Hey everyone. I’m looking to get a nice low D. I’m not sure exactly what I’d like, but possibly an Alba, or an Overton, or Kerry Songbird. Just wondering if anyone has anything that they wouldn’d mind parting with. I have a syn high D that I’d like to trade, and I could pay for the price difference. Thanks.
I don’t have a low D, but I want a Syn high D-- out of curiosity, why are you selling it? I was seriously considering asking my father for that exact whistle for solstice.
It’s just not the sounds that I was looking for. It’s quite loud, and I was looking for a more quiet, sweet whistle. It sounds great, but its just not for me now. I’m using an Alba Q1 now, and it is exactly what I was looking for.
Hmmm. I like the sound of the Alba as well, but I need something loud enough for the orchestra and tunable-- and I love the sound of the Syn. do you think a Syn would be the best bet in its price range? (Under 75 bucks) I’m looking for the ideal Solstice-present-whistle from my father, but I’ve held off telling him exactly which one. I hate that our music shop here on the island has never even heard of a tinwhistle. >.< I never get to try them out!
Hey Steve, ever think about just getting a low whistle itself? I’ve heard of good ones under $50. I think the Susato Dublin was under $50 last time I checked. Daniel Bingamon also has his low-budget whistle for $28!
May, I have a Syn complete set (A-E) that I hadn’t been giving much attention to, until lately. Instead of fishing during my spare moments, I’ve reverted to playing the Syns. Still not what I looked for in sound, but nonetheless, very fine whistles. I could best compare the volume of my Syn C with that of my Walton C, just with more backpressure. You could probably save more money, and have your father get you a Syn triple set from Gaelic Crossings (C, D, and Eb) for under $60.
If you want a syn why not get it directly from Erle himself. I gout a set with Bb,C, D and Eb bodies, interchangeable head, including P&P for £40 GBP.
Absolutely outstanding value for money and well packaged and delivered from Oz to the Emerald Isle in only a week. 
I hae tried a few of the lower priced low whistles, and didn’t really like anyo fo them.. I hink im just going to wait till someone on the board is selling a nice low D. Hopefully I’ll find something.
In my opinion, Syn is the best you can get for that kind of money, and some of the best whistles you can get for any amount of money, but that’s a matter of opinion (again).
The problem is that Erle has possibly stoped making these for health reasons related to the aluminium. I’d advice anybody to get their hands on as many Syns as possible while they’re still available at some places.
As far as I’m concerned, in a couple of years, a Syn will be the holy grail of the whistle world, or at least it would be if everybody had exactly the same taste as I have 
I find nothing that I dislike about that whistle. It fits me just superbly. Lovely sound, feel and playability. Just the right amount of backpressure.
Lovely
I prefer The Black Diamond to the Syn, but a Syn is not a bad Whistle at all.
Dig up my review of the Black Diamond, and you’ll get a more in depth opinion from me on both the Black Diamond and the Syn.
Hey, thanks! I think I will go for the D/C/Eb Syn for Solstice-- very versatile, especially considering that Eb and C are two of the trickier keys that are most common in the score I’m working on.
Thanks for all the advice-- one more question–
If I get the 3-body set, can I then buy additional bodies to fit the same head and eventually acquire the complete set? (Which would make sense, I know, but I don’t like to assume!)
Thanks again!
Yes you can, as long as Erle still makes/has them. Last I checked, they were $10 each body. Later on down the road, you could contact him at
synwhistles at yahoo dot com dot au
My personal taste…many people say that the low A is the worst body for that Syn, as it is just too low for that bore size. On the contrary, I think it is by far the best out of my entire set.
Oops…might I add that the $10 price is in Australian dollars. Which in US dollars is $7-8, depending on the current currency rate
Erle IS still making them.
Quote from his email to me of 13th November this year
“Hi Brendan,
yes, I’m still making the syns. No problem to do that set for you. Cost is $40 for the head and then $10 per body and $12 for postage (that’s in Oz dollars, so do a conversion into whatever you use). I can do paypal these days too if that is of use to you.
Cheers, Erle.”
I bought two sets during November and earlier this month. Just email him with your order to synwhistles@yahoo.com.au and you can PayPal the money. Both my orders were delivered within 7days.
The whistles will need a bit of a clean in warm soapy water and a quick shine as he no longer cleans them up because of his worries about the aluminium dust - but that’s no big deal.
In my humble opinion these are the best value for money at this price range. I would have been prepared to pay twice the money for them!
Thanks for all the great Syn advice!
I have one winging its merry way to me from Arizona as we speak! (Thanks Dad! 
)
After taking a look at the Brigadoon score in terms of all the many many many (many) keychanges, I decided on the D/C/Eb whistle-- it’s going to be SO much easier to master these pieces with those other tubes! Some of the longer pieces, I was delighted to discover, are either in C or Eb. And those that switch around like crazy often have just enough measures to allow a quick tube change.
It’s going to be pretty nuts.
But I’m going to do it.
Considering I’ve played the damned thing on a D Feadog, I should be okay.
On a note of personal achievement, I indeed played the score (all fifty some-odd pages of it) all the way through the other day. It wasn’t gorgeous, by any stretch, but by the Gods I played every note.
On another other note, any suggestions on how to train my D-conditioned brains for the many-bodied Syn?