Chiff and Fipple Forums

Looking into an Alto F whistle and wanted advice on the sound and value on the less expensive versions. I am looking at these. I was hoping for a Chris Wall but he has an 18 month waiting list due to all the restrictions in the US last year and part of this year. I would love an MK Pro but out of my price range at present. Thanks for any info.
Shearwater (alloy) non tuneable
Kerry Optima (tunable)(I think made of aluminum)
James Dominic (tunable made of PVC)

Inexpensive yet popular whistles, trying for the key of F:
- Goldfinch, key of F, 49 pounds, tunable, sound samples online
- Becker, key of G (they don't make F), $19.99 US, not tunable
- Alba Vibe, key of F, 135 pounds, tunable
- Shearwater, aluminum in F, tunable, 97 pounds
- Shearwater, PVC, key of G (no F available in PVC), tunable, 50 pounds
- Humphrey, aluminum, key of F, tunable, $180 US.

Save your money and get a Goldie tunable. (I haven’t played any low F’s by anyone else other than my Grinter so not knocking those makers by any means. Just my opinion.

I haven't tried any of these. but I've played a few others and done a lot of research on others. My standards are excessively high so take everything with a grain of salt haha.

I currently have an Alba vibe. I like it more than the Thunderbird (least fav), Reyburn, and Burke low F's I had. The Reybrn and burke used a ton of air, mroe than a low D. Thunderbird had a plethora of things I didn't like. The alba is excellent. Its a tad of a squeaker, but when played well is excellent. Doesn't take too much push, but good lows and and air efficiency, while being tunable, and having a solid tone.

Nightingale low f is very affordable and should be decent. But its a Low D head and tube size, so I don't expect it to play ideally. Will prob take more push and more push than most low F's.

Same issue with Susato low f, its a virtual low D. But will have amazing susato tuning and be affordable.

Goldfinch I haven't played but I've heard many good things about them, so for the price they seem good.

Humphrey is on the list of makers I'd love to try that is probobly better than the price tag, the wait list is just incredibly long.

Optima headpieces apparently break easily, is also a low D head on a smaller low F tube.

Shearwater seem fine but nothing about them has made me want one. Seems not air efficient and plain tone. If you like that then they seem excellent for the price.

If you wanted to wait and save to spend more I vote MK pro because my Mk low D is my best overall paying whistle I've got. Goldie is also prob amazing, I just haven't got to play one yet. Otherwise I vote Alba 100%, excellent whistle for much lower price than the other two I just mentioned. I just think the MK is like 1% nicer.

It depends on how picky you are. If you just want something to play, anything can be fine. If you want something amazing that does exactly what you want, its worth waiting until you can buy what you want. I enjoy my current whistles so much more than the ones I sold that I had things to complain about. Getting every whistle you want adds up but over time once you get them all you are set and only need more if you want to spend more.

Hope any of this helps, best of luck.

RoberTunes wrote: ↑Thu Dec 30, 2021 3:17 pm Inexpensive yet popular whistles, trying for the key of F:
- Goldfinch, key of F, 49 pounds, tunable, sound samples online
- Becker, key of G (they don't make F), $19.99 US, not tunable
- Alba Vibe, key of F, 135 pounds, tunable
- Shearwater, aluminum in F, tunable, 97 pounds
- Shearwater, PVC, key of G (no F available in PVC), tunable, 50 pounds
- Humphrey, aluminum, key of F, tunable, $180 US.

Thanks Robert. Yes, the Shearwater alloy units I have heard sound fairly nice. It is hard keeping the price down on my budget especially with the present gov. poor leadership in the U.S. printing money like it is going out of style. Costing more everyday especially when converting from the pound to the U.S. dollar. Checked out the Kerry Optima and I think it is running around 173 U.S. dollars including shipping to the U.S. I was hoping Shearwater would have the low F in pvc. Thanks again for your help.

The Shearwater is a good low 'F', not too loud, has a nice tone, & is an easy player.

I also have an MK, a very good low 'F', but maybe a little too expensive, (I bought mine pre used).

Unfortunately my advice isn't the advice you're looking for.

Because in 45 years of playing whistle I've come to the conclusion that with Mezzo and Low Whistles you get what you pay for.

I've played very few of the whistles suggested above simply because of that. I'm only interested in getting the best-playing Low Whistles, which come at a price.

After a decade-long Low D buying-and-trying binge I've settled on Colin Goldie whistles for the Mezzo and Low sizes.

My current Mezzo F, a Colin Goldie, is simply the best F I've ever played. For me, that Quest is over.

The caveat to all this being that with High whistles the less you pay the better they play, in general, and I've extended my Generation herd down to Mezzo A by creating my own A body for a Jerry Freeman Generation Bb head, which has produced the best A whistle I've ever played.

In a nutshell, I've been attacking the issue from the small end with Generations and from the big end with Goldies. Mezzo G is where the two ends meet. The jury is out, for me, concerning that juncture.

Though I'm in the process of ordering a Colin Goldie mezzo G I've recently purchased a Jerry Freeman Generation-based mezzo G, which plays quite nicely.

I've not tried a Freeman Generation F.

One more suggestion for you to consider. If you would really like to get a MK Pro Low F, try asking if someone has one they would sell you in a "want to buy" (WTB) post on the instrument exchange forum here at C&F. I bought one from a member last year for what you would pay for a new Alba.

My quest for whistles began in early 2020 due to the free time on my hands due to retirement and the pandemic. During that time I've purchased well over 30 whistles with about 90% of them being 2nd hand. I've been able to purchase Burke's and Mk's whistles for well under new whistle price.

Happy New Year!

In the world of instruments you're getting a top of the line instrument for pretty cheap. If it was a guitar, sax, set of pipes etcetera to get to the top of the line you gotta pay a small or large fortune. If you need something to fill the void get a Generation B flat whistle tweaked or not.

In the long run It’s cheaper to buy once cry once. Again not knocking the other makers I just don’t see how a low f gets better than a Goldie. Plays in the house great, mic’s great, you can push the notes, it makes all the passes in tunes, high B doesn’t blow your ear drum, you can choose light/medium/hard pressure, it’s light, very low maintenance and strong as a whistle can be.