Clarke Sweetone

[Corgicrazed]

I have been playing tin whistle for about a year, and own a Waltons Irish and a Clarke original.
I've been thinking about getting a Clarke Sweetone..... Does anyone own one? and if so would you recommend it? Please help!

[Tommy]

I've been thinking about getting a Clarke Sweetone..... Does anyone own one? and if so would you recommend it? Please help!

I have two Clarke Sweetone whistles. They are a D and a C and I enjoy playing them. Yes I would recommend you buying one, or two...........

[Akiba]

I have 1 original and 2 sweetones. Go for it. What've you got to lose? Actually, I'd recommend you get a Jerry Freeman tweaked Sweetone. Costs a little bit more, but you'll be sure to get an excellent whistle for the price. The whistles you buy that are mass produced vary in quality--most are OK, a few are bad, a few are excellent.

[Kypfer]

I have a Sweetone in "C" that's been re-drilled to play as a "D" with a low-C, an Original in "D" and a Meg in "D" ... they're all different ... and all very different to any of my parallel-bore whistles (Generation, Walton's, Feadog etc.). For the price I'd say you can't go wrong, as to personal choice ... I prefer the look of a Sweetone in "natural metal" rather than one of the painted instruments

[dspmusik]

well, to be the voice of the other side...
my Sweetone (Clarke Celtic actually, just painted green) is my least favorite whistle. It's very raspy/breathy in a bad way. I tried some blue tack in the cavity to help it, but it didn't seem to make a difference.
For what, $10-15 more you can get a Freeman Mellow Dog (my favorite high D!), blackbird, or something similar.
But, the fun of whistling is trying them all and seeing what you like.

[Corgicrazed]

Another question about the Clarke Sweetone..... Does it come with any accessories? I mean does it come with a case or fingering chart? I'd like to keep it in as good condition as possible...

[Aanvil]

well, to be the voice of the other side...
my Sweetone (Clarke Celtic actually, just painted green) is my least favorite whistle. It's very raspy/breathy in a bad way. I tried some blue tack in the cavity to help it, but it didn't seem to make a difference.
For what, $10-15 more you can get a Freeman Mellow Dog (my favorite high D!), blackbird, or something similar.
But, the fun of whistling is trying them all and seeing what you like.

I was just going to post pretty much this very thing about Jerry's other whistles. One of his hand picked tweaked Generations are quite good.

I have a few Sweetones. I find them fairly out of tune. Nasty. I should just toss them into the rubbish bin.

[Kypfer]

case or fingering chart

... no case, but there's a "standard" Clarke fingering chart showing the chromatic fingering over 2 1/2 octaves (D-d-d'-g' for the D whistle) with four simple tunes on the rear of the page. I don't think Clarke show a case anywhere on their web-site. To keep the whistle looking it's best, bear in mind that the coloured whistles are painted, therefore more likely to scratch than the plain-metal version ... alternatively, a painted whistle shouldn't tarnish, whereas a plain-metal Sweetone may show some slight darkening around the holes after a while.
FWIW I prefer my re-drilled Sweetone to the Waltons Mellow D I bought second-hand, the sound is very different. I've no experience with Jerry Freeman's tweaked whistles.

[ketida]

Years ago, I already owned several low-priced whistles and had heard of Sweetone's notoriety of being out of tune with itself. Knowing that, I still succumbed next time I was in a music store. I figured it was akin to buying a lottery ticket (which I never do, so right there was another excuse to indulge ). So I plunked down me money (less than $10 as I recall) and low and behold I picked a winner! It remained my favorite whistle, even though I had others that I'd paid more for...until I finally decided to go big bucks and get a Burke. I still play the Sweetone occasionally, and of course it's nowhere near the quality of my Burke, but I'm still amazed at how good it is and how lucky I was. Maybe I should play the lotto...

[cloydw]

I have a Jerry Freeman Tweaked Sweetone and a regular Sweetone. I have filled the cavity under the windway on the regular one and it helped it. . . got ride of some of the breathy sound. Really, I think they both play nice, though the tweaked one takes a lot less wind. I think they play very well, though I'm not real fond of the way they sound. Mine are in in tune, I just don't like the tone. However, they are well worth the price.

[maki]

Regular Clarke Sweetones are good enough for the money.
I've got three, two standard Ds and one tweaked by Freeman.
At first, I really enjoyed them.
After a few months of playing it seems I now prefer straight bores.
Still, you don't know what you like until you try something.
God bless inexpensive whistles.

[ketida]

Regular Clarke Sweetones are good enough for the money.
I've got three, two standard Ds and one tweaked by Freeman.
At first, I really enjoyed them.
After a few months of playing it seems I now prefer straight bores.
Still, you don't know what you like until you try something.
God bless inexpensive whistles.

O Yea, O Yea. Bowing down to the makers of inexpensive whistles.

[Coracleman]

I like them and I like them a lot. I like the look, the feel and the sound which I prefer to traditional clarke mostly. I have different colours for different keys which makes finding them in my whistle pot much easier. I've never found them breathy, and maybe I'm not musical enough, neither have I found them out of tune.

[Trout Mask]

I can't play them (or the Clarke Original either) that seam on the underside annoys me!!

[Kypfer]

that seam on the underside annoys me

... a little bead of beeswax smoothed onto the seam just where the thumb rests both "hides" the seam and gives a modicum of extra grip. If you don't like it, it'll polish right off ... neat stuff