The story so far:
* I started with a Clarke original. Loved the "sweetness" of the sound. But I keep the whistle in my bag, so the mouthpiece got pushed out of shape.
* Tried a Feadog, it sounded awful.
* Got a Clarke Meg instead, sounded so much better, though still without the sweetness of the original, and it felt a bit light for my liking. But it kept me going
* Two years later, picked up the Feadog again and it sounded so much better now "it" had matured (they must be like wine, getting better with age
* Another year later, got adventurous and got a Dixon trad. Loved it by comparison to the Feadog, the 2nd octave especially sounds so much smoother.
Sadly the Dixon has suffered an injury (cracked and chipped head): it sounds far worse than the Feadog. So I'm looking for a replacement. I prefer a metal whistle, not too light, plastic head, preferably dark coloured, so it's not too obvious to anyone looking in to my bag.
I've read the reviews on C&F, and done a bit of searching (I need to buy on-line, for various reasons). Candidates so far are
- Dixon trad,
- Dixon High D Whistle with Brass Body. DX203D (what IS the difference between these two, in terms of sound/playability)
- O'Briain New Improved High D Brass Whistle
- Blackbird (wasn't on the list before, made it there due to comments in some other postings here).
And I noticed the Parke featured on BigWhistle: it's not dark coloured or metal, but if the volume control really does work as promised and the sound is ok, then it might just be a good thing to try.
Thoughts welcome … (including links to reviews of the Elf if I've just missed something!)