I’ve been playing for a number of years now, and find myself wanting a “really good’” whistle. I’ve got a banged-up Shaw that I love, and a couple Clarke’s that are a tad breathy for my tastes. Is it worth the $100+ bucks for a nice handmade whistle?
IMO… yes absolutely. I guess it depends on your desire and available funds. Most other types of instruments are far more costly to get the same bang for your buck.
I got comments all the time how nice the penny whistles I used to play sound (Clarke Celtic). Now my band members and others tell me the difference in my Dogwood Busman and Pro D Brass Burke, in relation to the Clarke, are just in completely different leagues.
Personally, I love the craftsmanship and solid feel of a “good” whistle.
If it does not involve a hardship, spend the money. I never regretted doing so.
The question I like to ask is, “what else are you going to spend the money on?” If the answer is necessities such as food and rent, then of course, the luxury of a nice instrument can wait for better days or to ask as a gift on a special occasion. Be thankful that a nice whistle costs a modest amount. For some other instruments, $1000+ is entry level for a serious student and “nice” is a corresponding multiple of that. If it is something that you have thought about a great deal, it is well worth the investment.
The other secure thought is that if you tire of your prize or find a nicer one, you can usually sell nice whistles for a large percentage of the purchase price.
- Bill
The above advice is the best you can get. I used a bit of cash I unexpectedly earned for a drawing and purchased my Burke Brass Pro Sessions. Everytime I pick it up I am thankful for that whistle. (Also , be glad you’re not in my position- my piano is on it’s way out and believe me, replacing that will be in a whole different league- if it’s ever even possible 
I suppose I am going to say the obvious [or expected] thing here, but it’s up to yourself really you may fancy a whistle that is different or expensive or whatever but, speaking for myself, I have yet to find the whistle that justifies for me a fifteen to twentyfive fold price increase by yielding an even remotely comparable increase in sound quality. I come back to the sound and ease of playing of the generation style whistle each time and prefer them way over any of the ‘high end’ ones I have played.
I think the other obivous point to make is that it isn’t necessary to spend $100+ for a good handmade instrument – there are plenty of great handmade instruments in the $50-$100 range. I have a wonderful bunch of homemade whistles, and the only one I ever spent more than $100 on was my O’Riordan low D (and that wasn’t that much more).
I agree-- if you can afford it, a nice whistle can be a real treat and will open your eyes to how nice a whistle can sound.
$100 is nothing for a top qualty instrument! Take it from me-- I’ve hit the point on guitars where only pre-war Martins really give me what I crave in tone-- unfortunately, as these guitars sort of start at $15,000 or so and go up from there, I doubt I ever will be able to afford one so I am destined to be perpetually dissatisfied! At least with whistles, I can satisfy my desires for tone without mortgaging the house!
Tres
I think if you work out what you are looking for in terms of sound, that
might tell you if you want to spend over 100 for a whistle.
For example if you want to be heard over a session then yeh maybe a
Copeland. More in tune? Maybe a Burke v small bore. Less breathy? you
probably know Generations are less breathy than Shaws and Clarkes. A
tweaked Generation might be what you want, not a Copeland. A more
pure Generation sound? Maybe a Sindt.
It all depends on where you feel your current whistles fall short of your
needs. Tell us what are the qualities that you are looking for?
Lesl
How does a piano go fatally bad?
Take care, Johnz
About 18,000 pounds of pressure from all those strings takes it’s toll over time.
When I started having problems with my 40yr old piano a few years ago, I had someone come in and re-do all the hammers which were very ''grooved" and worn from 40 yrs of regular(almost daily) playing. One year ago it really went bad and I started doing research. (there are piano message boards too, although not nearly as intresting as here)
Anyway, I found out that my piano is truly on it’s last legs and the only way to really fix it is to gut the thing and have all new “innards” put in. All that pressure on the wood does one in eventually. If I could afford that expense I would have the old 60yr old upright player re-done instead.
My spinet is not worth the espense. What I need is a new piano.- Here is whereI fantasize about a baby grand that would be perfect in my living room, but the reality is that I will be lucky if I can someday get an upright.
(the next best thing)
In the meantime, I tinker with my ailing one, and pray it holds out for a good while longer. The sound is becoming really horrible. It’s so important to me, I can’t imagine life without a piano- but when the cost will be somewhere in the neighborhood of a nice new car…sigh
After listening around to clips of nice whistles, and doing my homework, I’ll definitely be getting one, or a few, as soon as I have the disposable income to do so.
Cowtime,
You should feel grateful about the piano thing… in an off-hand way…
At least it sounds like you don’t have POAD (Piano obsessive acquisition disorder). If you did it could get pretty bad. Not just from a money perspective, but just think how much space a dozen or so Baby Grands would take up?
Rick
I’m with Peter L. on this one. I don’t think there’s a $100 whistle out there that’s worth 15X what a Generation is worth. Not that these makers don’t deserve what they’re charging, or that there aren’t some lovely whistles being made, but I’m more interested in the sound than anything else, and the sound of most high-enders is only a marginal improvement (if any) over the cheapies.
I’d recommend trying one of the pre-tweaked whistles in the $25 or $30 range. Jerry Freeman tweaks both Generation and Shaw whistles, and I’ve heard good things about his results. Cillian O’Briain sells an improved Feadog, which is quite nice, in that same price range. Or perhaps a complete head replacement, a la Mack Hoover, would do good things for your Gen or Waltons whistle for only about $20, I think. I have a Hoover Whitecap that, if it were a tiny bit louder, would be a perfect whistle.
You could also try a Dixon, but since I got my Whitecap, the Dixons sound a little thin to me. Then there’s Erle Bartlett’s Syn whistle, about $35, I think, which has some of the nice characteristics of the cheaper whistles. It’s ruggedly built, on the louder side, and has a nice rough edge to the sound.
Whatever you decide, you can always use this board to sell whatever whistles you’ve bought that don’t suit you. Best of luck!
As a whistlemaker who obviously has a stake in this, I will agree that you don’t NEED a fine handmade whistle. You can make perfectly wonderful music on an inexpensive Generation, Shaw, Feadog, etc. Many first rate traditional players actually prefer these and there is no denying that their sound is truly “authentic”. I have quite a few cheapies and enjoy playing them a lot. Sometimes, their sound and feel is exactly what I am looking for. I also don’t worry about ruining them playing them in less than optimum conditions, such as outdoors.
You buy handmade whistles for other reasons. Maybe you really love the look and feel of handmade things in general and prefer hand thrown pottery to commercial stuff, handmade furniture to store bought, etc. Maybe you are a craftsperson yourself and you like owning what other individuals have made. Maybe you love the look and feel of some whistle materials eg wood 
that are not available in commercial whistles. Maybe you prefer a different sound that you can’t find in a commercial whistle. Maybe you like owning something that was made by one craftsperson specifically for you, that is not exactly like any other whistle on the planet. For all of these and many more reasons, you may choose to buy a high end whistle. If you can afford it, you will be very happy with such a whistle (but I’ll bet you pull out that cheapie whistle once in a while too…)
This is it, exactly. It’s not a snob thing or a belief that music cannot be made with a mass-market whistle.
you put it perfect, Paul.
I almost forgot. About two weeks ago the tuning slide (the inner slide attached to the upper body) suddenly came off (!!!) of the Bocote D 
so I glued it, left it for two days, and it’s staying there tight. No problems with slide function itself / tuning / playability since.
I’ll agree with those that say that the high end whistles are not ten times “better” than a nice Clarke or Generation (substitute your favorite inexpensive brand here).
However, put the question into a bigger perspective, of what else that money might be spent on. Even at $100, that amount of money might purchase a night on the town, or perhaps some clothes, a couple of computer games, or a gadget (or 1/2 or 1/4 a gadget given the price of many of them). For any person that spends many hours every month playing an instrument that price is spread over the many hours.
Again, sound quality is only one factor. Look and feel are subjective, but may be worth the price of admission. There is also that intangible that others touched on. There is definitely a difference between something handmade by a craftsperson vs. something machine milled by the thousands, even if the specs are identical. The time, energy and dedication breathes a spirit into the instrument, that a machine can not do.
I do believe that a person can go overboard on buying whistles, that there is a point of diminishing returns. The money could go to more important or more vital goals (insert your favorite charity or long-range savings goal such as college/car/house/retirement here). I believe there is a snob factor. As is the case with many hobbies, more $$$ can give the purchaser an illusion of superiority, when by any objective measures there is little difference.
The bottom line is that few people on this board are going to be recording albums in a studio and playing whistles to make money. With that in mind, keep it fun, keep it light, or as I like to put it–“have a spring in your step and a song in your heart.”
- Bill
I have to come in on the side of Paul 
You can drive a Ford and it will get you wher your going just as well as a Rolls Royce, but hey. :roll:
Any know where yer can get a wee set O them plastic Hollen peeps 
as Im hearin they is just as good as them real expencive ones 