I was fortunate enough to borrow Tyghress’s Sweet Resonance Low D for a week, and I really liked it. I have been liquidating, so it took a little effort to justify (to myself) getting another whistle, but I asked Ralph if he would let me trade in the high d whistle/fife combo (nice, but too loud for my taste) toward a Low D set. He said he would, so I did it. The whistle is really terrific. I had noticed a weak Low E in Tyghress’s whistle. This one is stronger in reference to the other notes. I looked for physical differences and it seems the plug was glued in a millimeter higher than it was supposed to be (the glue filled it in on one side, but there’s a (machined) gap on the other side). It looks a little less than great through the window, but the playing is a bit more even. There might be some strength lost in most of the low notes and there might be some ease lost in the highest notes, but it’s barely noticeable, and it makes the Low E not seem so different from the rest of the notes. I thought long and hard about it, and I decided I like this one, and I don’t want to exchange it for one that was glued correctly.
The flute head, though, is on its way back for a partial refund. Sweet flutes have always had variable embouchures. When the pro fife came out, the embouchure was perfect! It seemed a new jig had been fashioned so the hole would come out that way every time. I was excited about the flute head, thinking the same would be true of that, but it wasn’t. The embouchure hole was an almost perfect oval, but it had been sanded on top of it and it looked pretty uneven. It played ok, but not on par with the whistle.
Anyway, I am thrilled with the whistle. It’s the only Low D whistle I’ll keep, and I WILL keep it.