Anyone playing a Tommy Dion Wooden Whistle?

Whistle
1

If so, whats it like?
Ben Shaffer

2

I have a Tommy Dion teak (I’m not home to check and can’t remember if it’s a high D or high C). I really like it. It’s a bit quieter than most of my other wood whistles, which to me is a plus, but nicely balanced between octaves and with a perfectlly fine low note (some say that the softer high octave makes for a wimpier low–to me this one has good balance). I’m not sure I understand the words often used to describe the sound of a whistle here (like “chiff” for example), so can’t help there. It has a slightly less bright sound than my other wood whistles. Extremely nice, especially for the price, and he’s a nice fellow to deal with too. I also have one of his 3-piece PVC low D whistles, and love that one too. Also somewhat mellower than my metal low Ds, very responsive in all the octaves. A very pleasant treat, and a great low D to travel with.
I hope that’s of some little use.
Best,
Jaydoc

3

I have a canarywood high D that was part of Tommy’s first “Whistles of Wood” tour, and a high C in olive wood. The D has more of a rasp (chiff?) than the C. Tommy can customize the whistle for the sound you prefer. With the C, I asked for a smooth, sweet sound with very little rasp (chiff?) … and got it. Every whistle maker I’ve dealt with personally has been wonderful … Tommy Dion included.

The whistle descriptive terminology is so subjective I hate to use it. One thing I can say about Tommy’s whistles is that I own 2 wooden ones and 4 in PVC, and have no intentions of getting rid of any of them.

4

I own one of Tommy’s non-tunable high-D Dymondwood whistles that recently came to me second hand. It is clean sounding with just a bit of chiff. It is on the quiet side but can be pushed a little if necessary. It won’t be a session whistle, that’s for sure. It is spot on for tuning through two octaves. My favorite characteristic is that octave changes are clean and clear. On many whistles a great deal more push is needed to cleanly sustain notes on the second octave. Not here.

This has become my pocket whistle when I wear a jacket. When I’m not wearing a jacket, I carry my Parks Walkabout.

I own many whistles. Not as many as Phil but I know good ones from bad. I like Tommy’s whistle and will probably buy another in a few months.

Michael