Whistle recomendations.

Brian Lee · Post by **Brian Lee** » Sat May 29, 2004 10:09 am

Yep. I don't know why so many folks rave about the Sweetone or the Meg. The only thing I have ever found nice about them was their price. But the tone is really awful to my ear - and has been every time I've heard one played or played it myself. It's true there is a lot of variance in inexpensive whistles but it's not impossible to find reall REALLY good ones every once in a while.

I think that Mack's whistles would be your first best bet for great clear tone (even moreso than Sindts I would say) and low cost. Now the Sindts on the other hand, seem to have a little bit more complexity to their tone. Maybe just a hint of 'grit' or something like it. They're not a breathy whistle at all, and I think the most common description I hear of them is: "They sound like a really good Generation!"

If you can't try before you buy, you may want to take the drive to a local session with more than one whistle player. It can be very eye opening and even if you have to travel several hours to get there it will likely be worth it to you in order to try several whistles and to talk with others who play face to face as well.

In whistles, flutes and especially pipes, there's just NO subsitute for seeing and hearing (and also hopefully playing) live and face to face with others to get the best picture of what you can really expect from a particular instrument.

I don't want to speak for anyone else on the board, but I do know that sometimes folks here will have an extra whistle (like a Hoover or Sindt) that they will mail to you on good faith to try and see if you like it. Usually, it works that you keep it for a few weeks, see what you like or don't about it, and then clean it up and mail it back to it's owner.

It doesn't happen every day, but it does happen a great deal more often than I thought it would. Maybe try a post asking if anyone has a whistle in question and would be willing to work something out with you.

Bri~

Dana · Post by **Dana** » Sat May 29, 2004 10:48 am

Hey, if you're considering paying the money for a Sindt, don't forget the Burke. It has a clear sound, medium volume, very consistent, perfectly in tune, very little chiff, and it's easy to play in the second octave. Plus, you can get one quickly. The Sind't waiting list is around a year, I believe.

Dana

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Sat May 29, 2004 10:51 am

Just to throw another one in the mix: Reyburn LB (less breathy). I just nabbed a C/D set, and it's excellent. The C and D bodies have different feels, but they're both excellent in their own way. I'm not impressed very easily by whistles anymore, but this is a solid instrument.

jonharl · Post by **jonharl** » Sat May 29, 2004 11:46 am

A Gary Humphries' Retrofit Head would be a good Sindt-like choice. They're around $50. I've got mine on an Oak tube. Very Pure, easy player and doesn't jump to the second octave so easily.

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Sat May 29, 2004 12:18 pm

jonharl wrote:A Gary Humphries' Retrofit Head would be a good Sindt-like choice. They're around $50. I've got mine on an Oak tube. Very Pure, easy player and doesn't jump to the second octave so easily.

Just looked at his websit and he has discontinued the retro heads

http://webpages.charter.net/raindog1970/

am curious about your experience with his whistles though, would also like to hear more about the reyburns

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Sat May 29, 2004 12:29 pm

dhigbee wrote:Hey, if you're considering paying the money for a Sindt, don't forget the Burke. It has a clear sound, medium volume, very consistent, perfectly in tune, very little chiff, and it's easy to play in the second octave.

Ditto. I have the DAN (aluminum narrow-bore in D), and it's great. You can bug Michael Burke with your sound requirements and get his feedback, too.

From what little I've heard, I suspect that the Silkstone aluminum D is very similar in sound. It's available from the Whistle Shop.

DCrom · Post by **DCrom** » Sat May 29, 2004 4:38 pm

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Syn whistles yet. With the requirements as given, it'd be hard to do better, especially in this price range.

Much as I like my Dixons my two favorite whistles in this price range for balance, tone, and ease of play are the Syn and the Serpent Brassy Polly.

Both are well balanced, easy to play, in-tune, and have decent volume (the Syn is the louder of the two, but either has more volume than any of the cheapies except maybe a Walton's Mellow D).

But if you want "pure", go with the Syn. I love my Brassy Polly (just got it a few days ago - I'll review it when I've had more time with it) but it has the characteristic Serpent husky/chiffy tone; the Syn is fairly pure, especially by comparison.

Best of all, they're both easily affordable. The Syn was $38 dollars the last time I checked (I know the Gaelic Crossings store carries them), while the Serpent Brassy Polly is $25.

A tunable Dixon is somewhere in the same range, but although by all accounts Tony Dixon will make it right if you have a problem, the off-the-shelf variability is a lot higher. Susatos are also in this price range, but seem to elicit strong feelings from many folks here on the board (loud, and a very pure tone many feel is too "recorderish").

But I don't think you could really go wrong with a Syn, a Serpent (if you like the huskier sound), or a Dixon (if you can try it before buying). And I don't think you will get anything that plays any better than a Syn or a Brassy Polly without spending a lot more money.

Brian Lee · Post by **Brian Lee** » Sat May 29, 2004 4:57 pm

I will say that Syn whistles have good customer service - but I found this out by getting a whistle that was less than spectacular. In their defense, I believe this was an early model and I'm told the workmanship has improved. It would have had to improve in a big way for me to have spent more than $5 on the whistle I had (I received second hand from a friend - probably for the same reasons I don't care for it.)

Anyway, I'd still stick with a Hoover first and foremost, and if you're willing to spend a little more the Sindt would be a great way to go. Impeccable quality and great tone.

syn whistles · Post by **syn whistles** » Mon May 31, 2004 2:48 pm

Hi Brian,
if you have a syn whistle that isn't worth $5, then something has gone seriously wrong, and I would really like to know what it is! The offer still stands, send it back! I'll replace/repair if you wish or refund original cost (extra postage too) if that suits you better.
Anyone in business will tell you that one negative comment will cancel out twenty positive ones and I really would like the chance to change your opinion on the quality of syn whistles, not just the customer service.
Cheers, syn.

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Mon May 31, 2004 10:10 pm

I've found the Syns to be very consistently good, and very easy to play. If i were teaching a beginner whistle class, i'd ask my students to buy aluminum Syns.

I'm not saying it's the best whistle in the world, but it's very good. For sure the best whistle in its price range. At least the new ones. The old prototype ones, who knows, they're prototypes after all.

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Mon May 31, 2004 10:24 pm

Brian mentions my favorite high D whistle hands down, the Oak. I've only owned two (over a decade apart), but both were dandies. The only tweak needed was the sticky tack tweak.

Great tone even in the higher octave, the perfect whistle sound, BUT they do require a bit of breath control for the low D and E.

For the price, I consider them the finest whistles on earth.

Eric

Bretton · Post by **Bretton** » Mon May 31, 2004 10:33 pm

jonharl wrote:A Gary Humphries' Retrofit Head would be a good Sindt-like choice. They're around $50. I've got mine on an Oak tube. Very Pure, easy player and doesn't jump to the second octave so easily.

Yes, Gary's heads are great too...I'd almost forgotten about them. I play one of his complete PVC whistles which is very nice. I haven't heard from him lately, but he was working on some new designs.

-Brett

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 6:09 am

glauber wrote:I've found the Syns to be very consistently good, and very easy to play.

I just received a message from someone else i trust, who also has had problems with a Syn. So at this point i'm not sure i'm willing to say they're consistently good; try to test before you buy. The thing to look for, IMHO, is balance between the 2 octaves. The second octave should require more air pressure than the first, but not hugely so. Make sure especially there isn't a "break" in air requirements somewhere in the second octave, with, for example, the high A and B requiring a lot more pressure than the high G. The air pressure requirements in a whistle should climb gradually and regularly, without big changes, or else it becomes hard to play consistently.

At least Mr Syn is willing to work with the whistle owners and fix problems. This is very good of him.

g

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 6:31 am

emmline wrote:but not in the $10 to $50 range, unless you stumble across someone very charitable.

Oops...missed that.

Monster · Post by **Monster** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 8:53 pm

Out of curiosity I went by a local shop and picked up a Clarke original. I read the charming story about Whistling Billy on the box side, then mashed down the windway a bit, and now it plays really quite nicely. I am afraid of tweaking the blade beyond repair, so haven't messed with that. The second octave still takes a bit more air than I'm used to, but it speaks nicely and is pretty much in tune with itself. Not bad!