Hi all!
This is a wonderful messageboard for fellow whistlers or, newbie whistlers like myself 
I just ordered both a Sweetone and Clare Brass whistle which should be in this week - I have always been fascinated by the sounds of Irish/Celtic music and the whistle seemed like a great place to start!
Any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated -
Bill
Welcome Boscobear.
This is a great place to learn about whistles and many other things. The people are friendly and very helpful. You will enjoy it here.
Just wait until WhOA hits! Get ready for the ride of your life! 
That’s pretty much what I started with. I got a Meg (which is basically a Sweetone, only cheaper) and a Clare. They play and sound very different from each other, so it’s good you got two so you can compare. I bet they won’t be your last; a year and a half later, I have 14 whistles, and I’m pretty sure I’m not done yet!
Good luck!
Welcome to the forums from another recent joiner.
Since you’re just starting out I would recommed you take a look at some of the tutorials online
Here are 2 that I can think of off the top of my head:
I started whistling just a couple or so months ago and am already on my seventh whistle…and I love them all. Welcome…hope you enjoy. Les.
Welcome.
A very warm welcome to you 
Welcome to the board and the two whistles you have are good to start with. Yes you will get a lot more. However I would discourage doing that too quickly.
Play the ones you have until they begin to sound better. Typically you will play these whistles and they will be hard to play, they will make squeaks and squawks and you will think they are terrible whistles. If you will play them for a while they will get better and better as you learn breath control and solid fingering. I have whistles that I thought were unplayable a year ago and now they are fine sounding whistles. Are there better whistles out there? Yes there are. But you will find a lot of difference of opinion as to which ones they are. Even the better whistles will not be easy when you first begin. Practice, practice, practice and when you can make the Clare sing then think about other whistles. I would have said the same thing if you had a Generation or a Feadog. I have said this before, most of my whistles can play better than I can.
Ron
What Ron said. Though one of my early cheap whistles really was fairly bad, several others I own went from “barely playable” to “quite nice” when I tried them again after I’d spent a few months with other whistles.
Some of the cheapest whistles can be amazingly good, but they sometimes require more control than beginners have. It sounds like you’re pretty well set, though; I think that Sweetones are one of the best beginner whistles - no real quirks to work around. Though I like a few of the other cheapies more (Oak, Feadog, a “good” Gen), they all require more control than a Sweetone - and even though I have that control now, my Sweetones still get play.
But if you get the WhOA bug, Dixon, Susato, Serpent, and Syn all have very good high D whistles for under $40. I’m an enabler, I am. 
Welcome!!! 
Welcome to the board, Bill! I also bought a Sweetone and a Clare (nickel one piece) as my first whistles. I still really love the sound of my Clare as a practice whistle. I also agree with RonKiley and his words of wisdom. Don’t let WhOA get the best of you just yet…and don’t listen to DCrom the enabler! 
Hellooooooooooooooooooooooo
More whistles. That fixes most problems.
I’ve heard practicing is good, too.
Izzarina,
What do consider important in a “practice whistle”. I have always heard that it is important to practice with the whistle that you usually play.
Thanks all for the warm welcome and advice!!!
I just found out what the WhOA “syndrome” is - and promise to hold off as long as humanly possible before spending too much more on whistles…The Susato is hopefully my next, when I’m ready - With a baby due in April (our first!!) one of the truly appreciated aspects of the whistle is the relatively low cost (I know high end whistles can be a few hundred but for all intents and purposes they are typically less expensive than other instruments)
Does anyone know of a CD-ROM tutorial that demonstrates finger placement and such? I have ordered two tutorial books with my whistles, but thought a CD-ROM program might be good as well -
Oh…Is there any way to find groups who play the whistles in my area (Massachusetts)? I didnt know if there was somewhere to search or not, but thought it would be great to actually meet fellow whistlers -
Thanks again all -
Henrik bids you welcome! wondering just a little bit if everyone here is more conserned with which wistles they play than what comes out of them
(I had a little bit of WHOA before. Now I have a nice set of aluminium Syn’s that I play. At this point I’m just concerned with learning to play them better, not which whistles I’ll buy next. But I’m more concerned with the Flutes at this point anyway,that might have something to do with it. Now if you ever catch FLOA that’s a difficult beast, one of the reasons being that flutes are at least 10 times more expensive than whistles).
Welcome
Congrats on your coming Baby.
For a good cd-rom tutorial, visit www.madfortrad.com
" wondering just a little bit if everyone here is more conserned with which wistles they play than what comes out of them "
This is funny to me. There are a couple of threads running right now about what instruments you play, which gets the most playing time, etc., etc. I was surprised by how many folks here play little or no whistle anymore. Myself included.
I suppose I lurk here for the witty repartee and ongoing love-fest among the regulars.
edited because I can’t get my quote tags right.
well i must say I play my whistle all the time, which may have a negative effect on the mutiple other instruments I play, such as my Alto Sax(not fun) which i am required to practice if i want to stay in the band. But being a highschooler i probably should take that devotion and practice i do with the whistle and attept to apply those same feelings to schoolwork, or my horse…yeah, he may want to be ridden every now and then i suppose…