Ok so i’m gonna go ahead and order a whistle set from davey. His whistles look top notch and I think the sound is what I’m looking for. He’s seems like a good bloke and everyone here that has his whistles loves them. Agree?
AGREED!!!
Make sure you send a deposit, even if he doesn’t ask for one. That’s what confirms an order.
http://www.greenwoodpipes.com/howtoorder.html
As stated above, a deposit of 50% of the asking price is required to secure a schedule opening.
This deposit is non-refundable except in such a case as I am unable to finish the work. Payment
of the balance is required, after notification of completion, for delivery.
Seems clear to me 
This is actually better than when I originally bought my first whistle..I sent my entire payment in advance, as was his whistle policy at the time.
If I hadn’t lost my job a set of his Pipes and a Whsitle would have been on my list but that is not going to happen any time soon.
My high D (blackwood/ silver) arrived on Saturday, and I love it!
Wonderful whistle , wouldn’t wait !! 
Have a Great Day and Fun Whistling !
Hee hee, I’m all excited, I just sent my deposit. I asked about an Eb body too. Anyone know if this could be done?
Greenwood is a great choice for a high D whistle. I have bought two of them. Many months ago I sent a money order for a pre owned Greenwood and waited a very long time for it. The seller sent a trace on it but it could not be found. Then I sent a deposit for a new one, and it should be ready in the middle of July. So then the pre owned returned to the seller and he remailed it to me. It arrived here a few days ago. It is an excelent Whistle. I tweek most of my whistles but will not be able to tweek this perfect Greewood. I will tell you more about it after I have played it some more. That should be a great sound if I can get my fingers across both them at the same time.
As some of you know, Wanderer and I play in the same session every week. Some time ago he got a Greenwood. He showed it to me and I was very impressed. I sent in the $200 and got my whistle. It had a buzz on the high A and B. Wanderer, who knows whistles, agreed that there was a problem. Dave was appropriately responsive and took it back. That was a long time ago. Every week Wanderer would say “got your whistle yet?” “Nope”. “Dang, you gotta contact him”. When I finally contacted Dave he apologized for the long delay and promised me a whistle in 2 weeks. That was about 8 weeks ago and I’m still waiting. I have to admit that it “burned” me to read that some happy customer on this board just got his/her whistle in the mail.
I got my Greenwood whistle (blackwood) in a trade with another forumite, so I can’t comment on Davey’s customer service. The whistle I have, however, is excellent (though it hasn’t usurped Busman as my favorite make of whistle).
I have several of his whistles and they are great!
…Like Paul, I try not to join discussions that are “about me” or my instruments…but nevertheless…
…J.K. Take it to the PM or Email if you really feel the need to re-visit this
… T.M. (Whitmores)
I’m sorry you feel burned, but the reason your whistle isn’t back to you yet is because I had decided to make you an entirely new whistle as I wasn’t happy with the retro-voicing to the fipple to eliminate the slight buzz you mentioned. I will NOT rush the settling process. You would NOT be pleased if I did. The customer you mentioned who received their whistle also had their own wait. That particular whistle had silver ferrules, and as such could not be “hijacked” and allocated to you.
If you note the time of my post (3:44 am) I am finally finishing off my correspondence after a long day in the shop. I’m terribly sorry my communication hasn’t been better, but I have a lot of customers plus a life to live. This life includes three incredible children and a wife I have been married to now for exactly 10 years and 1 day.
Dave, I agree with all you say. I don’t want a rushed job either. Communications has been fine, no problem there. I’ve e-mailed you several times and you always responded. A resonable delay is one thing, but I did send that whistle to you in December, so it’s been 6 months. I’d be happy to have a refund if you are swamped.
I feel I must jump in here. I got a whistle from Davey last winter, he said it would be 2 months, and it was 2 months. I corresponded with him several times about specs and he answered in a timely fashion. Based on my experience and other discussions on this board about customer service lead me to believe that unsatisfactory service and results are a rare exception when doing business with Davey. I’d buy another from him without hesitation.
Scotta,
I believe Dave’s whistles are just-about-always perfect. I played Wanderer’s and it was outstanding.
I could accept a 6-month delay, if that was normal. But others are getting items shipped to them while I sit and wait for an item that I’ve paid for in full.
You seem to be missing the point. The whistle you referred to had different specs to the one you ordered. Do you expect him to stop work in progress while replacing yours for fear of offending you?
A wooden instrument goes through several stages that take time. If someone makes nothing but whistles, you’d expect them to have finished products coming out at regular intervals. You’d expect unfinished whistles at various stages of completion to be lying about. But Davey also makes pipes. Perhaps he does whistles in batches in which case you’d simply have to wait for one from the next batch.
Whitmores,
since you keep referring to people who are ‘getting their items shipped’, I’d just like to make two things clear: As Dave already told you, I also had my wait - I ordered in early February and received my whistle less than two weeks ago. But there were reasons for that, and now that I’ve got my whistle I wouldn’t want to exchange it for a whistle I could have had earlier. Besides, I also payed for my whistle ‘in full’, of course, and still had to wait. Nevertheless, David is a very nice person to work with, and this whistle really is a piece of art which was definitely worth the wait.
For what it’s worth, I think Whitmores has a valid reason to be a little miffed.
To look at the timeline, Myrddin, you ordered in February. That means Dave had already had Whitmore’s whistle two months at that point.
You got your whistle two weeks ago, so about a four month wait.
I just can’t wrap my mind around how you could call/write/whatever, send your money, get a whistle started, get a whistle finished, get a whistle shipped, and in that entire time, Whitmores (who started this process 2 months before you) somehow doesn’t have a valid reason to be concerned when he still hasn’t gotten a whistle (that he has also paid for, mind you). Wouldn’t you have been concerned if you kept hearing how people who ordered in April were getting their whistles, before you had gotten yours? I know I would have.
I guess the only thing I can think of is that when Dave makes a whistle for someone, he takes a wood blank, tags their name on it, and only uses that blank for them. Since each blank will age differently, that theoretically means that someone could order in January, and get a whistle in August, while people who order whistles in February, March, etc, get theirs first. But that seems a little weird to me…a little early in the process to start assigning names to wood.
Now before everyone gets all defensive (which I know happens when people perceive that negative things are said about their favorite maker), read my review of my own Greenwood. I’m quite happy with the instrument, and the wait was in the range Dave had promised. I just think he dropped the ball in this particular case. Happens to the best of us. With so many happy customers, I imagine that this kind of thing is not even a common occurance.
However, I also think it’s good to talk about them…that way if this kind of thing does become a common occurance (for any maker, mind you) we, as a community, know about it. That has happened before, you know. Though many of the posters here now wouldn’t have been around for it…we’ve had the case before where a maker’s whistles started arriving late, and then eventually, not at all, and a number of people got burned. I don’t think that’s going to happen in this case…but like I said, it’s good to hear the good and the bad stories, so we have a fuller picture to evaluate.
His request notwithstanding, I am just going to say that experiences with the maker have varied. I have heard accounts from a number of people (not just me). Though the same has been said about me, I warn you that offending him isn’t difficult. And you won’t like the result if you offend him (even if by accident).
His instruments play great. They all benefit from a nice sanding, polish and oiling, and the ferrules fall off from time to time and have to be reglued, but that’s ok.