Rudall and Rose style with tuning slide and everything. I’ve heard great things about the CB, but this is seems to be a very simple construction, maybe there is nothing wrong with that, but it depends on what you’re after. The M&E has everything you’ll need for many years to come. I’ve never heard anyone saying they prefer the Dixon 3pc vs. a M&E, but I’ve heard lots of people saying that after investing in many top notch instruments, they still often use their M&E’s for sessions and stuff. Fantastic instruments for the price, there are certainly better flutes but then you’re looking to spend around 1000USD for a keyless. http://homepage.tinet.ie/~mandeflutes/
I would second the recommendation for the M&E. I have found it to be a lot of flute for the price. Also the Seery Pratten represents an incredible amount of bang for the buck. Either of these flutes is session-ready.
Of the flutes you mention I believe the Burns would be my choice based on the recordings I’ve heard; however, if it has no tuning slide, playing it in session could be a challenge.
Just my $.02.
–James
If you want wood (yes, you want wood) get the Burns. Great bang for the buck.
If you want polymer any of the three mentioned would be a good flute. I’ve had all three and would probably lean to the M&E R&R. But that is purely subjective based on my playing style, tone preference etc… None of the three would be a bad choice just a personal choice.
Doc
While I agree the vast majority of folks prefer their M&E to a Dixon 3 piece, I sold my Dixon to a professional flute player (and college prof. of flute) who preferred it to the M&Es she had tried, so not everyone agrees on this issue.
That said, no one has posted back supporting Ralph Sweet’s instruments. I can only comment on my rosewood Sweet flute which I’ve fallen in love with over the past month and the fact that there have been 3 comments on how good his rosewood instruments are. They are more expensive than his fruit/maple wood instruments, but I think they’re an upgrade in quality along with the nicer/denser wood.
As for the tuning slide issue, I’ll disagree with James here - my Sweetheart has the tennon length to adjust up or down just fine in a session (it’s in tune when cold all the way in, but warms up in 5 minutes and then is in tune w/the tennon out about 3mm or so). Casey told me his flutes are also in tune pulled out about that much, too. My old Dixon was about the same, too, and it did fine in sessions even with a slightly sharp accordion in our midst. I think slides were much more important in the 1800s when players were forced to confront greatly divergent views on what standard tuning should be.
As for my final, overall opinion on this issue, I don’t think you’d go wrong with any of the instruments you listed. Oh, don’t forget Tony makes rosewood flutes, too, for a very good price. No matter what you buy, I’d buy through the maker directly (all have websites and sell their own instruments), and all those makers will stand by their instruments, too.
Eric
Or get one of these from Michael Cronnolly (M&E):
I have a walnut Sweet that I’d pick over my Burns blackwood or Dixon three-piece, which I owned for some time. I agree, though, that a Seery (which I’ve owned, too) or M&E R&R (only tooted on one for a little while) is a finer flute yet.
Good Lord that’s a lovely flute!!!
–James
Yes James. It’s a flute Michael turned from his batch of Cocobolo wood (provided by a board member here if my memory does not fail me). He sent me the pic when I ordered my headpiece of the same material. It’s a lovely, lovely piece of woodcraft. I don’t think all Cocobolo looks like that, but it’s a lovely batch Michael has laying around. Don’t know how long it’ll last so I suggest you all get in touch with him soon to arrange a deal.
I would choose the Burns.I’ve not actually played the folk flute,but I have two of his other flutes and they totally rock,so I would choose that one. 
Wow, I appreciate all this great feedback. What I’ve gathered from all this is that it is a matter of preference when choosing a flute. I’ve been playing guitar for 15 years and mandolin for about 8 years and I have spent (or wasted) a lot of money over the years trying to find the right instrument.
If I knew back then what I know now I could of saved a lot of heartache and money. It’s tough being a beginner and not knowing what instrument will suit you best. I think I would prefer a wood flute now. The ones in my price range ($250-$300) are the Casey Burns folk flute and the Sweetheart (not the rosewood, it’s too much). From what I’ve read they are both able to be tuned somewhat. Once I feel that I can play fairly well then I will start looking for a more expensive flute. Thanks.
Mike
Yeah, don’t sweat the tuning slide thing. I think Burns flutes are amply tunable with the tenon joint.
Have fun!
Doc
Yes, it’s a matter of personal preference. Different people like different flutes for different reasons. Some flutes, however are better than others and recieve more good reviews from different players. The Burns and the M&E flutes mentioned in this thread are among the flutes that recieve lots and lots of great reviews. I think the CB Folk flute will serve you well until you decide to upgrade.
On my Sweet Baroque flute I haven’t found the tenon to be as useful as a real tuning slide when it comes to playing with others.
Then again I am a hard blower (i.e., full of hot air? lol ) and usually have to bring the tuning slide out half an inch or more to be in tune, when other folks try my flutes they have to push the slide back in to get the pitch back up to A=440.
So I will bow to the common wisdom and agree that for now the tuning slide issue isn’t likely to be a show-stopper, with the reservation that you might find yourself needing to move to a different flute faster than you would otherwise.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with the Burns flute, sorry if I gave the impression that I thought there was. It has been widely praised for playability and tone, and I’d love a chance to try one someday.
My experience with M&E flutes leads me to think of them as a known, good quality instrument, which is one reason I often recommend them to learners. They cost more than the Burns but with the tuning slide and the additional flexibility in embouchure and playing style that it affords, I think you get more bang for the buck.
I think the Seery Pratten is also an incredible flute for the price, but I am convinced that most learners would find it to be a very hard flute to learn to fill. I think the Seery makes more sense as a second flute (i.e. a session flute) for the more advanced learner who is wanting the volume and projection it offers, or as a relatively indestructible “bar flute” for folks (like me) who sometimes play in conditions where you hesitate to take anything valuable or fragile.
I wish you all could have heard Tom Doorley playing on my Seery–wow. I wish I could make any flute sound that good. The main difference in sound between it and his Olwell is that tte Seery had the “edgier” sound while the Olwell was a bit more pure. Volume and projection seemed to be pretty much unchanged on either flute. Another reservation applies here–I tried his Olwell–lovely flute!–and so can also point out that even though to the listener the sound of the two fluters wasn’t much different, I do imagine there was quite a bit of subjective difference in the feel and reponse of each flute when he was playing them.
At any rate, good luck with your new flute!
–James