Hey gang,
I am planning to order a Burke this week, and am debating adding the extra Cn hole. My only concern would be if it would cause any bad habits when I switch to a different whistle. But on some songs, it would be kind of nice to go one extra note down. I can’t decide. 
matt
When I first read your message, I thought you meant an extra Cn hole in the back–to provide a theoretically more in-tune Cn than OXXOOO gives.
I have a second-hand burke with that kind of Cn hole in the back, and I taped it over.
As for a lower C hole below the D note, I know Silkstone whistles can come that way (D-plus), but I never really found much use for it in session music. That’s not to say it wouldn’t be useful to some people for some music, of course. I just personally haven’t had that need.
i wouldn’t worry about that at all. uilleann pipers have seven holes to cover aswell+one in the back,
and that way they become better whistlers.
and you can still tape it off if you can’t get used to it.
here’s more related stuff http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=664&highlight=extra+cnat+hole http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=18367&highlight=cnat+hole
I have the silkstone with the extra hole. I didn’t think I’d use it at first. It seems a bit of a stretch out there and wasn’t that easy to hit. Then I decided to play a tune with a low C in it to see if I could get used to it. After a few tries it gets easy enough. I don’t use it for the middle c nat, mainly because the oxxooo c nat on the silkstone is about as good as it can get anyway. But I imagine you could get used to that too.
Can’t say what it would be like on a Burke though.
I’ve been thinking lately that it would be nice to have a whistle with that extra hole. I don’t have experience with them,but there are a few tunes that I’d like to be able to go down that low,and I heard you can use it to ornament the second octave D,which sounds like fun. So if I were you I’d get it. I’ll probably get one myself someday soon.
Seis, can you go ahead and order one, have it sent overnight and tell me about it? Just kidding 
I have to say, that there have been a few times it would have been nice to have a c just below the low d. I’ll have to sleep on this, or maybe do a poll and let everyone else decide??
That could be fun.
m
Greg, there is no hole on the back of the whistle, it’s down below the low d note. You don’t have to cover it up if you don’t want to use it, actually if you covered it up, you’d be playing the Cn.
Yup..I got that after reading your message closer 
Thom from the Whistle Shop really tired to sell me on one like that when I got my last Silkstone. I thought about it, but I decided I didn’t want any gimmicks.
I thought at first glance you meant the other way because I had one like that already.
hee hee heeeeeeee!
Well, maybe NOW you want one, eh?
OK, maybe I’m missing something here, but the only C natural option I see on the Burke order page is the extra thumb hole on the back of the whistle to give you the C natural just below the second octave D on a D whistle. I don’t see any option to get the C natural below the lowest D note.
I’d be willing to bet with a tubing cutter, some glue, and a dremil tool, you could come up with a seven hole feadog or gen to experiment with befor you plunk down good money on a seven holer.
Aluminum tape would do a good job of joining the extra bit of tubing on the end too. Several kinds of epoxy would work as well.
Half hour job maybe?
ps
The part with the extra hole will be at the end of the original tube , not the little bit you glue one. Offset to the right a bit.
Oh Lord, I think I should not post when I’m sick 
Norseman, thank you for clearing that up. Well, that makes my decision pretty easy? But where in the world did I see the seventh hole? Maybe it was the Silkstone and somehow my mind is playing tricks on me. 
Maybe I better go to sleeeeeeep. ZZzzzzzzzzzz
Norseman is right, Mike doesn’t offer the extended tube with an extra bottom hole to allow for C-natural below the D… I think you’ll have to get a Silkstone or an Overton if you want that option.
What Mike offers on his current website listing is indeed a C-natural thumb hole… and I highly recommend those, because they are a much better alternative than cross-fingering or half-holing.
Of course the purists will disagree, but it’s the truth… try it and see for yourself! 
So how do you play it? I assume you keep the hole sealed until you want to play Cn, but what fingers do you hold down on “top”, or do you take all fingers off?
Hey Gary, I just checked out your web site. That new “stealth” tip is really nice looking! Does that carry a price difference?
matt
Keep your left index finger covering the top hole and drop your left thumb instead… very easy to get used to, and as handy as a pocket on a shirt! 
It also opens up the possibility to play ornaments that otherwise couldn’t be played… or that at least would be considerably more difficult without the thumb hole.
I get it! Thanks.
I have a Burke with the C-natural hole. I used it for a while, but I got tired of using different fingerings for different whistles. Some parts are easier to play with the Cn hole, but after practicing with 0xx 000, I got good enough at using it so that it’s not really an issue. Also, keeping the back hole closed tightly sometimes created a bit of tension in my grip. So I taped the hole over. The small-bored Burkes have a pretty sharp cross-fingered C-natural though.
I don’t disagree.
I’ve taped mine over, because the hole placement is not where I’m used to holding my thumb, so it feels awkward, and it’s a new fingering that I don’t want to learn because the standard cross fingering is adequate and plus I’m lazy 
You could use the lower thumb to get the F natural as in the Sopilka below; a fully Chromatic Whistle.
http://www.crees.ku.edu/outreach/sopilka.pdf
John S