Chiff and Fipple Forums

Hello for my second post in one day and my third post in the past year, apparently.

I am out of touch with today's brands, and am interested in picking up an A and a Low G. I tend to prefer metal whistles, either all metal or (more often) with plastic heads. I prefer "pure" tones without a lot of air sound/chiff and would rather the whistle not be super heavy, though of course they'll be heavier than high whistles. I am in the US though may be able to easily order/ship within the UK too.

What brands should I be looking into?

I'm planning on getting a Killarney D at some point, probably, but they don't go farther down than Bb.

Thanks!

Burke. Milligan makes A whistles. Perhaps Anak.
There's a range of whistles with a little chiff/breathiness texture, it depends on how much of that texture you'll accept.

avanutria wrote: ↑Sat May 21, 2022 9:22 pm
I am interested in picking up an A and a Low G. I tend to prefer metal whistles, either all metal or (more often) with plastic heads. I prefer "pure" tones without a lot of air sound/chiff and would rather the whistle not be super heavy...

I'm a dedicated Generation fan for high whistles, older Generations with that pure tone and incredibly sweet high notes.

I wasn't happy with any mezzo A's I had tried, so I made one, by making a new body for a Generation Bb head out of the closest tubing I could find at the hobby shop, which was slightly larger in diameter, a good thing because it help fill out the low notes a bit. I play it now with a Jerry Freeman Generation Bb head, and the result is the best-playing A I've ever tried. My Frankenwhistle isn't much to look at, what with the soldered-together body, but I don't care.

The Sindt A that I used to own was very, very close. No other A whistles I tried even came close, regarding that classic playability I was after.

The great news is that Jerry Freeman is making mezzo A whistles like the one I have, though his are much more refined and professional than my DIY project.

He also makes mezzo G whistles. I have one and I really like it.

Both the mezzo A and mezzo G use the same great tweaked Generation Bb heads which give that sweet classic vintage Generation sound, with a bigger-bore body that he makes.

So if you're a classic pure-tone whistle lover you might try the Freemans.

Reyburn small bore aluminum G is definitely on the clearer side. Plays really well. A bit pricey tho.

As someone else recommended, Burkes. I have a Burke A and its really nice. People who like trad whistles usually say they sound 'boring' but I think they have this ring to them that's really nice. I did not like my Burke low F because the air use goes way up, because the windway gets wider and taller. I think the G may be closer to the A than the F. I've wanted a Burke Bb but the one time I saw one used I lost the bid because I thought I was winning and wasn't haha...