is there a wilkes flute user in this forum??

[moo jin Lee]

I had know long time waiting for produced of wilkes flute.
If is there a wilkes flute buyer in this forum for lately, Tell me please for your wait time and price information.

[benhall.1]

I've no idea about the price, but I'm on his list as well. He's told me the wait is 14 years. That's for a fully keyed flute. It may be different for a keyless flute.

[JohnB]

I have an early fully keyed Chris Wilkes flute probably getting on for 20 years old I guess, so info about price and waiting times is not really relevant to today.

[moo jin Lee]

I've no idea about the price, but I'm on his list as well. He's told me the wait is 14 years. That's for a fully keyed flute. It may be different for a keyless flute.

Oh.. Really long time wait.. I've 43 year old 14 years later!!

[moo jin Lee]

I have an early fully keyed Chris Wilkes flute probably getting on for 20 years old I guess, so info about price and waiting times is not really relevant to today.

Oh my god.. I've 48 year old 20 years later!!

[Steampacket]

See Chris' website for price list regarding keyless flutes:
http://www.wilkesflutes.co.uk/Site/Contact.html

710 pounds (1.145 US dollars) for a standard keyless D or Eb flute for example. 1000 pounds for a C or Bb keyless flute. Waiting list is ten years. Second hand Wilkes flutes come up for sale now and then, for example the recent keyless boxwood flute and keyed flute on this forum. The price of a second hand Wilkes flute is higher than that of a new Wilkes flute as there is no waiting time, if you have the money. Wilkes flutes are wonderful instruments, top quality.

There are other modern flute makers making quality flutes of course, such as Patrick Olwell, Mike Grinter, Giles Léhart, Martin Doyle, Terry McGee, Hammy Hamilton, Thomas Aebi, Eamon Cotter, Glen Watson, Brian Byrne

Check out Jem's fine list of flute makers: https://sites.google.com/site/cfwoodenflutemakerslist/

[maki]

If you look through the "Sold and Old" thread, where expired or completed sales are archieved, you will find the price
listed of second hand flutes.
Highly desired items don't last very long.
viewforum.php?f=36

[JohnB]

Oh my god.. I've 48 year old 20 years later!!

??? I don't understand

[ The OP is saying that he is 28 or 29 years old now. - Mod ]

Ok I get that - My Wilkes was bought about 20 years ago not a 20 year wait.

[Aanvil]

I got my hands on ( for a slender few minutes) a 17 year old Wilkes 8-key blackwood that Chris very recently gave a tune up. I'm not shi'ttn you all but I quite thought I had lost my mind. It was that good of a fine machine. I'm throwing my hat in the ring for one even if it's ready just before they shovel dirt over me. I'll come back to earth to play it.

[eilam]

i have an older 15-20 year old 5 key Pratten model, the keys are hand forged in the style of the Abel flutes........no other flute that i have ever seen comes close to this one in craftsmanship.

[moo jin Lee]

If you look through the "Sold and Old" thread, where expired or completed sales are archieved, you will find the price
listed of second hand flutes.
Highly desired items don't last very long.
viewforum.php?f=36

Thanks for reply. I think as a little more high price than expected.

[smoro]

I have a 8 Keyed flute by Wilkes that fortune brought to me. It´s a second hand one that I bought 10 years ago or so. I didn´t wanted to order a new flute due to the long waiting list.
I wonder: Why 14 years? Does anybody know if this genius of the flute making has another job or something like that? There is some mistery around his figure. A documentary about his live is needed!
Regards,
S.

[Bran Ruz]

Hammy Hamilton wrote this on his blog about waiting lists :

On the subject of waiting lists, one thing many people don’t realise is that the length of a waiting list is not necessarily related to demand, but rather is more closely related to the speed at which a particular maker works. Thus (and this statistic is quoted from a real situation] a five year waiting list may be the result of one maker producing five flutes a year against an order backlog of twenty five orders, where as a two year wait may be the result of another makers yearly production of twenty instruments, and an order backlog of forty.

[Steampacket]

"I wonder: Why 14 years? Does anybody know if this genius of the flute making has another job or something like that? There is some mistery around his figure. A documentary about his live is needed!" Smoro.

A documentary about Chris Wilkes the flutemaker would indeed be very interesting, but I think we have to respect his integrity, and just be grateful that there is someone making such quality instruments in the tradition of Rudall & Rose.

[JohnB]

He's probably got other things going - like playing his pipes. As a cabinet maker/furniture maker I'd say that I'd want frequent breaks from making the same things all the time.

There's the story of the chairmaker who quoted £500 to make one chair, £1100 for two chairs and £2400 for a set of four, when asked why they were'nt cheaper for a quantity he said that the first was interesting but after that they became more tedious to build.