I only have one wooden whistle so far, but it has created the desire for another. :roll:
But there are so many good ones out there; Abell, Rose, Busman, Weasel, Grinter, (although I can't locate them on his web site) and a few I haven't mentioned.
Which is your favorite, and why? And just to make it easy, I'm mainly concerned with the regular high D whistle.
Thanks,
Rod
"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."
Tell us something.: Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Part of what I love about celtic/folk style music is the sound of a handful of handmade instruments that remind me of simpler times.
I suppose my opinion doesn't carry much weight, since I've only played two wood whistles: the Syn "Ron" wood, and the Ralph Sweet Pro Laminate. Between the two, I prefer the Syn, hands down. The RS looks cheap due to the laminate, even though I know there are benefits to it, but the Syn, especially with the new delrin top on the mouthpiece has a rich look to it, the shape of the mouthpiece is very ergonomic, and the sound I like better. It has more of what I can only refer to as a woody tone, whereas the Ralph Sweet could sound like a plastic whistle, no such misguided thought on the Syn whistle.
Tell us something.: I've been playing whistle for a very long time, but never seem to get any better than I was about 10 years ago. I'm okay with that. :)
I have three wooden high Ds: Busman, Thin Weasel and Abell. The Busman is my favourite. I have a wonderful Grinter low F that makes me wonder how good the D would be.
Of those I haven't tried, the ones I'd most like to try are David Boisvert, Rose and, of course, O'Riordan. Since you can't get on the list for an O'Riordan at the moment and I won't be paying the prices currently being charged for rarity value, I doubt whether I shall ever own an O'Riordan.
Hmmm..have Abell, Busman, Thin Weasel, Sweet blackwood, Sweet Pro laminate, Syn Delrin and "original" in high D. Have played a Rose and agree with Wombat over the O'Riordan. Also Grinter and Le Coant in other keys.
So...before I start selling whistles (getting to the stage where I know what I prefer..thank goodness!!)...for timber I like volume and a narrow body for a D. Finish is important as is its voice, but that's sooo individual.
alespa wrote: The RS looks cheap due to the laminate, even though I know there are benefits to it, :
Standing up for another whistlemaker.... I had a chance to see and play several Sweet laminate whistles, and didn't think they looked cheap at all. They are very well crafted. The word "laminate" conjures up images of plywood, and I supposet that that's what Dymondwood is. However, the layers are all very thin and laminated tightly with no gaps. It takes a terrific finish. One of these days fairly soon I plan on taking a road trip to visit the Sweet workshop and pick up one of these myself, except with the piccolo head which is VERY cool. A very good value for the price too.
Now, as to my own favorite... that's a hard choice! Olivewood, Tulipwood, Blackwood, Pau Rosa..
Lessee. I own (in alphabetical order) Abell, Bleazey, Boisvert/Greenwood, Busman, Grinter, Schultz/Thin Weasel, Swayne, Syn, and Wilson. I have owned Rose and Sweet, and had an O'Riordan C/D set on loan for awhile.
It would be impossible to pick a "best" among them. First, I will say, the Rose and O'Riordan are way too pure and sweet for me, and I like whistles that lean toward pure and sweet. The Sweet, and old-style, is too unbalanced, although when I gave it a few toots before I sold it, I thought I had judged it too harshly. Really not a bad whistle, especially for the price.
Abell (blackwood): very easy to play, quick response, sound is a tad on the breathy side, but bright other than that.
Bleazey (boxwood): All-wood, tapered bore, MUST be played hard. Loud in the upper octave, but the boxwood and all-wood design really make it so that it's not a screamer.
Boisvert (boxwood): The mellowest-sounding, some might say woodiest, whistle I own. I think, if all his whistles are of a similar design, he should make them all out of boxwood. This is a heavy-walled instrument, and the tuning is very sensitive to breath pressure.
Busman (bocote): Very easy whistle to play, although it has more backpressure than the Abell. Mellow sound, extremely well balanced across the octaves. Good for both airs and dance tunes. Very versatile. One of the prettiest whistles I've ever seen.
Grinter (cocobolo): all-wood design, narrow-bore. Sound is sweet and moderately chiffy, lightning-fast response. Well-balanced, doesn't scream in the upper octave. Another extremely beautiful whistle. (BTW, the low-F is a great instrument, but the low-G is even better.)
Schultz (cocobolo): Sound is sweet with a little chiff. Can be played gently, but really thrives on being played hard. Loud, but well-balanced. I have three other Thin Weasels (E, C, and Bflat), each of which I would say is the best whistle in the world in that key. I love the D, but I'm not gonna say it blows every other D out of the water.
Swayne (boxwood): All-wood, tapered bore. This is a pretty easy blower, has a mellow but sweet sound. Well-balanced across the octaves. It doesn't really lend itself to one style of playing over another.
Syn (brown lancewood): all-wood. This is rather like the old-style Sweets. To reach the upper part of the second octave, you really have to blow; very unbalanced.
Wilson (blackwood): This was one of the first whistles produced by this guy, who is a fife maker; his shop developed QC problems and stopped making them. It takes a little more air than most woodens, but is still really easy to play. The sound is full, and well-balanced, sound is a little dark and chiffy. Likes to be played hard, but can be pretty mellow, too.
I probably play the Grinter, Schultz, and Wilson the most. I take the Bleazey out when I want a challenge or when I really just want to play with reckless abandon. The Busman and Abell come out when I want to be more laid back, and every time I pick them up, I wonder why I don't play them more. Same with the Swayne, which I play even less often. I still haven't mastered the breath-sensitivity of the Boisvert (I will note that this similar to the O'Riordan I played).
The Schultz is far and away my sentimental favorite, while I would say that overall I enjoy playing the Wilson the most.
Oh, and BTW, the whistles aren't on Grinter's site. He's been planning on putting them up since, what was it, 1998? A D is 240 euro last I checked, which was probably early this year.
Charlie Whorfin Woods
"Our work puts heavy metal where it belongs -- as a music genre and not a pollutant in drinking water." -- Prof Ali Miserez.
I've only played one wooden whistle, so it's my favorite by default. That being said, I really love my Busman bird's-eye maple D. For looks, it's my favorite whistle, period. For sound, it's a toss-up between the maple and my Busman delrin D.
Cheers,
John
Giles: "We few, we happy few."
Spike: "We band of buggered."
Abell, Abell Abell! All three of the models I have:
the African Blackwood (G, A, Bb, C, D, Eb, F),
the pink ivorywood D/C hybrid,
as well as the boxwood D I just got from Jessie (Thanks again, Jessiefish!).
Complete ease of play - my abilities jumped markedly on the day of the arrival of my first Abells. Woody sounding, slighly breathy - just enough. Weighted just right; perfectly in tune.
The boxwood is simply unsurpassed in mellow woodiness - that was a definitively good move.
The pink ivorywood is very close to the African Blackwood in tone but pretty in a very different way.
I'm so happy with all of his whistles and waiting in line for more!
And, yes, about Ralph Sweet's work:
Very fine Pro whistles indeed. I have an African Blackwood with three keys (D#, Fn, and G#) with the interchangable fife headjoint. A very fine whistle. It does play slightly flat for me until it's warmed up (which I don't get - seems to counteract the laws of that portion of physics I grasp), but it's very loud and woody sounding. I can't comment on his laminate.
I've played Abell (briefly), Thin Weasel, Syn, and Busman.
Of those, it's hard to say if I preferred the Syn or Busman. I liked the tone and intonation of the Busman better. I liked many of the the playing characteristics (air requirements, 2nd octave air requirements, etc) better. I haven't kept any of them.
I'm expecting a Greenwood/Boisvert "any day now" (today is my 7th week of waiting) and based upon various reviews I've read, I'm hoping I like it better than the others I've tried.
And just to make it easy, I'm mainly concerned with the regular high D whistle.
