Bleazey whistles

i have been doing some research on Bleazey whistles, but i have never heard of them on here. has anybody played one? they are absolutely beautiful whistles, and his low whistle is the most beautiful one i have ever seen. i hope they get good feedback.

I love my Bb in Olivewood, it is gorgeous and plays like a dream. My fist Bb Bleazey was in Boxwood and it warped. Phil was very gracious and quickly replaced it with the Olivewood one. Funny but it was hard to give up the Boxwood because it played so nice.

Tony Hinnigan reviews one on his site, albeit a High D: http://www.tonyhinnigan.com/moviedl.php?group=29

I have both HiD and lowD Bleazey whistles both in blackwood.
Workmanship is really good on both, as good as it gets really, I think.
The hiD has a beautiful sound, is easy to play up to the D, in tune all the way, even a bit higher if you want. It takes a bit more air at the top end than most whistles but I soon got used to it.
Easily the best hiD I have played. But Rose and Abell may be as good. I have never played either one.
I ordered the lowD because I was impressed by the hiD.
The low D is large, fairly heavy, and has smaller holes more closely spaced than I have found on lowD’s by other makers. This was important to me. No need for a pipers grip. I play it the same way as I play the HiD. It too is easy to play up to D, and is in tune all the way. It has a softer beautiful mellow sound. More mellow than any other lowD I have played. This is not a hi volume whistle, it is good for melodies and quite easy to play with the smaller closely spaced holes, but I can’t blast out jigs n’reels with it.
I recommend both but remember if you are looking for volume the lowD may be too quiet. In my opinion.

I reviewed one here:
http://www.tinwhistler.com/music/reviews/srcreview.asp?keyword=bleazey

on tony.s review it would appear that the high end A, and or B blows out of tune

Here’s a recording I took recently:

http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/Audio/05-07/RollingWaveSGabriel.mp3

It is a Bleazey high D in blackwood. There are some more clips on Clips’n’Snips.

The tuning of the Bleazey is a bit…difficult. One certainly needs some time to get used to it. I love to play mine on big/fast/loud sessions (as nobody can hear it when I’m a bit out of tune with some notes :wink:), but when playing slower or quieter, I prefer my Sweetone. The Bleazey is VERY loud. Certainly not good for playing when neighbours or moaning wives are around.

It also needs quite a push of breath. Not an easy whistle, but after you got used to it…it’s fine.

I might want to part with it as my liking regarding tone changed. I will go for either a set of Sindt whistles (if I ever will reach John…) or a set of Freeman-tweaked Gen’s in near future, as I prefer their traditional sound. Let me know if you’re interested.

I had a Bleazey olivewood high D. It was a great whistle and looked superb but the top of the second octave was too loud for my ears. I would like to try one in Bb or lower.

You may love 'em or hate 'em, but there’s nothing else like a Bleazey. If you like to push a whistle, you’ll like the Bleazey. If you want one you can play when everyone else is in bed, it’s not the whistle for you.

Note that I’ve only played high-D’s, although I have one of his low-D flutes, which I also love.

If you’re wondering about the whole line, you might want to PM Idawhoa, or just search for his posts on Bleazeys. He was acquiring them at an admirable pace a couple of years ago and posting about them frequently.

I love the sound of it, it’s beautiful. Only, I was searching for Phil Bleazy’s website, but I can’t find it; and if I search under Sassafrass (the whistle links) it doesn’t come up either.

Try here, arnie … Phil Bleazey’s website.

I had a set of Mopane Bleazey whistles a couple of years ago.

I sold them though. Not because I didn’t like them, which I did, but because I liked these better:

The olive is MUCH lighter than the mopane. The higher whistles are louder. The Low D is a dream. My wife calls it my “Seducer.”

Ahh - Bleazey…love’em. I have 4 -a C and Bb in mopane, an A in olivewoood, and a G in blackwood. I purchased the G new from Phil - the others I bought used. They all sound and look great but there are differences in the character of the sound of each. The C has a breathy thickness to the sound - very warm while the Bb has the purest tone and very sweet. They all play on the loud side which is something I like. They are all keepers for me!

OH you spolied brat :angry: ---------they are beautifull :smiley: such small holes too i bet they jam(are fast)

I had a Bleazey high D in Mopane, and I liked it a lot. It ended up being sold mainly because it was a little too loud for my taste. Also, the top two notes were slightly harder than usual to handle. But, it is a gorgeous whistle and it plays wonderfully. I would rate the volume as loud (yet not as loud as a Susato). The wood and construction is awesome.

-Casey

Olive wood is really hard to beat.

If you have the technology would you mind audio-clipping the F whistle IDAwhoA? Anything played on it. Thanks.

Thanks for the reply.

Tal, I REALLY, REALLY wish I could clip an F Bleazey for you.

Alas…

Phil only makes a Low D, G, A, Bb, C and D. I have discussed this with him and he do not see the financial benefit to developing this key now or in the future. I have also spoken to SEVERAL other makers and they have the same feeling. I guess I kind of got over that due to the F Holunder whistle I have now. This one sounds even better than the Grinter I had previously.

May I hear the F Holunder please? Even though it may be off topic here. Perhaps you could start a new thread entitled “F for talasiga” :astonished:
(On second thoughts, maybe another topic title may be better! :laughing: )

I’ll see what I can work up. I don’t have that great of recording (mic in my mac) or sharing. Maybe I can get Doc Jones to help with the recording (playing too) and hosting.