Medium Priced ($40-$70) Whistles: What are your favorites?

Brian Lee · Post by **Brian Lee** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 8:12 am

Anyone remember the old Perrys?

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 9:04 am

In this price range I choose the Alba Q1. For a little bit more I choose the Humphreys narrow bore D.

I love these two whistles I also like my Whitecap/Oak. There lots of good ones out there. The real problem is that in any price range there is no whistle that everyone will agree on. Each of us has a different sound we are looking for and that may change from day to day.

I want them all.
Ron

scheky · Post by **scheky** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 9:59 am

Now that Water Weasels are no longer available, I'd say that OBrien is the reigning king in that price point.

Solid whistles, good service, nice guy and he makes damn near every key (and sets).

I've been playing my Bb and E whistles that he made me quite a bit lately, so his whistles are very much at the front of my mind.

peteinmn · Post by **peteinmn** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 10:42 am

Byll wrote:Mack Hoover's CPVCs or Whitecaps are a treasure.
Best.
Byll

Simply can't add anything to that!

-

Franz · Post by **Franz** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 10:50 am

Dixon Aluminum with brass tuning slide.

tomcat · Post by **tomcat** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 11:58 am

HOOVER

PhilO · Post by **PhilO** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:42 pm

Brian Lee wrote:Anyone remember the old Perrys?

Brian, I have two Perri whistles, orange tubes with yellow head piece, made in Ireland, if that's what you're referring to. I got them because they bear my daughter's name; they're also pretty fair players.

This is an interesting question because the price range seems to fall both above and below the range of my favorite players. I have a lot of cheapies that I love - Walton Golden Tone Cs and some regular Ds, Clarke originals in D and C and untweaked, a particular regular Faedog, and a couple of Gen Bflats, come immediately to mind. At the same time I love higher end whistles, preferably Copeland, Abell, Burke, O'Riordan, and Sindt.

That middle price range IMO is not teeming with great choices for me considering the above. I do however have a Syn set in that range that are real good and a very good Dixon, PVC with the first bunch of those brass tuning slides that he did. Also there's the Parkhurst which I believe remains well within the range. Other than that, those that I love that are closest to the given range are Sindts and Burkes.

Were I someone looking to go up from the cheapies, I'd suggest bypassing the mid range and going straight, do not pass go, to the Sindt and Burke; whatever personal tastes dictate as to favorites, these are reasonably priced for top quality value and have withstood the test of time (in years) on this Board and in my playing heart.

Philo

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 3:38 pm

Hoover. Syn. O'Brien.

Hoover if you like sweet, pure whistles. Syn if you like a louder whistle that'll take aggressive play and don't mind some backpressure. O'Brien if you want a sweet but more complex sound and like some backpressure.

--James

dfernandez77 · Post by **dfernandez77** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 4:59 pm

chas wrote:Water Weasels. Alas.

Actually, I think they're the only whistles I've played in this price range.

I'd have voted for the Water Weasel if it was still available.

I have a non-tunable WW in D I could put on ebay. I have a couple tunable WWs and a couple Thin Weasels, so I should probably release the one I play the least to the community.

Every Shultz made whistle I have is extraordinary. "Alas" is appropriate.

chas · Post by **chas** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 7:13 pm

dfernandez77 wrote:
chas wrote:Water Weasels. Alas.

Actually, I think they're the only whistles I've played in this price range.
I'd have voted for the Water Weasel if it was still available.

I have a non-tunable WW in D I could put on ebay. I have a couple tunable WWs and a couple Thin Weasels, so I should probably release the one I play the least to the community.

Every Shultz made whistle I have is extraordinary. "Alas" is appropriate.

I'd concur except for the Eflat and C tubes of a C-D-Eb combo, and the low-F (all CPVC). I never got a WW B, which I've heard good things about. The WW Bflat and A are probably the shining stars of whistledom -- reasonably priced, remarkable examples of not-so-common keys, bulletproof, useful when the session gets out of hand. . .

alespa · Post by **alespa** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 8:07 pm

Water Weasel - for agressive tone
Hoover - sweet and pure
Dixon - mellow (pvc)

Tommy · Post by **Tommy** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 8:54 pm

Water Weasel

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 9:55 pm

chas wrote:Water Weasels. Alas.

.

I'm not 100% sure they're all gone. When I was out in Michigan back in June, Glenn's family still had a goodly bundle of them out in the shop. You might want to try thinweasel.com and try one of the contacts listed there. There were some wooden whistles and maybe a couple of wooden flutes too.

Unseen122 · Post by **Unseen122** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:06 pm

Black Diamond $75. mine is soemtimes my favorite Whistle other times it's the Sindt but it depends on how much back pressure I want at the time.

Oreo · Post by **Oreo** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 3:00 pm

I agree with nice things said about Mack Hoover's whistles, O'Brien's, and Syn Whistles. The Syn line is one of the best ways to stay in your price range and get lots of keys.

But for completeness, I would like to add Granite Falls Whistles. I just ordered one. Haven't played one yet. But check out the review by Phil Hardy at
http://kerrywhistles.com/movies/Garnite ... igh_Da.wmv.
Web site:
http://granitefallsmfg.com/

Phil