I love my Burke!

Whistle
1

Hello Everyone –

Newbie to the board here, but I’ve been lurking around for a while. I must thank everyone for their help in making my choice to buy a Burke whistle.

A little background - I started whistling back in 9th grade in high school.. that was 10 years ago. (man.. now I’m beginning to feel old…) anyway, an older friend of mine was attending Notre Dame and introduced me to Irish music… so I bought a red-topped Generation D from Elderly Music and went to town.

Thoughout the years I accumilated lots of whistles.. nothing major, but I guess you can say that I definately caught WhOA… only I didn’t realize until now that I was afflicted with some sort of disease. :wink:

A few years ago I bought what was my best whistle to date – a Susato D which I loved. It was loud, crisp, realativley easy to play.. and I pretty much left most of my Generations, Clarke’s and Shaw’s in a drawer. Well, at the beginning of September this year, I lost my Susato. I’m unsure if I dropped it while I was at a show, or if it was lifted from me. Regardless, it was almost impossible to go back to a Generation – so I knew I needed a new good whistle.

After doing a little bit of searching I knew that I wanted to get a high-end whistle. Money was no object and I knew I wanted something hand made with care and attention. So I find this message board. It seemed that Michael Burke’s whistles were held in such high esteem.. my mind was made up.

Thursday I ordered a Burke Aluminum Pro Session D. It came in today. My lunch from work was totally used up by this whistle, and now I can’t sit still to make my work day go by any faster. Never before have I played such a sweet sounding whistle. The tuning is right-on and the notes flow like I’ve never played before. Even playing “sloppy” seems to produce a wonderful sound – even in the high register.

So, I just want to say that I think that Michael Burke is a genius. I can guarentee repeat business – maybe a low D is next.

So, thanks for listening. I’ll be around this board quite a bit, I like this site – the humor is right on, and it always gives me a chuckle.

Oh – any other Vermont whistlers?

Peace
Mickey

2

:smiling_imp: Damn that Michael Burke! Every time I see him, he manages to walk away with more of my money. I just looked in my gig bag and I see 6 of his whistles.

I thought WHoA was supposed to be a cheap disease..

Just wait until the bug for uilleann pipes hits… I think Mike just ordered a practice set of pipes, so he may be slow making whistles when he gets it.

It serves him right. I think maybe he stole something from the good folk…

3

like yourself mickey, after buying my first burke, i never looked back to any other make.
and mike’s improving all the time!!

glad you like her!

quote fancypiper:( :smiling_imp: damn that michael burke 's right :laughing: )

mike told me he ordered a practice set about 5 years ago in australia, but never heard of it any more. so he’ll probably go for an alain froment practice set (5 to 6 years wait!). so he’ll have plenty time on his hands for the next five years anyway :laughing:
contentment is wealth fancypiper :wink: at the moment i’v got three burke’s and one coming up. i’ll have enough whistles then (except for a rogge practice set :smiling_imp: )

4

I have a Burke AlPro D as well.

It’s just a wonderful whistle in every way, smooth as silk, tone like melted butter, easy and free and responsive…

Sam McReynolds, who is a whistler / bodhran thwacker who plays session with us, actually in a moment of whimsy named my Burke whistle “Excaliber.”

He plays it every time I lay it down, and occasionally waves it around making light-sabre sounds.

So there ya go. :slight_smile:

5

Welcome, Mickey! I have a Burke Brass Pro D and love it too. It’s beautiful to look at, has a gorgeous tone, tuning is right on, and it’s easy to hit the upstairs regions without being screechy. I haven’t yet been able to choose only one whistle and play many different ones, but it’s major fun.

6

What is the waiting time for Burke Brass Pro Session D’s now? I’ve been waiting 5 weeks for mine with a gig coming up in 10 days that I’d really like to have the new whistle for.

7

My Brass Session Pro Burke is the best whistle I ever played or heard.

I really have no intention to order any order whistle at all any more… except for one good Generation. It will keep me busy for a while, finding a Generation good enough out of the shop and excellent after tweaking. I guess it means I have to improve my tweakings skills as well :slight_smile:

8

daveboling, I would write to Mike and ask about it…he has those in stock pretty much all the time. Maybe he didn’t get your order. I have some extras if you need one in a hurry.

9

I love my Burke too! It’s dreamy and smooth like good chocolate- if chocolate had a sound. Heck, I think I just need chocolate. :slight_smile:

My Burke is very lovely , though, and I never miss the opportunity to say so. Positively wonderful.

And now I’m going to find some chocolate. And my Burke. But not at the same time. :slight_smile:

10

My favorite whistle is my Brass Pro Sessions. I play it more than any other. I had a wait of a little over a month for mine.

11

As usual, the minor demons of the postal routing had it arriving in my post box about the same time as I posted my query. The whistle arrived in good condition, although some of the laquer on the head has already started to peel this morning.

12

There’s laquer on it? :confused: :confused: :confused:

13

Mine doesn’t. It tarnishes freely and enthusiastically.

14

Glauber,

Can you give a little side to side comparison of your Burke Brass to your new Silkstone? I’d be very interested! :slight_smile:

15

I figured when mine started turning green it meant it was getting broken in.

16

Could you please describe in detail what’s happening to your whistle? I’m curious.

17

I’m with Ridseard. I own a number of Burkes, and as far as I know he does not, nor ever did - use a lacquer finish.
Best.
Byll

18

DaveBoling wrote:

What is the waiting time for Burke Brass Pro Session D’s now? I’ve been waiting 5 weeks for mine with a gig coming up in 10 days that I’d really like to have the new whistle for.

Trust me on this one: don’t play a gig with a whistle you don’t know very well. I will NEVER forget what I did to the high note on “Danny Boy” * with a Susato that I got in the mail that morning.

  • Hey. The gig paid quite well!
19

Hmm… Susato and Danny Boy… 2 wrongs don’t make a right! :stuck_out_tongue:

20

Has any one ordered a Burke recently? What’s the wait like now?