I was wondering what the favorite whistles are in this price range. I’m thinking of key of d and for a large session.
EDIT: Deleted due to the whining of other members.
I’ve ordered a full set of Erle’s other whistles, Syn. It cost me just over $100 US. I haven’t played them yet, but I’ve heard nice things about them. I can let you know how they are in a few days once they arrive.
I’ve played Dixon, I still have Susato, Impempe and a Sindt, all beneath $100,-. If you like a real traditional sound, the Sindt is an upperclass whistle. I love it. I also love the Impempe and Susato as well, a bit more flutelike and much volume. But when my finances let me, I’m gonna buy me an Overton (already got an Overton low D). I haven’t heard a more beautiful sound (listen to Flook)
Protean
I like your post arnie, good personal experience.
For what it’s worth, I have a Syn set and the only one I consider good is the B. The higher keys, the tube is really too big, and the lower keys too small. I’ll add that my favourite whistle is a feadog I was given to replace my previous favourite feadog that I lost.
Next would be a tie between a nickle generation and a Blackbird.
I’ve played several Sindts, Burkes, Wooden Weasels and O’Riordans, amongst other assorted high end whistles. I’ve played a couple Humphreys. The only two I’d consider buying would be Sindts or Humphreys. I could talk on and on about why, but at the end of the day it’s a personal decision, based on what you want to get out of a whistle. If you’re not at playing level to really be able to tell the difference then you’re better of sticking with a cheap whistle, in my opinion. You’ll more quickly learn how to play any whistle into tune and with nice tone, I think.
If you must…
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/the-best-whistle-under-100-thread/58454/8
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/the-best-whistle-under-100-thread/58454/10
http://forums.chiffandfipple.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=62030&p=822185&hilit=syn#p822185
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/questions-about-whistles-great-news/56573/4
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/questions-about-whistles-great-news/56573/5
Shall I go on? Shall I bring in other sites, aside from C&F? Do you want them in MLA format? 
In all seriousness, when I heard about Syn whistles, I did some checking up and saw a lot more positive being said about them than negative. They’re a nice, medium price-range, and, specifically for my needs, Erle has a Db whistle in the bunch, which I need soon. They are, hands down, the most expensive whistles I’ve purchased, and they fit the $75-$100 range requested by the OP. I’ve got a C/D set of Walkabouts coming in from Carey Parks, too, which I’m excited about. They would be a bit below the $75-$100 price range, I suppose, but perhaps close enough to qualify. I have absolutely no personal experience with either the Syn whistles or the Parks whistles yet, though.
I have a Parks Everywhistle in D that was given to me by a board member here (thanks again!!!) and I really like it. I got a bit of money for Christmas so I sent the whistle to Carey and he fit C and Eb bodies to it and they work beautifully. I have a few other whistles, that are under your price range but the Parks is by far my favorite. they’re especially great if you want to be able to play them quietly. If I open up the tone ring all the way in my dorm room though, they’re almost too loud for me to be able to play comfortably. Anywho, that’s my $0.02
Jonathan
That’s good to hear about the Parks whistles. I specifically ordered mine for the tone ring so that I can practice while people are sleeping at home. I know, I can accomplish the same thing with poster putty and/or tape, but that’s far less precise and, frankly, I find it annoying (the tape always gets wet and starts to fall off…). Plus the Walkabout breaks down into 3 pieces so I can slip it in my pocket and have a whistle with me wherever I go. That, too, excites me. It’s awkward walking around with a single-piece D whistle sticking out your pocket… 
I tried the poster putty trick, the tape trick, and the paper clip trick. None worked well for me partly because it was hard to get consistent results. The tone ring takes out the guess work. I know how loud that whistle is going to be every time. I think you’ll like it. The portability of the walkabout seems pretty cool too. Maybe I’ll get one eventually.
EDIT: Nevermind. I was in a cranky mood.
Having seen this same discussion go 'round a number of times, I’ll add my observations:
Several of the best whistlers on the board take the position that a simple, inexpensive whistle is as good in every way as the more expensive designer models. They’re right, and they grow impatient with the newbies who search for the perfect whistle when they haven’t yet absorbed the music, or learned how to really play a whistle in any skilled way. That’s understandable.
Newer whistlers, in their zeal, love the new world they’ve found, and want to know everything about different whistles that are available. That’s the basis for WHOA disorder. That’s understandable too, since whistles vary a lot, and have different things to offer. New hobbies are exciting, and learning is the basis for the fun.
So, having passed through WHOA myself, I’ll say that the highest-priced whistles I’ve played don’t make me sound any better than my Generation or Oak. I happen to favor a Burke and an O’Brien, and that’s what I play. But they don’t allow me to play any better. They look good, they feel good in my hands. They have a different sound, and different quirks. I just like 'em. But OK, I guess they’re an indulgence.
If I were looking for a very nice whistle today in the under-$100 range, I’d buy a Freeman Mellow-Dog C/D set. If I could only afford an off-the-shelf Gen, I’d be fine with that too.
In my 25 years of playing the whistle, I’ve found that the higher end whistles don’t offer anything over the feadogs and oaks if you’re willing to search for a good one. Maybe quality control, but it’s all personal. In fact, the best whistle I play, and which I’ve received comments from Mary Bergin on, is a whistle I made years out of bronze while I was at art school. I took a toy plastic whistle from my brother and cast it in bronze, rather simple really. In fact I made a bunch of them…They’re for sale too! 200 bucks each.
Q. Why does a simple “favorite whistles in the $75-$100 range” always bring out the “you can sound just as good on a Generation (Oak, Feadog, etc) with more practice” crowd? 
A. Because it’s C & F … and business as usual. 
With the fair warning that I play only for my own enjoyment (& family) – in the $75-$100 range, I would pick a Mack Hoover whistle (He can tailor them to be soft or loud, as requested) or Tommy Dion, who also has some PVC whistles that might fall in this range. Both excellent makers, IMO. (I have at least 5 by Mack and 3 by Tommy.) Another favorite in the range but no longer made is the GFM. It’s a strong whistle, well in tune.
An Alba tunable is just a few dollars over the $100 mark depending on the exchange rate for the day. Nice whistle, too.
… my 2 cents …
The choice really is a personal one. What sound is your favorite?
The choice really is a personal one. What sound is your favorite?
Probably more on the flutey side.
A: Because it’s true.
Anyway your “joke” is asinine. The two people who replied in that vein (myself and crooked) made a pretty good point of discussing the whistles we’ve played and would prefer in that range.
But the point I was trying to make is that posting here asking for someone’s favourite doesn’t tell you anything. If you’re a good enough whistler to tell the difference then you’re good enough to know what you want. And that isn’t necessarily going to be what someone on an internet forum says.
On top of that, I was trying to make a point about the first two posts, the type of which is also a common occurrence: people with no experience with a whistle touting it as a good choice. I do thank Protean for backing up his post, because it is eminently more useful than his initial post.
Get off your high horse. I don’t see how anything I did was wrong. I’ve given the OP another brand to research. I would figure that anyone looking for a whistle would start researching and finding old reviews of a few select brands anyway, so the way I see it I’ve given the guy another name in that price range to look at. Just because you personally had a bad experience with a Syn set doesn’t mean there’s not a lot of people here that have spoken highly of Erle’s whistles.
Ah, but there’s the rub… I’m not on any high horse. And I didn’t say I had a bad experience with Syns. You should really read my post more carefully. I actually really like my B.
And just because you say there’s lots of people that have spoken highly of them doesn’t make it so.
Your post wasn’t “wrong”. It was unhelpful. Hearsay, second or probably third hand information. How many posts did you read where someone did the same thing you did before you came to the conclusion that Syns were good whistles? Forgive me for pointing it out to you… you might have clicked on the link to find that I was being pretty tongue-in-cheek about it.
There’s the old story about the man who went around telling everybody that hell was serving ice cream. He was lying through his teeth of course, but after a while when lots of people had gone, he went to, because, you know… he’d heard that lots of people had said that hell was serving ice cream.
Well, if my original post is unhelpful, undoubtedly this banter back and forth is equally unhelpful, so this will be my last thing to say. I didn’t get a “tongue-in-cheek” vibe from your post, it seemed like more of a “jerk” response. If that’s not how you meant it, then my apologies for misinterpreting.
As for reading posts more carefully, no you didn’t use the exact words bad experience, but you did say “I have a Syn set and the only one I consider good is the B,” which would indicate at least a less than favorable overall experience.
But the point I was trying to make is that posting here asking for someone’s favourite doesn’t tell you anything. If you’re a good enough whistler to tell the difference then you’re good enough to know what you want. And that isn’t necessarily going to be what someone on an internet forum says.
Sure, I’ll just go over to the local whistle store! Or maybe all my relatives who play whistle and are constantly having me try new whistles can bestow me with all the ones between $75-$100. This is why we have this forum, if you are good enough to know what you want then you don’t need to participate. Let us guys who are not good enough to “know what we want” give each other recommendations, and you can just play the ones you know you are “good enough” to play. Now I’ll ask: All of you who don’t know what you are doing, are not good enough, hear what others say, I would be glad to hear your recommendations in the price range I mentioned. By the way, I can kick some arse on a Feadog, I want something more expensive!
I’ve given the OP another brand to research
You did give me another brand to research and I thank you.