The intermediatelypricedwhistles thread

[tomgoos]

Howdy folks,

In this thread I would like to ask you for some advice on which whistle I should buy next. I'm pretty new to whistling an up to now I own three inexpensive whistles. A clarke, a genereration and a clare. Those are all high D's. I preferred the most.

I would like to buy a new whistle that is a bit more expensive but not too much. There seems to be a quite large gap between the inxpensives en the expensives. As far as I know, there is mostly tony dixon's whistles and the susato whistles in between and I've read good stories about both.

In another thread someone (Guido) said that

You may think of Dixons as the opposite of Susatos.

He also said that dixons are on the quiet side and is easy to switch the octaves. This would make the susato on the loud side and harder to switch octaves. Am I right? And what about the sound characteristics?

Could anyone give me some advice on which whistle (brand/type) to buy next? It should be tunable (either originally or by tweak) because I would eventually like to play it in my band. I know that the choice will be highly personal but I would love to have some input anyway.

[Guidus]

I'm convinced that most people would be satisfied with The Set:

- a Dixon Trad: bright and traditional sound, easy to blow and to switch octaves, average volume

- a Susato Kildare: great volume and backpressure, somewhat peculiar tone; good for playing outdoors

- a Clarke Sweetone: slightly breathy, quiet to average volume.

I mostly play a whistle I made myself, sometimes I play the Dixon, sometimes the Susato. I've never tried anything more expensive than the Susato.

[AlonE]

susato is best whistle of production in mass and to medium price. I have one and is fantastic very noisy, special for bands.

[cavefish]

i just got a sweetheart pro --nice woody sound

[Mitch]

For me, the intermediate step was a choice between Susato, Jerry Freeman, Dixon and SYN. At the time, since Erle Bartlett is so close to me, I chose the SYN and still use it a lot - since then, Tony Dixon has re-worked his whistles and they are much stronger now, Susato has always been a strong whistle and has found its place in many top level performances, Jerry is close to re-inventing the benchmark for mass-produced whistles.

Nothing stays the same! But these makers will always be champions for getting great whistles into the world for a price that can be aforded! There are other makers doing the same, but since I havn't tried their whistles I cannot offer an opinion - in my book, all these makers are producing great value and provide a way to get the next step for whistlers without being exploitive or wrecking the affordable tradition of pennywhistles. Not an easy achievement. You will probably find a place for all of these in your whistle-roll and then some - after the cheapies you start looking for different players for different situations.

Before anyone says anything - I know that top players can get their Generation or Clarke to fit any situation, but for the rest of us - it's nice to have something to keep us going at the level we're at.

[Adrian]

Susato any day! Super whistles. You can make it quieter without losing the rich sound by putting a small ball of poster putty on the side of the blade.

Some say they sound like recorders but we have loads of recorders in our house and none sound like the Susato whistle.

[Paul Reid]

Okay, isn't this amazing?

Original post from Netherlands

Follow up from Italy, Chile, Australia and Greece. (and now Canada)

Blows my mind - thanks C&F!

[Tommy]

Okay, isn't this amazing?

Original post from Netherlands

Follow up from Italy, Chile, Australia and Greece. (and now Canada)

Blows my mind - thanks C&F!

And Texas, land of the best chili.

[fearfaoin]

I would suggest that you look at Mack Hoover's whistles
http://www.mackhooverwhistles.com/frame.htm

He sells entire whistles in the US$60-US$80 range, or you can
save money by buying a Whitecap or Blacktop, which is just the
mouthpiece, which you can put on your generation or claire whistle
body.

[peeplj]

I second the suggestion on Mack Hoover: great whistles, made by one of the last true gentlemen.

Also, you should check out O'Brien whistles.

I have two of these and they are both excellent; the only whistle I have that I conisder better than his narrow bore brass is my Overton.

--James

[fearfaoin]

Also, you should check out O'Brien whistles.

I have two of these and they are both excellent; the only whistle I have that I conisder better than his narrow bore brass is my Overton.

Agreed. I keep forgetting what a bargain O'Brien whistles are,
since his prices are in Canadian. I get lots of complements on
my narrow bore brass whistle with Bocote mouthpiece. They
can be found hereupon:

http://www.obrienwhistles.com

[Brian Lee]

Mack Hoover.

[Tim2723]

I found that adding a wooden whistle by Sweetheart Flutes added a new tone color to my collection. They are nicely made, moderately priced (I guess), and the different sound is nice to have available for many tunes. It's yet another color on the pallet.

[scheky]

I'll always recommend Obrien's whistles. Great sound, great price.

I still need to get my hand on his Narrow Bore, but since I start a new job on Monday that pays quite a bit more, I think he will be hearing from me.

[Basch]

The susato is pretty good. It's really lound and indeed can be a bit harder to switch actaves. I'm getting my Dixon this week so I'll be able to compare.

Misschien geinteresseerd in een Clarke C. Ik vind clarke's toch niet zo vreselijk leuk klinken. Te "breathy" verder goede fluiten maar niet mijn stijl.