I am considering purchasing the Sweetheart Low D. They come in both styles and was wondering if anyone here has had any experience with either or both. I know the easy reach would be easier to play, but what do you give up in terms of volume or tone? I have heard that the E in particular may be a bit weak. Is it worth it for the ease of playing, or is there very little difference in reach? I have what I guess is medium sized hands. I have a Dixon Low E which I can handle fairly well (using the pipers’ grip).
I don’t have direct experience with either Sweetheart low whistle, but if you can handle a low E with piper’s grip and have no problem, then you probably can handle a low D using the same grip.
Whenever there is a model that shortens the grip by compressing hole spacing, there is usually an acoustical compromise too, so I would suggest going for the standard model always. And if you find you can’t handle it, most likely most makers will happily do an exchange for the smaller hand version if necessary. But of course, it’s wise to ask them first!
Barry
I have an earlier Sweetheart Resonance, made before there was a fingering choice. Both my wife and I can play it easily. FWIW, she had trouble fingering a Copeland low D.
I believe another factor in the ease of piper’s grip, is the whistle itself–At least, if you have small hands and/or with skinny fingers. Different whistles will have different tone hole sizes, and therefore tone hole spacings. I have a hard time playing Low D’s due to my skinny fingers, in fact I had a Chieftain low D for about a year and I sold it because I had a hard time with closing the very large E hole on the thing. To compare, I’ve played a Burke low D on many occasions, and have had more success because the E hole on it is not as large as the Chieftain, however the D and E tone holes on the Burke are spaced out just a wee bit more.
Something to think about if you have small hands, if you can, try before you buy, although for some people, low D’s may take a while to get used to.
Off topic…
brewerpaul, shouldn’t your signature graphic say 2 months? 1 month and 4 weeks sounds silly, since, 4 weeks is obviously 1 month… 
Cheers,
[/quote]brewerpaul Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 3:04 am Post subject:
I have an earlier Sweetheart Resonance, made before there was a fingering choice. Both my wife and I can play it easily. FWIW, she had trouble fingering a Copeland low D.
So would it be safe to say you probably have what is now refered to as the “pipers grip” model? Do you still use the pipers grip to play it, or your finger tips? If the pipers grip model still has a pretty narrow hole spacing, then I know that this would be the better choice as there would be no sacrifice in tone or volume.
Actually, I’m pretty sure the easy reach was the only model before there was an option. The piper’s grip model is the most recent model.
Keep in mind that with low D whistles there’s always a tradeoff between ergonomics and peformance.
Were all the fingerholes to be placed in the acoustically correct position, so that each note was equally powerful and in tune, the holes would be too far apart for anybody to play (well maybe Andre the Giant).
Were all the fingerholes to be placed so that they comfortably sat under the average person’s fingers, the scale would be out of tune and uneven in strength.
It’s a sliding scale between these two extremes, and each maker must decided for himself how weak it’s acceptable for certain notes to be, and how far apart it’s acceptable for certain holes to be.
So it’s inevitable that a low D with wider-spaced holes (which I assume the “piper’s grip” model is) will have a more even, stronger scale than an “easy reach” model.
The worst note of the low D is the bottom hole from which low E emits. For low E to be as powerful as the surrounding F# and bottom D, the hole would have to be halfway between the F# hole and the open end, and the same diameter as the F# hole. You’ll note that no low D’s have that hole so placed, because nobody could reach it.
So it’s always a compromise, with that hole a bit of a reach and that note a bit weak.
aphily8ed, I’m an infrequent reader of this site, but just saw your post. As I posted back in August, I was one of the early adopters of the new piper’s grip model of the Sweetheart Resonance (see my previous post at https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/new-whistle-sweetheart-resonance-low-d-pipers-grip/58261/1 ). I’ve now been playing it daily for 6 months and would strongly recommend it if you can already play with pipers grip. It is quite a reach compared with my Howard low D but holes are quite small and reasonably easy to cover well and more importantly the low E note is good and solid (reputedly the flaw of the easy reach model). So based on my experience I’d say go for it - its a fantastic whistle, well balanced and in tune across both octaves. The low register is gorgeous.
Dave