Hey did anyone ever buy one of those Sullivan whistles, and if so what did you think?
Also, anybody find the Lon Dubh ridiculously overpriced for a wooden whistles with one brass ring? And Abell is about the same and comes with several sterling silver fittings, which look harder to make.
What’s the deal? Or is it like my ex Copeland Silver, it’s a fashion symbol.
I’m not knocking the sound just looking for some educated opinions, cause to me that price isn’t right.
You could just as well ask, why is the Abell so expensive relative to the Lon Dubh – all the wood is straight, it’s a lot harder to turn all those curves, taper the whistle, make a wooden windway, etc. It’s not only the difficulty of making a wooden whistle, rings, etc; it’s making a good whistle that allows a maker to command high prices. Personally I play my Swayne (on which the Lon Dubh was supposedly modeled) way more than I play my Abell.
Why, yes, I finally did. (I have edited this post to update the info and to correct and/or delete errors)
I bought an aluminum non-tunable C from them on eBay. It is a beautiful piece of work! lovely to look at (see photos a couple of posts down), a pleasure in the hands. I have already ordered one in D as well.
This particular whistle is a hair sharp in tuning, though it is quite well in tune with itself. I am not used to aluminum whistles though, and understand they are particularly sensitive to temp. It is quite cool here right now. Personally, I would prefer a tunable one, but this is a very nice whistle.
It has a graceful conical outer body, decorated by rings, tapering to a narrow end that flares to a deep ring. It has a straight inner bore, takes very little air, and is easily accessible up to the E in the third octave. The tone is sweet, even on the high notes of the second octave.
I really like this whistle!
If Scott’s quality and craftsmanship hold true, his whistles are sure to become favorites. I am quite surprised we haven’t heard more about them. I eagerly look forward to getting my D.
EDITED 12/14/05 to add a sound clip on the Snips and Clips Tune Archive (apologies for the whistl**er**'s lack of quality 
)http://tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/Audio/12-05/SiBheagSiMhorAnniemcu.mp3
I did not have to pay the full price for my Lon Dubh because I bought it used.
However, knowing what I do now, I would not hesitate to pay full price for it.
Mike
Here are some photos of the Sullivan non-tunable Aluminum C I just purchased:
Overall view - note the graceful taper and decorative rings
Top section showing rings
Fipple end with rings
Windway
Decorative ring at bottom end
Thanks to Free Image Hosting [xs.to]
That looks pretty nice.