Hey-
Just to let you guys that were wondering about this know; the new Clarke’s Meg has arrived in several stores. It just caught my eye on the Whistle Shop, just wanted to let you guys know.
-Ross
And I got mine from Thom yesterday. I also ordered a Tony Dixon non-tuneable whistle. I’m afraid the Meg suffers in the comparison.
All in all, I think the Meg is a nice whistle. If you like the Sweetone (I do), you’ll like the Meg. I expect to buy a few more as give-away whistles. I also got the little whistle music pocket book. For 90 cents, it is a great addition to the Meg when you give a whistle away. All of the tunes have tablature under the notes, so a beginner can get started right off.
The Dixon has such a rich, full sound that I’d have paid $25 for it without question, had I played it before buying. I would have probably gone to $30 if that was the price. This is the $16 non-tuneable we’re discussing. Great sound.
So, just a mini review from someone who is still tickled about his new whistles.
-Patrick
Can you name some differences between the Meg and the Sweettone? I’m just curious…I’ll get one eventually, but whatever…
-Ross
The Meg compares favorably to the Dixon price-wise.
The Sweetone is made in the U.K. and is available in a variety of colors. The Meg is made somewhere in Asia (I think China) and is available only in grey and black. The Meg is, therefore, cheaper. I’m not sure what the point is - I mean, how much cheaper than a Sweetone does a whistle need to be?
I’ve been giving the Meg away free for at least two weeks, with other orders.
Steve
I just checked the prices at Thom Larson’s site. Megs are selling for a whopping $3.00. Sweetones are $5.80 for painted and $4.60 for unpainted. Or you could spend $9.95 and get a Sweetone “Celtic Whistle” with a special metal flecked paint job and a tiny decal replicating Michael Flatley’s tattoo!
On 2002-06-10 04:04, StevePower wrote:
I’ve been giving the Meg away free for at least two weeks, with other orders.Steve
Free is very good!
I gkkkot one of the free Megs from Steve with a recent order, and I think it’s very acceptable. The tone on mine is actually cleaner & purer than my normnal sweetone, and the matt paint looks nice, compared to the gloss on my black sweetone. I also prefer the more subdued decal.
But like the rest of you, I can’t see what whistle this is going to compete with except the Sweetone itself, and Sweetone sales will presumably drop as a result of this introduction.
Martin,
Is the 2nd octave as loud (compared to the 1st) as the Sweetone?
As far as I could tell. I didn’t really notice any difference except for the cleaner tone.
The paint is slightly thinner, so the ridge on the back feels more promiminent (why don’t they try putting it on the side?) but as for loudness, I couldn’t tell any difference. I think the Meg would record well too.
On 2002-06-10 05:55, Martin Milner wrote:
I think the Meg would record well too.
Anybody feel a Clips n Snips coming on???
Mary
I think the Meg will easily find its own niche to fill. For one thing, it’s aimed at a different market…after all, the Sweetone was designed to appeal to children (and hereabouts, the brightly colored ones are the only ones you can get in the stores). I can also see it appealing to the volume-sales market (where a price difference of $1.50 can be pretty major). I’ve actually been considering buying Megs for the music appreciation class I co-teach next fall. We discovered this year that the kids really enjoy Irish music, and having a whistle of their very own could stimulate them to learn more (most of the kids are in this class because they’ve never developed much of an interest in music…those that have usually go into chorus or band). Not only does the slightly lower price make the Meg attractive for this purpose, the plainer coloring is also an advantage…my kids are mostly 5th and 6th graders, and they’re less likely to enjoy playing a red or green whistle because, to their eyes, it will look like a toy (and, at that age, the last thing they want is for the lower-school kids to think they play with toys!).
Redwolf
I have a MEG coming from Steve but it’s not here yet. However, as far as the question as to what whistle it would be competitive against, I can see it being a great competitor to Generations. Most other low-end whistles are in the Generation’s price range, and the MEG is much cheaper, and probably a better whistle generally - so unless you like to play the “Generation Lottery” (which I do) to get that elusive great one, people looking for a cheap whistle would probably appreciate the lower price.
Hmmm…maybe. I could see the opposite happening too, however. Let’s say a relative newbie wanders into a music store to look at whistles, perhaps with the idea of buying one to play around with. He sees the Generations, looking pretty much like the ones he’s seen the pros play (and feeling pretty solid in the hand…most music stores hereabouts won’t let you actually play one to HEAR the difference), and costing about…what these days? About $10-$15? Then he sees the Meg at about $3.00 and figures it must be a “cheap knock-off.” “Why not pay a ‘little bit’ more and get a ‘better’ one”, he figures (not having the benefit of our experience with Generations). It might be different if the Generations were, say, around $50…then I could see a newbie buying a Meg to “try things out” before committing to a pricier instrument, but at their current price, Generations are quite affordable for most people, and have a more “familiar” look.
Redwolf
Martin Milner wrote:
The paint is slightly thinner, so the ridge on the back feels more promiminent (why don’t they try putting it on the side?)
That’s a really good question. I never thought of that. Now to convince Clarke.