I agree the Overton is in a class by itself.
That said, this isn’t a “put in a quarter and it plays itself” whistle.
Expect to spend some time and possibly some frustration getting to know the whistle.
Your efforts will be wonderfully rewarded! 
–James
I concur. Beautiful instruments. I would only add that there is a difference between the session vs. the narrow bore as well. Burke’s narrow bore whistles are effortless to play in the higher octaves but softer than the sessions. I find that the sessions require a bit of back pressure when articulating notes in the high octaves, like high G, A, and B. Otherwise the articulated beat is squelch-like, not sweet. Sessions LOVE to be played loud, but then that’s what makes them great for sessions.
~Douglas
I have a Hudson on loan/purchase, and I love it.
Reyburn $110.00 should be considered. I love mine.
For your $150.00 (actually $140.00 I believe) you could get a Reyburn C/D set. It comes with one head and two bodies.
http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/Audio/08-07/CollarboneOfHarePatO.mp3
The Collarbone of a Hair… Pat O’Scannell playing Reyburn’s new Session D with backup on keyboard by Don Harriss. …Ronaldo Reyburn…8/06/07
Best wishes,
John
I own many cheapies and only one high-end whistle, a Burke DBSBT. It has a pure, full and round tone that I love, and is easy to play in the higher octave, but I have to pay attention to my breath for the high A and above. Sure the narrow bore should be easier for this matter.
Now, from all I read above, I would like very much to purchase an aluminium narrow bore.
I have a question : Micheal Burke also builds some composite whistle that are said to have a beautiful complex tone. I saw good comments on the high D narrow bore. Did someone experimented one of those composite Burkes ?
Hello Thierry,
Doc Jones is a Burke dealer and is expert on the subject. His email is: http://irishflutestore.com/
Best
Cyril
Pyroh’s comment hits the nail on the head: “Burkes seem to me like a cheap whistle made perfect.” I wouldn’t have worded it that way, but that is exactly what I like about them.
I started playing Irish music in the 1970s, and the Generation sound WAS the Irish sound. All the great Irish players I listened to played Generations, and to sound like them, you played Generations. Whenever I heard American-made neo-whistles (the first I can remember being Susatos around 1980) they never sounded like a WHISTLE. They always sounded like they were trying to sound like something else, like they were chasing a foreign tonal ideal, trying to sound like a Boehm flute, or a recorder, or a Native American flute, or anything OTHER than a whistle. And, when you went to sessions, the fact that someone was playing an American-made neo-whistle virtually guaranteed that they were clueless about Irish music.
So, when I picked up a Burke for the first time a few months ago, what impressed me was that it sounded like a WHISTLE. But rather than “cheap whistle made perfect” I might prefer to word it “traditional whistle made perfect.” Note that a lot of Irish players like the Burke- there’s a reason.
Now I must confess ignorance of the vast majority of the current crop of neo-whistles. Mr Nate brings up a number of makers, Sindt, Hoover, “Humphry”, and Reyburn, that I’ve heard great things about but I have no experience with. So, my recommendation of Burkes comes with the caveat that I’m ignorant of many current whistle makers. But I don’t for a minute think that the money spent on my Burkes was a “waist”.
About CranberryDog’s comment about wanting a whistle that “doesn’t slip into the second octave too easily”, that’s exactly what I do want, a whistle that nimbly crosses the octaves without having to tongue out the notes.
From the experieces you describe, you have never played a whistle with any significant back pressure. One of the attributes of back pressure is not slipping into the second octave when you DON"T want to. It has nothing to do with smoothness; Overtons for example are one of the smoothest; as are Copelands, Reyburns, and Sindts. There are reasons why Mary Bergin switched from Generations to Sindts.
Glad you like your Burkes. I have owned several over the years and I think they are fine whistles; especially when one wants a pure tone. I actually prefer his composite whistles because they offer a more complex tone. Cheers and happy whistling, Cyril.
Thanks so much for the help and responses! I appreciate the posts. Lol, I don’t know if it’s cleared up anything, though. I now have to choose between, primarily:
Sindt
Overton
Burke
Hudson
I think I’ll someday probably end up with all of these eventually. I have to admit that I like the look of the burkes, overtons, and hudsons more than the sindts, though. I know, pretty terrible to choose a whistle based on look but when so many people swear by the sounds of all of them look may be what helps me decide which one to buy. I’m emailing some places to find out what the wait is on these. Maybe I’ll just go on which one I can get first (another reason not to get the sindt on the 4 month waiting list–by that time I may have the money for another anyway).
Thanks for the help!