Chiff and Fipple Forums

Hi all
Has anybody tried one of these Amazon whistles? Would be interested in feedback.

NOPE.

If I had to guess, I'd say these probably suck. But given the price, there's little reason not to give them a try. Maybe they're secretly really good whistles and worth buying. But since they're not tunable, I'd still probably never play one.

Yes, you may well be right, I've actually put one in my basket until I've got sufficient to have it delivered free Personally I've never owned a tuneable whistle, never had the need as I never play in public. I can't imagine that any whistle will ever please me more than my Tony Dixon 005's (I've got three of them). I generally only play airs, but I've got an exceptional Generation that sounds perhaps better for faster stuff. But like probably every member on here, I'm always open to the possibility that there just might be one out there to prove the point that it's the whistle and not the player that makes the difference, but I don't really believe it.

Wanxiao, hmmm. Depending upon the characters used, this can mean "a joke", "to play a prank" or "a Grade School, with grades 1-6". Could have other meanings, but that exhausts my modest English-Chinese Dictionary. YMMV.

Bob

I bought the version with the plastic head a few months ago out of curiosity (it was listed under various brand names, but they all appeared to be the same whistle).

It was much better in tune than a recent model Feadog, but in all probability I happened to get a good Chinese one and a duff Irish one; with mass produced whistles it could just as easily have been the other way round. It's since been gifted to an eight year old who's having lessons, as it was also better tuned than the one he had.

With the all-alloy version, one of the UK reviewers commented that it's sprayed with sparkly silver paint and looks cheap because of it. They apparently cleaned this off to reveal the alloy underneath, and once they'd also sorted out the fact that it played flat in both octaves, it was [to paraphrase] okay for the money if you're prepared to go to that much trouble.

If it were me I'd spend an extra three quid on a tuneable Tony Dixon. They seem reliable and sound good, though as mine is noticeably less air-efficient than my Killarney, I don't play it as much.

Thanks Moof, that's brilliant information. I thought when I looked at it that it had an odd finish, and I now know why. I think I'll also clean it off if I get one. I'd be interested to know where you heard the UK comments from, was it another forum? I hear what you say about the Dixon, I have three of their 001's (not fives as I put above) and I just love the sound and the way they play, it suits the kind of stuff I play.

They're the most expensive whistle Walmart sells online! If that says anything.

I'd been considering ordering one just to see,but if it all over flat I guess not.

Wouldn't bother to take the paint off myself.Looked cheap? Really,anything look cheaper than a Clarke?

Wow, thanks for that! I can't believe how many whistles this Walmart place sells, unreal. You Americans are so lucky!

Quark wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 6:52 am I'd be interested to know where you heard the UK comments from, was it another forum?

No, it was the first review on Amazon's UK site. I searched for 'WANXIAO Whistle' to see it was the same manufacturer as mine, but the result was lots of football whistles. I tried 'WANXIAO D Whistle' instead, which brought up the right product. The feedback (from Mr M Garner) still shows at the top of the list.

By the way, my plastic topped whistle isn't branded as WANXIAO, but the manufacturer does also make your model. I suspect they churn out lots of the same two whistle types, but they brand them differently because they know a name can be innocuous in one language but sound like an insult in another.

Thanks for that Moof, I thought perhaps there was a UK site that I couldn't find. I did read the review you referenced, but will still buy it for curiosities sake.

Okay folks, received the beastie yesterday and it's going back today . The machining of the blade area was beyond bad, and a quick toot told me how much of an effect it was having. Maybe I just got a reject, but it made obvious that there's no quality control.
This story ends here.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/x59sq081 ... vry55&dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/vreibd9i ... g4qaa&dl=0

Oh, it's one of the weird M (or W) shaped ones.

I got a Clarke with a blade shaped a bit like that. I didn't like it much either, and I don't think it was very efficient.

I just got a pair of Sondery whistles on Amazon because I needed a C and for the price ($21.99 for the pair), why not get another D to add to my other 15 or so...
Anyway, they may be the same manufacturer (Wanxiao) because they are Chinese but I dumped the box too quickly so I don't know for sure.

I like them:
I'm used to cheap-but-decent whistles; Oak is one of my favorites. These compare favorably.
They are thicker-walled aluminum (unlike the Oak). Their tone quality is about halfway between an Oak and the aluminum Dixon (which is the only other aluminum whistle I have).
They are not tunable, but tuned pretty well to A440, at least at room temps. They have a spot-on C natural using LH 2 and 3 fingers.
My Dixon (which is the most expensive whistle I've got) water-clogs easily, making it hard to play the high B without shaking it out; these whistles do not have that problem after playing for a half-hour.
They are fairly responsive; I'm having no problem with my ornamentation.
They are a little rough when slurring from a lower octave to the second octave G (never had that happen before) but I could deal with it easily after messing with it for a while.
So I'm happy with them.

This is very handy info, thanks joemc!