I’m a beginner learning low whistle but also want to learn the normal whistle to help me with ornamentation etc. My requirements are that the whistle be no more than about £30 preferably less (I live in the UK btw), it have a nice mellow tone good for airs and that it be QUIET. I don’t really like the piercing high octave quality of high whistles so am also happy to buy a whistle in a lower key e.g. A or Bb that can still be played comfortably with normal fingering. I’d love to hear your recommendations.
Perhaps a Generation Bb, about 4 to 6 quid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz7TJZWVFdY (Ryan Duns on Bb Nickel Generation)
Maybe the Dixon SV is what you’re after. If not click on the links at the bottom of the SV entry for the Parks Every Whistle (but at £40 it’s just above your budget) and a couple of Claire and Generation ‘Shush’ whistles well within your budget.
Guido Gonzato make a very nice quite whistle that plays the second octave very sweetly. I put a split PVC ring on mine to imitate the Parks Tone Ring volume control.
Mack Hoover is still making whistles and whistle heads to order. I recently got a narrow bore high d brass that is just fantastic. Quite, sweet, and a joy to play in the upper range.
Also, if you got a Hoover White Head you could have a standard volume whistle, Feadog or such, and swap out heads when you want quite music.
Besides the above listed Dixon SV, Big Whistle also carries Mr. Shush Whistles
I don’t know much about them except that they look interesting. If you’r near the store maybe they would let you test drive some?
There are others…
I second the Generation Bb suggestion. I have one, mine is Freeman tweaked which is a still less than 30 pounds. I don’t know if that tweaking is necessary since I don’t have a non-tweaked to compare with. A non-tweaked is 6 pounds:
http://www.bigwhistle.co.uk/shop_results.asp?search=2&maker=*&highlow=1&key=15&tunable=2&cat=7
I love my Bb and play it all the time. I find it makes a huge difference when playing in the upper second octave.
The only disadvantage to the Bb is that you can’t play along with tunebook CDs because most whistle tunes are played on a D whistle. When I want to play along I play the D whistle, so it’s good to have a high D. Both would be in your budget.
I also have a guido high D and it’s great. Not as shrill as the generation so that’s another option.
I’ve got both (bought recently with just that comparison in mind) and there’s no question that the Freeman is ‘better’ although the stock Generation’s still quite playable (if not as good as my older one which now no longer has a complete tube after butchering it for something else). So perhaps my biggest surprise with the tweaked version is that Jerry’s shortened the tube at the bell end to sharpen the bell note, which I’d rate as a good move but also have to say could have been more tidily done and finished.
@Mike, while the Freeman whistles are good (I got the Mellow Dog as well), I’d also consider the Dixon Trad, which comes with the bonus of a more usable OXXOOO C natural.
Thanks guys for all the thoughts. I’d thought about the Freeman Generation Bb, not really trusting the reliability of untweaked Generations, but I wonder how loud it is. Maybe you can enlighten me on that. I wrote to Jerry Freeman regarding the Mellow Dog and here is what he said:
I would recommend a Mellow Dog D/C set or a key of C Blackbird. The Mellow Dog D may be louder than what you’re looking for, but the C tonebody with the same whistlehead (a Mellow Dog C and a C Blackbird are exactly the same whistle except for color) is quieter, and a really lovely whistle.
The Guido sounds potentially good, as does the Dixon SV and the Shush whistles but I think I would like a whistle to be quiet but also lower than a high D ideally to reduce the shrillness of that upper octave.
Does anyone have experience of the Dixon polymer tuneable Bb? I also wonder what shape the Dixon fipple is on these polymer whistles but I quite like the softness of his whistles.
Right now a Freeman Bb or C or perhaps a Dixon Bb sound possibilities.
That’s what pitch-change software is for. Transcribe, Amazing Slow-Downer, Audacity, or whatever you have handy. 
I use Transcribe all the time, for slowing tunes down and for changing pitch to Bb. Changing from D down to Bb is ok but if there is a guitar in the accompaniment it will take a guitar’s D down to a Bb and it starts to sound unnaturally low for a guitar. For piano it’s ok. Pushing it down from D to G is a bit too much.
To me the Generation Bb sounds more mellower than the Gen D. I really love that Bb sound.
I’m glad to hear the Tweaked version is better, I’ve always wondered about this but never could do a comparison.
I’ve read that Jerry doesn’t touch the tube, only the head. So I’m really surprised to hear the tube is shorted on yours. My tube is original. Perhaps this particular one was out of tune and so he cut the tube?? I haven’t heard of him doing that.
I make adjustments to several of the tubes of whistles I tweak. In some instances, I trim the top to allow sufficient tuning, in some instances I trim the bottom to correct a flat bell note. On the tweaked Bb, I do both. This is done consistently on all whistles of a given type.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Thanks for clarifying. I didn’t know you tweaked the tubes. The tube on my Bb shows no signs of alteration so I’d say you did an excellent job. 
What makes whistle so wonderful is that there are so many really good ones to choose from that are affordable.
Let us know what you get and how you like it?
Cheers.
Perhaps you just got a really neat one!
Ah, haven’t yet managed to shift the head on either my tweaked Bb or Mellow Dog (thought they’d be quite free having been off before, but apparently not)…
Must also stress (in case of any confusion) that the ‘butchering’ in my previous post refers to my work in raiding my old Bb red-top for bits and not to Jerry’s new blue-top (which just surprised me a little bit). Also that Jerry’s now told me the Generation nickel tubing is difficult to cut neatly, which might explain why I was able to get a smoother finish on my recycled brass tube sections.
Take the whistlehead firmly in one hand, the tube firmly in the other, twist and pull.
That should do it. Reassemble with a bit of cork grease or the like (Vaseline, ChapStick, etc.). I use cork grease when I first assemble them, but sometimes they’re a bit sticky until they’ve been moved a few times.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Well, having got the head off my Mellow Dog now to try the C tube, I’d have to concur with that. And you really ‘ought’ to have a high D somewhere because it’s the core pitch!
Might add that Jerry’s tweaked Bb seems subjectively a tad louder than the stock model, but maybe that’s as much to do with focus (nice, ‘tight’ tone where the other’s a bit woollier) as loudness? Also that, while I’d fancied giving nickel a shot with a house full of brass ‘trad-style’ whistles, I’m finding the nickel tubes surprisingly slippery to hold (no difference here between stock and Jerry’s, but not something I’ve seen documented before!) and would go back to brass if ordering more. And finally that, while I agree that the stock Bb suffers from a flat bell note, the three Freeman whistles here (Mellow Dog D/C + Generation Bb) suggest that Jerry’s voicing and tuning for unforced bell notes and you want to go easy on the bottom end (especially with that Mellow Dog/Blackbird C).
Try putting a strip of cellophane tape along the underside of the nickel plated tube, where your thumbs contact. That takes care of the slipperiness and doesn’t show at all.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Another option is
Despite the name, it seems to work.
Best wishes.
Steve
Thanks for all the input here. I haven’t made a decision yet. I’m never in a hurry to do that and finances are such that I can’t afford to make bad choices. But, right now, Jerry’s tweaks are attractive, maybe even the Bb. (Peter, I disagree about the need for a high D. One, I prefer lower tones, two, I’m very unlikely to be playing with anyone else and three, as a consequence, I’ve no desire to learn the notes of several keys; rather I’ll play every whistle as if it were a D whistle. Plus I have SlowDowner).
But I would really like to try a Dixon A or Bb (softer and lower tones) or one of Guido’s but I’m wondering how I would find the 45 degree fipples which, in theory at least, I’m not fond of. Your thoughts on them please.
I’m also wondered about stretching my budget a little to include a Park Everywhistle with its ability to play v.quietly and even to move the sweetspot between octaves. Mack Hoover’s quiet whistles are probably just beyond my reach.
I play my Guido High D & Alto G along with my other whistles and to be honest I never even notice the fipple is different. It has never been a problem for me. I just put the tip of it in my lips so it doesn’t really make a difference.
Since money is a concern, you could try to make your own whistle out of PVC pipe. I made a Low F, it didn’t turn out that great but it was fun making it. I think the higher keys would be easier to make. And then you can test out the fipple.
For the parks thing.. I put electrical tape on my Guido High D to make it quieter. I leave it on there and it’s my “quiet whistle”. I put the tape so that the sound was the quietest yet still playable. And it sounds good even with the tape. Others use the blue-tack (putty).