The results of the last few months LWHOAD, including my birthday present to myself (the Burke).
Jeez, it is the most I have ever paid for a whistle, as much as I paid for the other three, (MK D, Impempe D, Dixon trad G), put together.
David
Sounds like you must have gotten a good deal on your MK, then!
I’ve been playing on my Burke low E a lot lately, as it’s my favourite of the burkes. Indeed Michael makes good whistles. How are you liking it?
Hi Sirchronique
I did 
. about half the new price, the Impempe and the Dixon were the same.
The Burke is nice, I enjoyed playing around with it last night, but I had a look at the instructions and found out I was using the wrong method to tune it (RTFM 
). It will be tuned properly when I go to the afternoon session today.
David
Cool, Davey!
When I jumped into Low Whistles back around 2007 I bought quite a few and ended up with the Burke (Pro Viper) as my favourite and sold the rest. I played it at sessions and in my small Scottish/Irish traditional group (we’re like an Irish band, but seems like half the things we play are Scottish!)
I really loved the smooth voicing and booming Bottom D of the Burke, and the way it felt in my hands.
When I got my first MK I remember taking both to a session and switching back and forth. There was something, I don’t know what, about the MK that made it feel like it blended in with the session a tiny bit better.
I’d like to hear what your impressions are, going the other way so to speak.
I’m interested in your photo there. The whistle on the far left looks like many of the early Burkes, with an all-metal beak and smaller bulge on the barrel. (Impempe?) The one next to it looks like the Burkes I have, with delrin beak and longer bulge… but the barrel appears to be put on upside down. (I currently have Burkes in Low D, Eb, F, G, A, and high D.)
BTW if anyone has a Burke Low E they want to trade for an excellent Overton Low E, I’m game! The Overton is a fantastic player but I’d prefer to have an all-Burke lineup for ease of switching. Or a Burke in F#/Gb or G#/Ab.
Hi Richard
The one on the left is the Impempe, and it and the Burke are similar in more than looks. They play very much alike as well, both sound wise and response wise. If you are looking for a low D that plays nicely and can do double duty as a club, then the Impempe is for you, it is incredibly robust.
As to comparing the Burke to my MKs it sits between them in the way it plays, at least in the limited time I have had with it. The sound is noticeably purer than both of them, but there is enough grit in the tone to make playing it enjoyable.
It doesn’t have the powerful lower octave of my red MK, and the green one is easier in the second octave, it sits in between them. I think it will be getting quite a bit of play once I have set it up properly.
I actually did put it together the wrong way round at first, then I noticed the rotating bottom joint and swapped it round.
David
Davy I was talking about the barrel joint, that’s upside down in your photo.
The narrow part is intended to be at the body, as you can see here (photo from pipersgrip.50webs.com)
Thanks for that Richard, I will turn it round forthwith.
David