Whistles with good intonation under 60 bucks

Flywhistler · Post by **Flywhistler** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 6:18 pm

Although I am familiar with most brands of whistles under sixty dollars, I haven't played all of them. I'm interested in trying to get a consensus from others who have played any of these whistles as to which ones they feel play well in tune. I know Susatos do; I have a number of those. I'm particularly interested in high D whistles.

Byll · Post by **Byll** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 6:28 pm

Hoover Brass Whitecap: $45

Best.
Byll

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 6:30 pm

Under $60.....

Metal

Syn Whistles

You can get a whole set of great playing, well crafted whistles for under $60.

PVC

Hoover

Have not looked at his price list recently, but he makes decent whistle too.

It would certainly help if you were a little more descriptive of what you meant by good intonation.

vomitbunny · Post by **vomitbunny** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 6:39 pm

Dixons are pretty good too.
I have a Serpent Sweet Polly that plays well in tune also.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 6:57 pm

I think you can get a Water Weasel for around that price, and they're terrific.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 6:57 pm

Dixons can be good, but they can also be inconsistent.

Feadóg bodies with Whitecap heads are really good as far as intonation is concerned.

My Walton's Cs are remarkably precise as well. They cost under $10 each.

DCrom · Post by **DCrom** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 7:08 pm

I'll second the recommendations for Syn (fairly pure), Serpent Sweet Polly (fairly breathy), and the Walton's C (slightly breathy).

I like my Dixons. They do have a reputation for occasional issues, but by repute Tony Dixon is very good about replacing problem whistles. And the ones I own are nice whistles.

Oaks and Feadogs have a reputation for good intonation, too.

Ridseard · Post by **Ridseard** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 7:31 pm

O'Briain Improved D.
An old battered tarnished Burke Wide Bore D.

jonharl · Post by **jonharl** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:03 pm

Nobody's mentioned a Freeman Tweaked Generation. I like mine alot, I highly recommend them.. That and a Clare are all I've got left after the sale. If you could spend $85 a Humphrey Narrow Bore or a John Sindt would be some of the best whistles you can buy in a High D. Good Luck.

Flywhistler · Post by **Flywhistler** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:33 pm

Steven:

By good intonation I'm referring to how in tune the notes of the whistle are relative to each other.

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:48 pm

DCrom wrote:I like my Dixons. They do have a reputation for occasional issues, but by repute Tony Dixon is very good about replacing problem whistles.

Hmm. Mine is so-o-o out of tune with itself. What does it cost to ship a whistle to the UK? Has anyone here ever actually sent one back to Tony from the States?

Most of my relatively inexpensive half-inch-diameter whistles (including the Jerry-tweaked Generation, self-tweaked Oak, Whitecap Oak, and Whitecap Feadog) are pretty well in tune with themselves, but none have a perfect C-natural with OXXOOO fingering. However, the same is true of my more expensive narrow-bores (Burke and Sindt). As a result, I half-hole C-nat whenever I can.

I'm beginning to think that this is just a characteristic of narrow-bore whistles. Are there any well-known exceptions?

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 11:10 pm

Darwin wrote:Hmm. Mine is so-o-o out of tune with itself. What does it cost to ship a whistle to the UK? Has anyone here ever actually sent one back to Tony from the States?

I had a Dixon whistle that was humdrum in the upper octave. It was harder to play, so I emailed Tony Dixon and told him, and he sent me another one across the Atlantic, and refused to take any money for the shipping. He is an impeccably nice human.

happyturkeyman · Post by **happyturkeyman** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 11:33 pm

Darwin wrote:
DCrom wrote:I like my Dixons. They do have a reputation for occasional issues, but by repute Tony Dixon is very good about replacing problem whistles.
Hmm. Mine is so-o-o out of tune with itself. What does it cost to ship a whistle to the UK? Has anyone here ever actually sent one back to Tony from the States?

Most of my relatively inexpensive half-inch-diameter whistles (including the Jerry-tweaked Generation, self-tweaked Oak, Whitecap Oak, and Whitecap Feadog) are pretty well in tune with themselves, but none have a perfect C-natural with OXXOOO fingering. However, the same is true of my more expensive narrow-bores (Burke and Sindt). As a result, I half-hole C-nat whenever I can.

I'm beginning to think that this is just a characteristic of narrow-bore whistles. Are there any well-known exceptions?

I remember someone smart (was it Jerry? Bingamon? Syn?) saying that thin-walled cyllindrical whistles are usually sharp on the c nat (or out of tune elsewhere). This seems to be what I have observed, too, with my thicker-walled O'Brien and Jubilee Practice whistle being better on the cnat than my Gen's or my jubilee low metal.

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 6:25 pm

I'm quite pleased with both my O'Brien and my Susato.

edited for idiot spelling and typing errors... sigh

eskin · Post by **eskin** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 6:32 pm

I'd suggest the O'Brien as well.