I’m relatively new to the whistle world. I haven’t been able to find any reviews or comments on The Irish Flute Store or Chuck Tilbury whistles. Has anyone had experience with either? BTW I love this site. So glad that it’s available. I’ve already spent hours reading your comments. Thank you.
Hi sfwhistle
I have no experience with Chuck Tilbury, but Doc Jones (Irish flute store) is a gentleman.
David
Previous messages on Chiff & Fipple Message Board about Chuck Tilbury Whistles (Granite Falls Manufacturing)
And Doc Jones at the Irish Flute Store is a gentleman AND a vet.
Kevin Krell
I received a whistle from Doc. It was a great purchase and prompt too.
But wait theres more…
A portion of the sales from some of his whistles goes to an orphanage in Haiti that he is involved in.
Thats good enough for me.
Doc is the best. Fear not.
Cheers.
Byll
And - Doc’s policy is that if you don’t like it, send it back… Whistles can be very personal tastes; one person’s perfect sound may not appeal to another. So that return policy makes it possible for you to be sure that it’s a good whistle for your ears (and those around you).
Additionally, both Doc and Chuck post here regularly.
Best wishes.
Steve
I own a Tilbury Bb/C combo …very nice whistle …one of my favorites actually. Chuck does nice work; you won’t be disappointed.
The craftsmanship of Chuck Tilbury’s Aluminum whistles is outstanding. In my mind one should have a little experience under their belt prior to trying the Tilbury Aluminum so I would not categorize the Aluminum model as a beginner’s whistle.
He is a real gentleman to deal with as well.
I’m still very much the beginner so maybe I don’t know enough to notice this but I’m curious as to what you mean. I’ve not gotten to stage where I can make a Gen or a LBW sound good, but I can sound half decent on a good whistle such as an Oz or a Copeland. I can also sound decent on my Tilbury, so to my way of thinking, it’s a pretty good whistle for my stanky whistle skills.
You’re obviously coming at this with a different perspective. To be clear, I’ve no intention of arguing with you, I’m just interested in hearing how someone more experienced sees it.
Agreed. Chuck’s a peach …and he gets whistles in the mail quickly.
You’ll never be treated better by anyone in this world!
At various times I’ve purchased whistles and a flute from him, traded instruments with him, and he sold a high end whistle for me.
Doc is all class and has a huge heart.
jim
Thank you all for responding. I can tell that I’m going to start feeding my addiction very soon.
Sorry, I just had to add my two cents since I’ve done business more than once with both Chuck and Doc.
They are both gentlemen and they understand customer service.
Doc is a great source of advice as well.
I own Chuck’s whistles in D and Bb. I like them both. The D qualifies as a session whistle IMO. It has plenty of backpressure and you will need to be prepared for that. Both whistles are in tune with themselves.
I play them often. Chuck also stands by his instruments. I had a high D with a problem that I though was me for about six months then Chuck told me he thought the whistle had a problem. I returned it to Chuck and he built a new head for me.
Nice guys, both of them. Buy their stuff. 
Michael
Can of worms time. Some might ask, “Would you learn to drive in a Rolls Royce?” and will suggest that whistlers do their time on cheaper whistles before graduating to more expensive whistles, or even stick with a cheapie, cos a tweaked cheapie is good enough for professionals. Others will say that there’s no point in struggling to learn to drive an old banger if you can afford something better, so go for a reasonably expensive whistle if you want to invest an equivalent amount of time in learning to play. Sit back and enjoy the ride.
I think that experienced players can make 99% of all whistles sound good, whereas beginners find some whistles easier to play than some other whistles. Will a good whistle cover up poor technique? I doubt it. Will a cheap whistle limit a good player? I doubt that too, although I’d love to think that a “better” whistle would solve all of my inadequacies at the stroke of a credit card.
If you’ve started on a Copeland or an Oz, what’s the point in picking up a cheapie?
I’m gonna hide now…
This is the sort of thing I meant by not being a beginner’s whistle. I believe many experienced whistlers appreciate being able to “lean” into a tune, but I’m not sure a beginner would initially find this as asset.
And a beginner may not be prepared for how loud some whistles with backpressure need to be played to get the full value of the whistle. I’m thinking of spouses and family here (and the fellow in the apartment next door). Plus if one is self-conscious about loudness it not very pleasurable to practice. These comments are really aimed at the complete beginner to try and make their learning experience more fruitful.
Chuck’s Aluminum whistles are so outstanding in looks as well as craftsmanship they can easily temp the complete beginner where my thinking is that they should hold off a bit first and progress through a few good low-end whistles first.
In any case just humble opinions.
If you’ve started on a Copeland or an Oz, what’s the point in picking up a cheapie?
Ultimately, the deciding factors are tone, responsiveness, volume and the sound you strive for, aren’t they?
Each could be the point of a move to a different whistle.
I’m still learning some of the terms for whistle playing. Could someone define “backpressure” for me? Thanks.
Speaking only about my own experience, I had cheapies first but I wasn’t satisfied with their sound nor their playability. Also, and I’m not sure if this is a detriment or not, I tend to view things through a musical philosophy born of 35+ years of being primarily a guitar player. And while I’m aware the within the whistle community there’s some argument over expensive vs. inexpensive, where guitars are concerned you’re just not going to find $200 guitars that are going to have the tone and playability of a $3000 guitar. Might there be some rare anomaly where the stars aligned in some Pac-Rim factory and one cheap guitar out of a production of a three thousand will sound golden? Yeah, it can happen, but those occurrences are so rare as to not be worth considering.
So, applying my guitar logic to whistles (because that’s all I had to rely on at the time), I did some research and settled on buying an Oz and I’m damn glad I did. A short time later, I got a Burke as a gift from my dad and while I love the Burke, it’s a very different whistle from the Oz. The degree to which they were different was a bit of a surprise to me (I’m not referring to tone). The real eye opener came when I gambled (or at least I thought I was gambling) on a collection of whistles came up for sale on this site for $900 that included 3 Copelands, 2 Overtons, 3 Sindts, and a few other whistles. Now I had a bunch of higher end whistles and could really get a sense of how they differed not only from the cheapies I’d started on but from each other as well. Finally, I had an inkling of what people where talking about when they used phrases like “back pressure” or “chiff.”
I feel like I kinda went through a sort of whistle immersion. Since then, I’ve tried a bought some other whistles, not always expensive and usually based upon comments made on this board, my own curiosity, and my desire to have multiple keys from which to choose.
Damn it… I’m rambling. I swear in person I’m a picture of brevity.
I unfortunately had a difficult time when purchasing my Tilbury whistle through Doc at the Irish Flute Store. It was at the same time as the Haiti earthquake and Doc explained on the second or third call that he was preoccupied with an orphanage down there.
It was the only time I ordered anything from Doc so my experience may not be what others have experienced.
As for the Tilbury Whistle, it’s probably the best value for the money that I have seen… Great Whistle.
Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, this philosophy doesn’t apply to whistles. Unfortunately there is (in my not all that limited experience) as much variation between “high-end” whistles as there is between “low-end”, if not more! You are really only paying extra for the fact that someone has to put in hours making the whistle. “Cheap” whistles are cheap because they can be mass-produced cheaply, not because they are bad. Although some makes of cheap whistle I do think are inherently bad, I still far prefer Feadogs and Generations to all (almost) high end whistles. Because the tone, volume and playability are, in my experience, better. Or at least I can achieve what I want to more easily on these types of whistles.
The weekend before last I heard two whistle players in a row playing airs, first Patsy Hanly playing ‘Easter Snow’ to the lovely singing of his wife Pauline (first time I heard it sung and a revelation it was too) and later your one from Sligo playing one that cost thirty or forty times the price of the first.
No competition whatsoever.