I have a couple of black, tunable Susato Kildares for sale:
Low A, $35
Low G, $35
If you take both, you can have them for $65.
You can take a look at the Susato Kildares at the Whistleshop.
They are in great shape and haven’t been played much. (I think they still have the thumbrests, even, but am not sure.)
Special offer: If you care for that sort of thing, I’ll tweak them for you, replacing the round blade with a flat guitar pick blade. Your risk, though. More info on that is here.
The only tweaking I’ve done to it is to make the blade edge a little sharper to strengthen the upper register a bit.
I used the edge of an exacto knife, carefully scraping off a little plastic at the correct angle along the top of the windcutter edge to continue the ramp down to a sharper edge. That seemed to do the trick.
They are not quiet. But as you get into low whistles, you can expect more volume than you would from cheap soprano Ds, anyway. For the Susato A & G, probably mostly because they are pitched lower, they don’t feel as loud as a SB D can be in the upper octave and they aren’t unpleasant because of shrillness. Like other Susatos, the upper octave is comparatively louder than the first, and you do need to blow quite hard. The finger spacing is not the easiest I’ve seen/plaid, but for the A & G it’s not really an issue (it is, for me anyway, with the Susato low D).
Martin,
You brought up a point that I was wondering. I’m sure this topic has been posted before, but how do Tony Dixon’s low whistle compare with Susato’s? I would like some decent low whistle before I take the plunge in to something like Overton’s. I need something that would be great for performances but still fairly inexpensive. Thanks!
picardy
I received my Dixon Low D yesterday and had about 4 hours to play it before I stupidly dropped it and managed to break it (freak accident, I checked with Thom at the Whistle Shop and he never heard of antything like that EVER happening with a Dixon Low D).
The hole spacing, coming from a Soprano D, or even a Low G, is always going to be a shock to the system. However, once you get used to the “piper’s grip”, spacing on the Dixon is quite forgiving. The upper register, or second octave, was surprisingly easy to reach (very little air requirement, even compared to my Chieftain Low G). That’s the good part. Its downside (if it can be called that), is that the lower notes, particularly D (xxxxxx) and E (xxxxxo), require VERY little push and it’s very easy to flip to the upper octave accidentally. Thom Larsen told me that coming from a Chieftain Low G, whose air requirements are considerable, this is normal until I adjust to the lower air requirements of the Dixon.
So, in all, yes the Dixon Low D is a good choice for a beginner (especially considering that the non-tunable model is only $49.00), and I am probably going to order a replacement for the one that “left us too soon”…
Martin, I dropped you a pm. We might have to use a straw man in Iceland, but I am sure we can work something out. Did you realize that your name appears on the COCOM list?
Bloomers & I have worked out a deal - so I’ll let you know how they compare when I’ve got my grasping mitts on them.
My expectations are that Susatos will require more breath, but tradeoff in greater volume. I’ve grown to like my high D Susatos, so I have every hope the lower A & G will work out well.
Pthouron - sorry to hear about the sudden demise of the Low D - I have Dixons in most keys now & I love them. The Dixon is my only low D, and though it doesn’t get played as much as other keys, I love having it there for when I need to “get low”.
Hey Patrick,
I found this funny. It is a post you made back on April 9th. Do you still hold to this statement?
Aaron,
I have one of those Dixons too. Don’t worry about it being fragile: I have been carrying it unprotected in my bag for weeks (that’s the one I take to work with me) and it is holding up just fine.
P.
Actually, it isn’t a laughing matter. I feel for you. Hey, it’s a perfect excuse to get an Overton!
picardy
