Of cheapies and high-end whistles

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 9:38 am

Mitch wrote:It's my goat - honest ...

to your goat....

charlie_butterworth · Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:21 am

I am sure that any kind of whistle in the right hands will sound great. As a beginner and a very mediocre classical guitar player, I am thoroughly aware that a "bad workman blames his tools." And I have certainly blamed mine in the past.

So, I have a pretty good Rodriguez guitar. I'll never be too good for it, so I cannot blame it for my failings.

I have just purchased a used Burke D Al Narrow. It may never happen that I can blame my whistle for my failings. However, even as a beginner, I had a quick play of it last night (Star of County Down, Merrily Kissed The Quaker's Wife) and the difference in sound quality between my Freeman tweaked Feadog and the Burke was very evident - even my wife said "Wow."

In the end, I am sure that there are some spectacular differences between real, real cheap and real, real expensive, but many differences may be quite subtle and there may be a series of diminishing returns with the higher end whistles - but I don't know.

What I can compare is HiFi. I build my own amps and use vacuum tubes in my creations. Now in the HiFi World, there's a real can-of-worms, especially when we're talking high-end and high-expense. No, I do not have $1000 speaker cables (my homemade ones work great), and I certainly cannot afford $7K cables. But I have listened to (not owned) $30K speakers and $10K amps, and there are sonic differences, but they're not vastly different from $5K speakers and a $1K amp. Again, there are diminishing returns.

Just my two cents' worth.

Charlie

A-Musing · Post by **A-Musing** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 3:58 pm

I'm a frugal man.

But the Burkes, MKs, Copelands, Overtons, and lately Humphreys I've acquired over the years have been some of the best "buys" I've ever made in my life.

Pleasure to Price ratio is off the charts. Yep...to me, these whistles are elegant, wonderful "cheapies."

Enjoy your whistles folks!

Donald · Post by **Donald** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 5:31 pm

"Pleasure to price ratio",

Very elegently put. My whole whistle collection still costs significantly less than my daughter's cello. So im going to enjoy my (relatively) cheap musical entertainment and say my pleasure to price ratio is definatelly falling on the pleasure side.

Jerry Freeman · Post by **Jerry Freeman** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:24 pm

charlie_butterworth wrote:... the difference in sound quality between my Freeman tweaked Feadog and the Burke was very evident ... .

You've named the two most oppositely voiced whistles in the entire whistle universe. Burkes are at the extreme "pure/sweet" end of the voicing spectrum; Feadogs (tweaked or otherwise) are at the far opposite, "complex/reedy" (even to the point that they can seem raspy to some ears) end of the scale. Neither is inadvertant.

Best wishes,
Jerry

Aanvil · Post by **Aanvil** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:43 pm

Kind of like comparing a whale to a mouse.

Jerry Freeman · Post by **Jerry Freeman** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:52 pm

Duck!

Best wishes,
Jerry

BillChin · Post by **BillChin** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 7:39 pm

Jerry Freeman wrote:
charlie_butterworth wrote:... the difference in sound quality between my Freeman tweaked Feadog and the Burke was very evident ... .
You've named the two most oppositely voiced whistles in the entire whistle universe. Burkes are at the extreme "pure/sweet" end of the voicing spectrum; Feadogs (tweaked or otherwise) are at the far opposite, "complex/reedy" (even to the point that they can seem raspy to some ears) end of the scale. Neither is inadvertant.

Best wishes,
Jerry

My Burke is a composite high D. It is an average whistle. It doesn't get any notice at all when I perform solo in public. That tells me a lot.

I bought the Burke used, on the strength of many glowing reviews on the forum. I figure it is worth posting that warning to other experienced players, that I didn't find my Burke to be anything special. My Susato, Sweetheart, Hoover whitecap all rate better to my own ears and to audiences. All three put together cost about what the Burke costs.

MTGuru · Post by **MTGuru** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:41 pm

BillChin wrote:My Burke is a composite high D. It is an average whistle. It doesn't get any notice at all when I perform solo in public. That tells me a lot.

I bought the Burke used, on the strength of many glowing reviews on the forum. I figure it is worth posting that warning to other experienced players, that I didn't find my Burke to be anything special.

The music on your SoundClick web page seems to be all non-Irish and non-traditional. Could your choice of music be influencing your judgment?

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... tent=music

Steamwalker · Post by **Steamwalker** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:48 pm

John, you certainly are thorough.

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:53 pm

BillChin wrote: I didn't find my Burke to be anything special. My Susato, Sweetheart, Hoover whitecap all rate better to my own ears and to audiences. All three put together cost about what the Burke costs.

Whereas I rarely play my other whistles since getting a couple of Burkes. Just shows to go ya, it's all subjective.

I'm all for buying, selling, trading, and keeping the ones that work best for you. You don't know what you like until you've gathered some experiences. And in the scheme of things, none of them are as expensive as the time you're putting into learning how to play.

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:59 pm

MTGuru wrote:
BillChin wrote:My Burke is a composite high D. It is an average whistle. It doesn't get any notice at all when I perform solo in public. That tells me a lot.

I bought the Burke used, on the strength of many glowing reviews on the forum. I figure it is worth posting that warning to other experienced players, that I didn't find my Burke to be anything special.
The music on your SoundClick web page seems to be all non-Irish and non-traditional. Could your choice of music be influencing your judgment?

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... tent=music

I am with Bill. The Burke's I have tried haven't been anything special. The least unappealing was a narrow-bore blacktip brass I tried once. I also think they are wildly overpriced (but I am not telling you what to spend on a whistle - I am referring to my own utility curve). And to think that any good artist who plays a cheapo would sound better on a Burke is a joke (see a few pages back). If they sounded better on a Burke, they'd be playing a Burke. The fact that they don't (with the sole exception of Mick O'Brien, who is the Irish distributor of Burkes, or was anyway) is telling enough.

If anyone wants to send me a free Burke, I'd be happy to give them another chance.

Oh, and I am sure they are wonderful for particular types of music that I know little or nothing about.

MTGuru · Post by **MTGuru** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 9:03 pm

Bloomfield wrote:If anyone wants to send me a free Burke, I'd be happy to give them another chance.

Nice try!

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 9:06 pm

The last time I saw Cherish the Ladies, Joannie Madden had several different Burkes along with her O'Riordans.

She played a couple of different Burkes on different tunes that evening, and she made them sound quite good.

For whatever that's worth...

--James

Steamwalker · Post by **Steamwalker** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 9:09 pm

Burkes also played by Brian McCoy. Also, regarding wooden whistles mentioned earlier, Lunasa was known to play Grinters so there is some use there.

That said, a good whistle is a good whistle, regardless of price. My current favorite is a Burke Aluminum and, as good as that is, my favorite cheapy is a Waltons D that's nearly as good as the Burke.