Painted vs. Clearcoated whistles?

[Daniel_Bingamon]

I've been considering offering the high brass whistles in various colors.
I was curious whether whistle players prefer a painted high whistle or clear coated.
If painted, what colors do you like?

[Mike J]

I like both. Sandy Jasper's painted Elfsong look fantastic. I've got a D and a D/C combo on order all of which are painted. She also offers an option of unpainted. I don't know of any other maker who paints their whistles, but, it would be nice to have a choice.

[Martin Milner]

I like both types. I don't have any high end whistles, but at the cheapie end of the market several makers offer colour coated whistles (e.g. Clarke Sweetone & feadog).

Coated whistles retain their looks longer than non-coated whistles. Generation brass whistles have a thin clear varnish coating, but it tends to scratch off easily, so it looks tatty quickly. I used to dislike the tatty look, but now I've warmed to it.

I believe the coating can change the sound of the whistle, at least if the walls are thin, but then no two cheap whistles sound exactly the same anyway.

[chas]

Why would I want a nice piece of wood painted?

[Daniel_Bingamon]

Wood? Oh, I'm referring to brass whistles.

[Ridseard]

I like plain, uncoated brass.

[lilymaid]

If you’re going to put a coating on a whistle, I think it might as well be pretty coloured. (I really like them plain, without a coating or anything, though. I love the way my Clarke has oxidized under my fingers. It looks cool.) I’ve been coveting the pretty Elfsong whistles for quite some time now. Most people’s favourite colours, it seems to me, are blue or green, and I think I’d prefer a blue or green one. (Though red whistles do have something gloriously loud and obnoxious about them I like very much. )

[rbm]

I've always found it difficult to get a hard enough paint finish on my copper whistles, even if they are baked on.

has anyone tried enamelling a whistle?

[Zubivka]

I've always found it difficult to get a hard enough paint finish on my copper whistles, even if they are baked on.

has anyone tried enamelling a whistle?

Hasn't the Serpent? (eventhough he's kinda back-ordered on the Fabergé cloisonné vermeil in F flat)

[Paul Reid]

My Howard Low D looks great in black - but I wouldn't want my Generations to look like that. I think if I had to get off the fence, though, I'd probably be more inclined to go with the unpainted (raw metal, baby!) look.

I think I could equate the feeling to seeing a nice motorcycle with shiny chrome pipes as compared to - uh.. not shiny or chrome

[TonyHiggins]

Pat O'Riordan's aluminum whistles are coated in a shiny black. I wouldn't have any idea what kind of metal was under the coating without being told. It looks nice.
Tony