I know this will probably spark how long is a piece of string, but… there is a high Eb Tully whistle on Ebay USA, it’s quite a high price compared to what Erik charged back in the day, ($125 ) selling for now for ( $575 ) plus $150 vat/duty, I know there’s probably some kudos in owning one, but that won’t help the sound, so does anyone have any airtime on a high Eb from Mr Tullberg, I have read the C whistle review from wandering whistler, Greg, but that’s probably not going to help, as the ebay one has a completly different windway blade.
I 'm not sure if the seller is a member, if he/she is forgive me, but more chance of one of you chaps/chapesses that might own one and play one,
and yes I could ask the seller, but they sell at lot of varied music kit, so i assumed, maybe wrongly that there sellers as opposed to players, and it’s always good to seek advice from this large dedicated bunch of whistlers.
so id $575 reasonable? and any idea of sound.
of course this now opens it up to all to purchase it, but if It was meant to be, fate and all that…
I used to have a Tully silver D and liked it a lot. The eBay description of the sound, construction etc are pretty accurate. It’s definitely not a session whistle, but then again I’ve never seen ANY Eb at a session.
Unless the price of silver, and the collectible rarity are taken into account (if those matter to you), I think the price is rather high. There are plenty of excellent playing Eb whistles out there for a lot less.
I only got rid of my Tully because, as you might imagine, I have a lot of D whistles and I rarely played it.
A Tully ‘D’ is one that I have had. It was beautiful craftsmanship in a beautiful box. I rather like a clean, focused tone and it didn’t fit that bill to my ears. It was more like a Rolls-Royce Clarke in that respect, and a fine example of that.
Perhaps that’s a difference between the North America and Ireland? Heading off-topic here, but do folks in North America often come across sessions in other than D?
It may well be a matter of geographical spread. Added to that I have thoroughly come out of hiding in recent weeks and have taken in a well above average amount of music in a short period of time. I have heard sessions in B, taken part in and heard several in C and heard some more in E flat in, say, the past month. There was also one in C#.
That’s a very good description of the one I had. Bit pointless really. I wouldn’t recommend buying one unless you are (much) more concerned with materials and aesthetics than with sound.
Thanks guys, I’m not a collector, but interesting to hear your views on the sounds, I like the Rolls Royce Clarke description, so I’m going to pass I think, at over £550 with Uk duty and vat added, it’s a non starter, it does look beautifully made, but I’m also into a more pure tone, with a hint of chiff
I owned a high D of this form of Tully whistle at one time. Beautiful workmanship, but it clogged easily; maybe that could have been fixed with the dish soap treatment. My main problem with the whistle was that it had what I considered an excessive amount of chiff. I like a more pure sound in a whistle, and my Tully didn’t have it, so I eventually sold it. The fipple area on mine looked just like the one up for sale on Ebay, rather than like the one on the Wandering Whistler website.
As for the price, $575 is way more than I would consider paying. A Tully D recently sold on Ebay for $275 (and no VAT!), and I considered that a fair price. That’s my personal opinion; however, the market as always will determine what a “fair” price is.
Never sold, can’t see if it ended early or just ended, I suppose not a forum member, looking at there previous sales, they, he, she sells a lot of instruments, so probably just a seller of instruments, hence the high price, and the original price back in the day being $125, and previous ebay sales at $275, which sounds fair, $575 is way off, thanks for all the input thoigh.
I suppose not a forum member, looking at there previous sales, they, he, she sells a lot of instruments, so probably just a seller of instruments, hence the high price,
I would sooner think someone taking the comments here into account and going for a slight drop in price. Still, silly money for an instrument that was never particularly desirable for its playing abilities. A lot of people here fancied them at the time because they were sterling silver, the magpie syndrome ruled heavily at the time.
I like the Magpie syndrome comment … I’ve fallen for that old chestnut many a time, well the price has dropped, but the comments on tone and the airy chiff nature of it still put it in collectors corner, Erik’s write up about its lower volume and it being great when his kids were young I suppose would fit a newbie mum or dad, but with my eldest at 21 and daughter about to hit 18, and leave for university I don’t need to be quiet anymore. I’d been interested if a board member buys it, just to see what they think, as from the few online pics, tullys look very different, windway, and the ebay one has what look like finger placement or finger position rings.
but more chance of one of you chaps/chapesses that might own one and play one,
