I don’t think Susato whistles are underrated or have a very bad reputation. The forum is basically split into two camps, as you’d expect from a whistle which is so different from all the others.
I personally hate the sound. As I’ve said I think they sound like cheap recorders. I have no problem controlling them and I don’t find them particularly hard to play. I’ve always been a huge fan of backpressure whistles, so if the sound was tolerable and the octaves a bit more balanced, then maybe I could use them for something.
If the smooth plastic of a Susato isn’t to one’s liking, why not sand it with some wet and dry to give it a rougher texture? I would think that sanding in small circular motions would give the best result feeling wise.
Other option would be to paint it, varnish it or use some other coating material on it. Putting something on it would probably alter the tone a little bit though, but you could always sand it off if you didn’t like it and be back at the first suggestion with a rougher surface.
At least this way, you get to keep all the playing characteristics that you like.
I have tried Susato’s at Hobgoblin when i first started playing and couldn’t get my head around them at all. I’ll be popping in there again next week to try out that low D Phil’s raving about (unless he’s nabbed the only one they had 
), so i’ll definitely give the Susato another go now that i’ve got a bit more experience.
Gack, absolutely not. Burkes don’t play anything like Susatos. They’re completely different sorts of beasts.
(And just to scandalize Henke – yes, I like Susatos much better than Burkes.)
Trying to “sway” Henke is the last thing I was trying to do. I believe his
“prejudices” if I dare to use that word are too deep. But he is certainly
entitled to his opinions and prejudices as I am as well. Using a word
such as “horrible” to describe a useful, functional musical instrument
is IN MY OPINION a misuse of the English Language. I considered my
post a positive one expressing our feelings and not defensive at all.
It’s my considered opinion we have very little to be defensive about
and anyone can jump up and down and talk about my “arrogance” if
it so pleases them. As far as addressing Gabriel’s specific concerns
I’m sorry we don’t offer a whistle that suits his particular feel. We do
offer the whistle player more choices (different keys, one & two piece
models, different colors, custom engraving, Low whistles with key
systems) than any other maker that I know of so when someone
says we aren’t offering them anything they want I just shake my
head and think oh well can’t please everybody! Thanks again to
all our customers and supporters. I’ll let you all be for a few more
months now.
Happy Whistling,
Kelhorn Mike
If this were the entirety of your post, it would have been perfectly
classy and made me feel good about Susato as a company. That’s
good PR. Seriously, I’m just trying to help here, as a fellow North
Carolinian… You don’t have to be everything to everyone, but you
could talk to the people who have genuine concerns to see what
your customer base feels about whistles in general. Or you could
just ignore them. Either way is fine, I just don’t think it reflects well
on the company to only respond to the negative comments in a
defensive way. I know, it’s hard not to let your loyalty blind you to
those criticisms which could be useful.
I followed this discussion for a while ,and now I guess for me the time is come to give my own comment .
I can´t follow your opinion about susato whistles at all Henke .
I´m honest ,for stage work I prefer my Goldie Overton´s ,cause I like the sound of aluminium whistles very much ,but for secure and outside of concerts I often play susato whistles,and I guess susato whistles are quite well for this low price you normally can get them,the fact that even many professionals play them on stage and in sessions is a kind of good argument I think ,for professionals its a different view on how a whistle works and sounds,cause we need them to earn our money to life ,so,I dont guess that so many are wrong and you´re the only one who is always right .Well,in your opinion they´re bad ,but in most of our eyes they´re at least well made instruments,if you love to play them or not is no matter.
Many of my students play susato whistle,cause in my eyes susatos are really good whistles for starters and even pro musicians .
Keep on whistling Mike,may the story of susatos continue .
Julian
When someone says, “I don’t like xxx brand and they just don’t do it for me,” then I think a maker does more harm than good to respond to that.
But if someone says, “I think xxx brand are horrible, you can make more music with a chainsaw and a cinder block,” then I think that invites a response. It would be hard for anyone to let a statement like that go without responding, because of that old adege “silence gives assent.”
Just my $.02, probably worth exactly what you paid to read it.
–James
Perhaps. But, from what I’ve learned about customer service, it is
always better to disarm than to defend. If I went into a fast food
resteraunt, holding a burger with one bite out of it, and told the
manager that the meat was terrible, even if I was a jerk about it,
the manager would be better off apologizing and replacing it with
a chicken sandwich than denying that there is anything wrong with
their meat supplier.
Because, from a PR standpoint, Henke is just a guy on the Internet
with an opinion, and Kelhorn is a representative of the Susato
company So, any negative opinion I get from one of Kelhorn’s (Is
that your first name, or is it Mike?) will last much longer than one I
get from Henke, or even from any large group of board members.
It’s just a fact of the human psychy.
Fearfaoin,
Thank you for your comments and I do believe you are sincere and
mean well. We like to think we aren’t blinded by loyalty and do
appreciate constructive comments. But a certain segment including
Henke really have nothing to offer us. Many others are very
uninformed or I could say ignorant of how and why we make our
whistles like we do and all the complexities involved. It’s a PR problem
to say the least! We have to look at the “Big Picture” first and then
if possible address the little concerns. It’s the cruel reality of staying
in business or not. I like to think no one gets ignored but in reality
we can’t pay “close” attention to everybodies needs and desires.
I hope you can understand what I’m trying to convey.
Cheers,
Kelhorn Mike
Too true. Susato is not a custom whistle maker, and may not have
time or use for that sort of market research.
In the spirit of constructiveness, I offer this merely as a
suggestion, that no one need take any heed of, but I think it makes
sense. My wife (a Vet) noticed that angry costomers are disarmed
when you acknowledge their patience especially when they are
not actually being patient! Then, they are often placated even when
you don’t give them what they want.
Personally, I would respond to my detractors in this way:
“Henke, et al, I’m sorry you do not find joy in our product. Perhaps
future models will be more to your liking. Until then, we will continue
to pursue the quality and selection that our current customers
expect.”
The detractors cannot respond to this without looking bad,
forstalling an argument that puts a bad taste in everyone’s mouth,
and you’ve still put a good word in for the company. I don’t know…
it just seems more politic, but I’m no salesman.
Wow, this really took off in a few hours.
By horrible, I was refering to the sound alone, something which might not have come out in my first post. I tried to adress this in my following posts. Horrible sound is my opinion, and it’s a valid opinion in my mind. Is this clear enough for you too Julian?
I do not like the sound of Susato’s. Period. Follow me now?
I do not disrespect Susato as a company. There is obviously a market for whistles that sound like cheap recorders (IMO).
I do think Susato’s have good intonation and a stable tone. They have nice backpressure. However, the octaves are too unbalanced and again, I hate the sound.
Now is there anything else?
fearfaoin still makes extremely good points.
this is just like having thanksgiving dinner with the family, only without the food. and as usual, my comment and question got ignored and overlooked. all i wanted to know was if the person who started this thread has a problem with all plastic in life or just playing the susato. i am going to my room until someone pays attention to me and answers my questions.
family, can’t live with them…so you don’t.
Obviously, the only person who can answer this is the person who started this thread. It’s very likely that you did not get overlooked by the majority of people in this thread.
Like Wombat, I find I like my Susato the more I improve.
To get back to the original question.
Somewhat to my surprise, the whistle I find most like a Susato is a Sweetheart Professional. Rather loud whistle. Very similar in size and feel. Very close sound in the lower notes. The Sweetheart is the clear winner in the upper octave, but the Sweetheart is many times more expensive.
Sure it’s wood, not metal, but it does not require any more care than a metal whistle.
If I was looking for a Susato replacement with a non-plastic feel, I would start here. Especially if you find a good price. However, it only comes in D and C.
I have a Susato and I thought it felt very nice in my hands. It is really a very nicely made whistle. It comes apart completely so you can clean it easily. It was very loud for my situation and with my beginner playing the high notes were very shrill and unmusical sounding—but I cannot blame the whistle because I don’t know how it would sound if someone better played it. I found another whistle that suited my situation better, but many people really like Susatos and I have certainly kept mine. I guess if you have some unique aversion or allergy to plastic that is one thing, but I would stick with the Susato if that’s the sound you like. I myself cannot conceive of buying an expensive whistle that sounds just like one that is less expensive. If people laugh at plastic and think it is not “cool” that would just tip me off as to what sort of foolish people they are. Better to find out sooner than later.
What Cynth said makes a lot of sense-if you like the tone of the Susatos, just go with them, and take care of the feel by sanding them. I think 0000 or 000 steel wool was recommended by someone, to use on the outside to make it less slippery. I don’t think I would go in a circular motion though, either lengthwise, or as some whistlemakers do, across the width, which is probably harder to control.
I don’t care much for loud whistles, no matter what brand, but I did have one Susato that I liked very much, a Low D, that played great in both octaves, and even the upper was sweet, and not harsh at all.
Sorry to say, I was in the midst of trying to find the sound I liked best, and to afford another, I sold the Susato. Now I wish I had kept it! It stayed by the computer, ready to pick up and play-and it didn’t need warming up like the metal whistles, and didn’t clog like them either.
The Susato tone is a bit different than metal whistles, and other brands, but sometimes that’s good! If your whistle sounds the same as everyone else’s whistle…! So, it’s your choice, but I say too, go with what you like best.
I didn’t say they were very similar. I don’t think anything I’ve played in metal is close to a Susato. I was thinking of the pure fairly bland tone and the fact that both whistles are reasonably responsive. There is no real similarity in blowing characteristics, balance or volume. Also, the responsiveness of a Susato would be more evident to an experienced player than a beginner or intermediate player; Burkes are much more forgiving.