That’s one of the reasons I LOVE the internet.
Everyone is uncensored.
Read widely, and make your own conclusion.
Any chance of a video clip. I am not from Missouri. But I sure would like someone to show me a whistling hula hooper.
Haha, maybe if I learn a song well enough to hoop and play! I can only waist hoop while whistling though. I could try chest hooping maybe, of I do it in a backward angle stance, but overall it’ll be a pretty boring hoop dance. 
It will be fun to try though. I have changed my sweater while waist hooping before, granted I started with the extra sweater in hand. Had I needed to grab it from outside the hoop it might not have gone so flawlessly.
If I had one of those tabor pipes I could do some one handed hoop tricks while playing a song…
Well anyways, that’s an adventure for another time. I’m still learning to play the whistle properly! 
Back in the mid-'90s I picked out a Susato D during a visit to the Kelischek Workshop when I happened to be in the area to play for a nearby dance. For a lot of years I didn’t like that Susato–the finger holes felt odd & uncomfortable and the tone sounded rather harsh, at least compared to my “gig & session” whistles, which at the time consisted of a brass & a sterling Copeland D and several Generations. On one particular night while playing for a dance in a horrendously noisy hall with a miserable sound system in which I couldn’t hear myself or the fiddle playing, I happened to notice the Susato in my bag so I gave it a try and it played & sounded like I’d never heard it sound before. Now it’s one of my main whistles for gigs and sessions. The intonation of that Susato is the best of any whistle I’ve owned, the tone is clean and pure, and it’s particularly my go-to whistle when I need the volume. I also have Susatos in the keys of C, Bb, low-G, and low-D. I really like tone of the C & Bb. The low-D is friendly to play & sounds nice, but a little quiet. I don’t like my Susato low-G, it’s uncomfortable to hold & play and I don’t care for it’s tone. However, none of my Susatos sound even remotely like a recorder, and I can’t say they sound “plastic.” For my go-to D whistles, the Susato D is in there next to the two old Copelands, the Hoover whitecap, a couple of wax-tweaked Generations, and sometimes a Sindt.
Well my package arrived in the Anchorage sort facility yesterday around four pm so I’m really hoping it will arrive today someday, but if not tomorrow will be the day.
I will be sure to tell you guys my perspective! As a beginner I’m going into this knowing that, in my hands, it might not be played to it’s full potential. Though that could be said about all the whistles I own.
I am also going to be trying the Oak and Walton’s Little Black for the first time.
I am planning to put in some earplugs with the Susato. I’ve noticed, lately, I have more ringing than usual. I’m too young for hearing loss. 
Anyways, I’ll let you guys know how it goes.
I started a year ago with a Clarke D after many years on recorders. With the encouragement of my group where I’m the only wind instrument, I upgraded to a Susato Kildare. I was amazed at the improved volume, got pretty adept at the C to D scale step, was hitting the high B regularly, when I learned that I was always playing flat to the group (three fiddles, two guitars, one cello). Unfortunately, my Susato will not go any shorter. I got an Oak D and find it has an easier high end and it more in tune, but I have been frustrated that I can’t find the right amount of upper-index-finger leakage to play the middle range from C up to G.
Should I play the Susato harder to bring it up? Can I carefully file down the top of the lower piece to make it slightly shorter? Is there a trick to playing an Oak? Or should I give up and get a SweeTone?
Should I play the Susato harder to bring it up? Can I carefully file down the top of the lower piece to make it slightly shorter?
Try warming the whistle up to make it sharper and easier to play. Wrap your hands around the whistle, covering the window & holes and blow warm air through it for a short while.
To my way of thinking, there’s really no such thing as a beginner’s whistle–or a professional’s whistle… just cheap ones, inexpensive ones & expensive ones. Some sound good, some don’t. A few are harder to control than others. Judging by a lot of comments and my own experinces, some Susatos can be a little more challenging. But hang on to it–you might discover someday that it’s a fine whistle.
The whistles that are my real favorites–the ones I truly enjoy playing the most–are the relatively quieter, sweeter, inexpensive ones I mostly use for playing at home --tweaked whistles, particularly Generations, and a Mack Hoover whitecap. Those are also my easiest players with the prettiest tone.
Hi, and welcome.
Yes, maybe; your problem may be volume, not pitch. The Susato is a fairly loud whistle, and it wants to be played loudly. If you’re underblowing it to keep the volume down, then the whistle will play flat, and you’ll have other intonation problems, too.
Push the head in all the way, then try playing as loudly as you can without the notes “breaking”, and check the pitch. You should be able to play at A440 or above. My Susato D is 20-30 cents sharp all the way in. If not, then perhaps the voicing or whistle needs to be looked at by Kelischek for repair or replacement. I wouldn’t mess with it yourself.
Good luck!
I’ve learned a few things about myself and one of them is that I like to challenge myself.
If it’s in tune and the problem is me I will push myself until I get it right. Not to torture myself of course, but I love getting to know an instrument. It’s like my crappy little car, at first it was tough getting used to it’s quirks but now that I’ve gotten used to it we’re like old friends.
Anyways, if I don’t like it after fooling around with it then I will definitely come back to it later.
I do like my Bluebird. I suppose I’ve got a ferocious case of WHOA.
I do like my Bluebird.
I have all the instruments I need and don’t give much thought to getting new ones, but I’ll have to admit, that Bluebird has piqued my interest.
Being up in Alaska as you are, have you thought about testing your Susato’s potential as a grizzley repellant?
Grizzlies’ll eat you.
But perhaps a Susato could scare them off, or else shock them long enough for you to run. Of course they recommend you curl up in the fetal position because if you run they’re bound to kill you.
We take grizzly bears very seriously here. 
Sounds like they take you seriously too…
…with ketchup.
Well a couple of years ago a lot of bikers, runners and joggers were getting attacked by bears for no real reason so there was a lot ‘what to do if you encounter a bear’ type of articles.
Grizzlies are just mean but black bears are scared of you. Moose will attack too but only if you provoke them.
All of them seem to like our trash. In fact the other day a bunch of crows broke into our trash bags and scattered it everywhere!
My wife spent the last 18 years of her life babysitting two brothers and then babysitting their two cousins who are also boys. She used to ask them, “Do you know how to survive a bear attack?” “Run faster than your brother.” Not a one of those boys has figured out yet what she has been saying and she keeps asking them that question every so often.
Play a Susato s-series high Eb at it. I made a little insignia with gold foil for my Eb body reading, “Beast Mode”. It’s an incredibly responsive instrument but sooooooo loud.
IMHO no whistle is really that loud. So perhaps some ‘carry’ well through their high pitch and some (not as many as I’m constantly reading here!) might get piercing high up at close quarters, but I’m afraid outright ‘loudness’ just isn’t a concept I’d associate with any musical (as opposed to signalling-type) whistle…
OOOOH.
My package is here!
But it’s at home and I’m at work so I’ll be messing around with my new whistles in about two hours.
I have the next two days off so they arrived just in time. I also have a new tutorial book to play around with.
I’ll let you guys know how it goes later.