Sindt vs Burke brass narrow-bore

[Pipe Bender]

How does the brass narrow-bore Burke C & D compare with the Sindt C & D? Which is the quieter whistle? Does John make a Bb?

[Feadoggie]

How does the brass narrow-bore Burke C & D compare with the Sindt C & D? Which is the quieter whistle? Does John make a Bb?

Well, IMO, they are good whistles from two very talented makers. I own whistles from both. There are differences in tuning and timbre between them. The Sindt sounds a bit more traditional and the Burke sounds "Burkie". Build quality, fit and finish is at the highest caliber on both. I don't recognize a huge difference in volume from the Burke NB and the Sindt although the Sindt may be a tad quieter. John Sindt does make a Bb. In fact he makes from high E down to low A. Burke makes whistles in every key that's practical (if that matters to you) from high G down to low C. I play Burkes for key coverage, so I have quite a few of his whistles (24!). When I travel to festivals or workshops I carry a bag with Burkes, Sindts, a Copeland, maybe a Weasel and my own DIY whistles. Different horses for different courses. I have found the Sindt brass tubes to be less robust than the Burke. The Sindt is not at all delicate but the amount of abuse you put a whistle through may be less than what I sometimes dish out. My suggestion, buy one from both makers and judge for yourself. You can't make a bad choice between them.

Hope that helps.

Feadoggie

[narrowdog]

I have to aggree with all Feadoggie has said, both are fine whistles.
To add just one other thing the Sindt does have the issue
around cross finger Cnat being sharp.
Although I played a narrow bore brass Burke (and no others)
for best part of 5 months I can't remember what the cross finger Cnat
was like, so probably wasn't too bad.
I now play the Sindt mainly because its just got more character.

[Feadoggie]

To add just one other thing the Sindt does have the issue around cross finger Cnat being sharp.

Yep, that's what I meant by tuning differences. Narrowdog, how are you dealing with the c-nat tuning on your Sindt?

The Burke has a better cross-fingered C than the Sindt with an oxxooo fingering, IMO. And that seemed to matter to me for a while. I seem to have gotten over it lately. Maybe the dent by the C# hole in my current Sindt D tube "fixed" it! As others here have said in the past, the Sindt c-nat tuning really isn't an issue for passing notes in dance music. Half-holing works well on either the Burke or Sindt although the top-most hole on the Sindt is marginally smaller than on the Burke. If you play a lot of slower tunes in the key of G (on the D whistle) maybe the Burke has an edge there. For faster tunes, it may not matter much.

Oh, Burkes are generally available. It may only take a week or so for a delivery from Mike. I am not sure what John's delivery times are at these days but you may have to wait a bit for one of his.

After my last post I went out to the garden and had a few tunes on both the Burke brass narrow bore and the Sindt D. They really are nice whistles. It's hard to be very critical about either whistle really. Both of these dogs will hunt, as they say.

Feadoggie

[narrowdog]

To add just one other thing the Sindt does have the issue around cross finger Cnat being sharp.

Yep, that's what I meant by tuning differences. Narrowdog, how are you dealing with the c-nat tuning on your Sindt?

Feadoggie

I missed that bit of your post

I try (not always succesfully I might add) to ease off on the breath a bit
but most of the time in faster dance tunes I tend to get some kind of
C# / Cnat ish note with oxxooo and no one seams to complain
I also have the body pulled out 3-4mm which does improve things a bit.

[MikeS]

I have Sindts in Eb, D, C, Bb, and A and love them all dearly. They just sound right to my ear. I have played them against Burkes, Copelands, O'Briens, and Overtons and the Sindts have defeated all comers. I have also lent them to some folk who, after playing the Sindts, have decided to keep their Burkes. It's very much a matter of personal taste. If pressed on the matter I would say the Burkes have a fuller and more refined sound. John Sindt has said that his goal was to make a whistle that played well and consistently but preserved the sound character of the traditional cheap penny whistles.

As for the C natural I half hole 80% of the time. The OXX OOO fingering will be sharp if you don't back off the breath pressure a bit. If you ease up it's pretty good. OXX XOO can work and even OXX XXO is possible if you're the sort who really likes to blow with thinly veiled aggression.

Back in March John told me his backlog was about six months.

(edited to correct a couple typos)

[MarkP]

I now play the Sindt mainly because its just got more character.

IMHO, personal taste I guess

I tend to get some kind of C# / Cnat ish note with oxxooo and no one seams to complain

ditto