Has anybody played whistles by this gent?
http://www.eriktheflutemaker.com/Pennywhistles.htm
He’s got a couple sound clips, but of course any whistle can sound good on a ten second clip with reverb backed up by several string instruments.
While we’re at it, is there a reason no one seems to be making whistles out of bamboo tubes? Just curious.
Tom
I asked Mr. Wanderer about them a while ago but he said the second octave is pretty weak. The bamboo tube is pretty cool, but he loses a little street cred with me on account of the Susato mouthpiece.
i agree the susato fipple takes something away but the blues whistle and a minor flute are quite fun
He could not answer some basic questions I had about his whistles, like was the d whistle above or below middle C on a piano.
Bamboo looks cool and smells nice when burned, but it’s not an easy material to make whistles with. It’s fibrous and it tends to split too easily. My experience, at least.
In fairness, I haven’t played one of Erik’s whistles in a few years.
But it’s basically a susato mouthpiece (unless he’s changed vendors) on a bamboo tube.
I do have a fully-bamboo whistle here that I got from an import store. I think it came from India. The tuning leaves a lot ot be desired.
I’ve had good experiences with his bamboo flutes (standard flute in F and a Poet’s Flute). So as far as tuning, I’d trust it. Don’t know about the fipple, though.
I bought a G Major flute from him. Perfectly tuned, and very nice for the small price. I can’t get too excited about a Susato head on a bamboo whistle barrel, though. I just don’t see the point, personally.
I have one of his flutes - mezzo G, and I like it quite a bit. I’m still working on improving my embochure, but the sound of the bamboo flute (and it’s tonality) are pretty good to my tin ears.
Mark
I had a bamboo D whistle of his, but it’s been about 5 years…
I remember it being a pretty loud whistle and having similar characteristics to a Susato (due to the mouthpiece), but with a mellower 2nd octave. It smelled nice. I remember liking it, but don’t know what I’d think of one now…I hadn’t played many higher end whistles at that point, just Susatos, Generations, etc…
-Brett
Actually, it’s THIS man who’s all to blame for my current WHOA!!!
I saw his flutes at a local fair a couple of years ago, and decided to buy one to try. I was already playing NAF then, so figured it would be a good next step.
I can’t seem to get a consisten embrouchre for the flute, so never got too decent at it. I WILL say that he had some great customer service tho…my flute cracked about two weeks after I’d bought it (we had a VERY rainy season for fair that year) and he promptly replaced it no questions asked when I emailed him about it.
But while I never got decent on his flutes, it got me started on whistles…and I’m sitting here right now waiting on my Viper Low D to arrive! 
Not sure how good his whistles are…but he does a good job tuning his flutes from the little I’ve seen.
Thanks!
T