Serpent, thank you for the efforts you are making to be competitive and a quality craftsman.
Too late… 
I think Bill is a bit free with the self-serving posts and we even exchanged PMs on the subject several months ago. In fact, unless he comes up with a whistle in a hard-to-get key (like Ab, hint, hint) I am not likely to buy any of his whistles – call it my own little backlash against self-promotion, if you will. I’m sure Bill’s whistles are good but there are a lot of good whistles from makers who blow their own horns (or whistles) a little less loudly.
However - those who seem to want to follow him around this board criticizing every move he makes are at least as annoying he is! Maybe even more so. At least in his case his motives are fairly clear while the motives of the “Bill-bashers” are more puzzling to me.
This thread is a good example of that - whatever you may think of Bill, do you know of any other maker who has lowered the price of a perfectly good whistle and then offered to refund money to those who have already purchased one? Do you really think Bill is stupid enough to believe that his offer is going to generate enough new business to offset the potential loss of money already earned?
I wish Bill were a little less self-promoting, but even so I’ve come to believe his motives are something other than strictly monetary. In fact, that pretty much applies to all whistle makers, at least those selling in the low to middle price ranges. How much money do y’all think is to be made in selling whistles for $20-$100? I daresay most of them probably barely offset their expenses and if they’re making more than six or eight bucks an hour they’re doing extremely well – and that after an initial equipment investment that, in some cases, would have been enough to start a much more profitable business.
There are 2880 registered users of this board but probably something like only 200 to 300 regularly visit the forum. Even so, I suspect that this forum represents a relatively huge percentage of the people who are regularly in the market for high-quality whistles. So, if you think any of the low-to-middle price-range makers out there are making a killing, you don’t have a very good grasp of business economics.
For Cranberry:
Well, you and I don’t always agree, but I happen to be with you on this one. I have heard of message boards where blatant self-promotion by a few drove away so many of the more valuable posters (defined as the ones who consistently put in good information on the intended topics of the boards) that the board ceased functioning. One BBS I frequent has a commercial forum which is the only place for folks to put ads. That works well in that place, but I don’t know how it would work here.
I decided NOT to purchase any of Serpent’s whistles because I didn’t like his promotion strategies. Also, it seems to me that if every week sees “new developments” in his designs, he probably isn’t done refining and tinkering with his patterns yet. When he can go 6 months with one set of designs, I will consider looking closer, even though he’d have to change his marketing tactics before I buy. Until then, it seems like anyone new to a craft - every time he figures out something that other folks already know, it is a huge deal and needs to be broadcast to the world. For that matter, if I tried someone’s Serpent from last month and liked it, there’s no guarantee that Bill would even be making the same thing by the time I wanted one.
As to not having books, go to the library. Alternatively, go learn a new tune or a new instrument. Goodness knows I’d like to have time to work on my music, but with two small children, I don’t have time for much of anything for myself alone.
Oh, and keep this avatar for a while. I like the pretty whistles better than “Night of the Living Stickmen.” It is also on topic!
Dale- are you saying that you are letting him have rope to hang himself or that you let him have extra slack for tying up loose ends?
-Patrick
I think it’s a hemp rope and Dale is telling us that Bill has been bribing him with some of his, er, well, maybe not… 
You guys are just flat priceless!
serp