http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2511295918&category=624
sorry to be the one to break the news
wishes she had an extra 600 bucks to burn
drools
I’ve been watching that whistle all week. Is there a history behind it?
Verry prrretty, my precioussssss. 
I realize I’m a whistlesmith, and some people may think I’m nuts to post this about another maker, but…
That is just absolutely, unbelievably beautiful. I mean, that’s appreciable beyond a whistle, that’s art.
Makes a man look in his wallet and cry. 
Take care all,
John
I’ve been watching that whistle all week. Is there a history behind it?
Yeah…
Brent[/quote]
I think it looks a bit cheesy.
(here we go again. )
Quit rockin the boat blü, we all know you do it on purpose!
Only when you’re in the boat with me, honey.
Don’t make me get violent.
Yes, Sa’am.
While I appreciate the input, I was kind of hoping for just a bit more. The auction is over now so this may be a moot point, but the whistle did not sell and will probably be baaaaaaaak again. And I am curious.
For your reading pleasure:
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=2765
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=2838
There are a couple of more threads that were spawned in the course of that discussion (like The Recusal of The Whistlesmiths), but this should be enough to give you an idea.
Yes, I agree it’s a bit pricy, but I still think the engraver, whoever it was, working with a round, tubular surface, not to mention being rather thin walled as it goes, did a very beautiful job and looks like they left it quite playable.
I am very interested to know what effects it has had on intonation… if any. 
the endless musings of a whistlesmith!!!
Take care all,
John
Thanks Bloomfield. Those were a couple of interesting threads. I Understand now Tyghress’s title “It’s baaaaaak”.
as a kid who just spends (way too) much of his time hanging out with the local organ builders rather than doing homework, I’d have to say that the engraving would not affect the sound a bit. As a physics major, perhaps I could explain why? The tone and brightness (insert whatever adjective you like here) are created by the way the air flows over the fipple, and by the material in the barrel. The shape of the inside of the barrel is also very important. That said, I’ve seen organ pipes smashed or melted, or stepped on (yeah, there’s some dumb people out there), and still played perfectly once the inside was smoothened out. Anyway, I’ve no doubt that it plays wonderfully, but whatever the sound, the engraving should not affect it a bit.
I personally like the engraving…vines are cool things
But the question is, does the engraving increase the value of the whistle by 100%?
The market is saying, emphatically, no. It has said ‘no’ at least three times.
It may be that it doesn’t play very well. Copelands are not always consistent and I know people who have had to keep sending theirs back to Mike & Jim. (I hear QC has improved recently.) It seems hard to believe, though, that they would go to the trouble of engraving a whistle that wasn’t a great player.
in order for it to change the tone at all, you’d probably have to make the entire tube wall much thinner than it currently is. but even so, you’d have to blow really hard for the resonance of the tube wall to have any major affect on the overall tone quality.
you could probably find a master engraver to do that kind of work for you for a hundred or two. so labor and what not might be worth the asking buy it now price, but demand is probably not that strong.
still a beautiful whistle by all means
Nothing in the ebay listing indicates its anything less than a wonderful Copeland. somehow the seller doesn’t come across as someone who would say “Yeah, I had this so-so whistle engraved, then decided it wasn’t good enough for me”.
Without having the seller here to get chewed on (not something I recommend), I can only assume that they got an instrument, and thought, “Gee, I can kick up its value by getting it engraved, then resell it on eBay and make a killing” and are now learning differently.
Am I right in saying that ebay takes a cut of their mininmum selling value every time its listed?