What is the best way to place an order with Patrick…might as well get the wait started…and which do you suggest? wood/metal???I want the D/C set.
I think you have to call him.
I’m going to place an order, leave it open ended, and when I pass through Fort Wayne this summer I’ll see if I can stop in and see what I like.
You have to call him, number is on the main C&F site.
As to the wood/metal issue, it depends on what you like. Believe it or not, he doesn’t charge a premium for wood, so his wooden whistles sell for about 1/2 what other high-quality wooden whistles cost. If you don’t want the extra care that comes with woody ownership, you’ll probably want metal. I believe he uses the same mouthpieces, so the difference in sound is probably minimal.
Hey Chas…
Just to expound a little on what has been said here-
There is most DEFINITELY a difference in tone between the wood and aluminum tubes. The Traveller series had a slightly brighter yet quieter tone, almost harsh on some notes…and didn’t sem as well balanced across the octaves to my ear as the Concert series.
The wood seems to have some very rich tonal harmonics and is also very easy to cross-finger and half-hole accurately. My vote would have to be for the wood hands down…did we mention price? CHEAP relatively speaking too!
Care shouldn’t be a problem either - as I think I probably polish off my metal whistles MUCH more frequently than I need to worry about oiling the bore of the tubes on my concert whistles. 6 times a year or so is the minimum Pat suggests. Even if you were to do it once a month, come on…it takes all of a minute to do maybe? Not too terribly hard. 
Bri~
Which one does Joannie Madden use? I love the sound of hers.
I very definitely prefer the Traveller whistles to the wooden O’Riordans I’ve tried.
And while I rely on a Traveller D, the best whistle players I know actually prefer the O’Riordan head on a Generation body for D. Claim it gets better response. (And then get the Traveller model for every whistle lower than D, Loretto Reid told me.)
Oops! I stand humbly corrected – It’ll still probably be 2.5 years before I play an O’Riordan.
Can anyone tell us – does Patrick use the same head for the concert and traveller whistles?
Charlie
Well I called today and learned that he is not taking orders until he gets caught up with his backlog.
The headjoints for the Concert and Traveller series are close but not exactly the same. Overall, the construction seemed similar, but a bit cleaner on the concert set as opposed to the travellers when i received them a month or so ago. They both have a very distinctive O’Riordan sound…dare I say it?? Almost a hint of recorder-ishness to them…but still solid whistles.
I like the look of the Concert hands down as well, and the feel of the thicker body tube. If there is any way possible, I’d see if you can find someone with both who might be willing to let you have a test go for a week or so on the different models. I actually had a kind soul send me a Copeland brass D once “just to try it out” on the good faith that I would return it when done. With he in Delaware and me in Utah, quite a leap of faith on his part of course…but the whistle made it home and everyone was happy. (I also decided I didn’t care too much for Copelands at the time).
Anyway, I hope that offers a bit more light on it for ya.
B~
Joanie Madden plays the Traveler models. She told a story in concert how she ran over a bag of her whistles with a car. All of the wooden whistles were smashed, but the Travelers were unharmed.
Vinny