Quick poll: What inexpensive ($50 max) D whistles do you find most consistent in tone and playability? I normally recommend Freeman Tweaked for my whistle students, but since Jerry seems to be hard at work on the front lines of COVID now I can’t get ahold of a tweaked. Thanks and good health to you all.
You really want to look at each individual whistle. Most makes (Generation, Oak, Feadóg) will have lovely examples alongside less lovely ones. I went through a batch of Generation a while ago (there isn’t a lot of trying in shops at the moment) and they were all lovely while a previous batch in the same shop mostly weren’t.
Cillian O’Briains are remarkably consistent these days but last time I looked they had gone up to €35 last time I looked which would be outside what I consider the cheap range (I got a spare one from a forum member for €20 though).
Generations have always done it for me. I may be lucky, but in 45 years I’ve never had or played one that was awful, and all were playable though some were more sweet than others. Recently bought some online, sight-unseen, for grandchildren and they were fine.
I’ve never had or played one that was awful, and all were playable though some were more sweet than others
That is pretty much my own experience. I think a large majority of them are perfectly serviceable for beginners and intermediate players. But given recent discussions here and elsewhere, not all beginners seem to agree.
I have a couple of Dixon’s that I like, and a Timothy J. Potter that is also very good. They all seem to get consistently good reviews here.
I think that “under $50” is really two categories. Clarkes, Feadogs, Generations, etc. I think belong in an “under $25” group. Dixon, Potter and Freeman whistles are in a different category, the “$25 - $50” group. From what I’ve learned here in the short time I’ve been involved, there is greater chance of inconsistently in the under $25 group than there is in the $25-$50 group.
My favourite whistle is my Mack Hoover phenolic resin D. $45, so just in that price range.
I found most of the less expensive whistles to be OK. One of the best Oak D for $12.00 and Potter would be second best. Whistles… very subjective in relation to quality and then playing experience. Enjoy your whistling! And welcome to the forum.
I’ve had no problems with any of the usual suspects, (Generation - Faedog - Waltons - Clarkes), but I prefer my Tony Dixon Trad brass, & my aluminium whistles.
The $50 limit provides a long list of reliable whistles from quality brands and can keep you away from the predictable problem brands that are “toy” level and have very poor quality control decade after decade.
I’d suggest → (in no particular order), Tony Dixon (many options), Walton Mellow D, Oak, Timothy Potter, Goldfinch, Chris Wall, Pablo Asturias, Feadog Pro, Shearwater soprano D in aluminum (close to $50?), and you can always keep an eye on the professional “tweekers” such as Jerry Freeman and O’Brien, and search the used whistle listings all over the planet for great deals.
“not all beginners seem to agree”
Not to put too fine a point on it … what (or even how) do they know?
I have said many times here that anyone who can’t play the instrument well is in no position to evaluate it. But I kept it more or less tongue in cheek, with a few recent cross forum ‘how does my feadog sound’ style posts in mind, as stirring controversy wouldn’t be helpful for the current thread.
Calling instruments played by outstanding whistle players and evidently capable of wonderful music ‘toy level’ isn’t very helpful either, but there you go.
Anyhow, in general it is helpful when asking for recommendations to put together a few pointers as to what you expect from a whistle, if you want to avoid getting every make and model under the sun thrown at you in reply. As will unavoidably happen.
€35 if you don’t actually want to receive it, another €10 to get it through the post. The Big Whistle is selling them for £50 plus plus whatever they charge for delivery.
50 US dollars is just under £40 and about €40 when I looked at the online rates, this does not include any bank charges.
Sadly, this puts them outside the $50 range.
I’m certainly no beginner and started playing over 30 yrs ago (even though I didn’t play for a couple of years and just took it up again about 5 yrs ago) and I am one to disagree. Yes, all Generations might be playable but some need more effort than others to play decently (it can still be done but some just play that much smoother). Some cheapo whistles I own (not Generation!) are downright unplayable. But one of my Generations is also one of the best sounding whistles to my ears that I own. And recently the quality seems to be better than maybe 3 yrs ago. A reason for the variety is that they come from 4 different molds. Jerry Freeman himself explained it once on FB. Some of the molds are worn out, some are not. The ones from the better molds play and sound as nicely as the fabled vintage ones, of which I own two (one in C, which wasn’t really vintage when I bought it, and one in D that I got on a flea market for 50 cents).
The difference is even visible to the plain eye. The good ones have sharp lines and edges, especially at the beginning of the windway. The “less good” ones don’t have those sharp edges but look worn out. And that’s because they were from worn-out molds.
Jerry Freeman even stopped tweaking them for some time as the quality was so bad. But he took it up again, as they have restored their molds. That’s why they are better now than a few years ago. But you can probably still come across an occasional “dud”.
Indeed, this is one of the main issues in all those “what’s the best D whistle I can buy” type threads. Unless you know what, where and often even why they are playing, any answer is essentially meaningless.
For example, I could say that my Generations are the best. Well, I play them and I like them very much. But if I’m busking outdoors on a street corner, they’re not really the “best whistle.”
Even a really good Generation/Feadóg/Oak/etc can be difficult for a beginner to control because of the amount of breath control they need. For beginners a whistle with a slightly larger windway might be better suited because it’s a bit more forgiving. For the advanced player, the disadvantage of the beginner becomes an advantage – the low air requirements.
All that being said – I had very good experiences with Oaks and Acorns. The Oak is the higher-end version that comes tunable out of the box and has a thicker tube. The Acorn is also nice and has a bit more breathiness to the sound. IMO it plays like a good Generation. But I also had good experiences with the Feadóg Pro.
I have 4 Fadógs – two Pro, one standard in C and one in D. All are just fine.
Of the around 15 Generations I have – some are amazing, some not so much. But the ones made recently seem to be better because of the refurbished molds. So I think one can recommend them, too. Just careful when there might be some “old stock”.
Waltons – some good, some not so much. The “mellow D” plays nicely but the tuning is a bit wonky. Even with the tuner set to “just temperament” the tuning seems to be a bit off. While the Generations do play just fine in JT – not so much in ET (equal temperament).
Dixons are also worth a look. Maybe a bit easier for a beginner because of the wider windway. The DX001 is great.
Shearwater (made by John Bushby) – highly recommended. Very stable and consistent. I have the standard D but he also makes a session bore. Never tried that but I heard it’s good, too. Might be a bit above the price limit though but well worth it.
What inexpensive ($50 max) D whistles do you find most consistent in tone and playability?
In that price range the Dixon tunable DX005, or DX001. Very good quality for the price, and they play well.
I have a Walton’s and a Feadóg. They are the only whistles I have played. My experience is that they are pretty evenly matched in both tone and playability, but for whatever reason, I prefer the Feadóg. The great thing about whistles: they are inexpensive and don’t take up a whole lot of space, so you need not worry about losing much money or space while looking for the perfect example.
I recently bought a DX001 and have been very pleasantly surprised with how it plays. Sweet and nimble, it’s a lovely little whistle and comes in under $20. I don’t know about consistency, though, having just tried the one.
Otherwise, I started on a Generation and have always found them to range from “meh” to “excellent.” I personally have not run into the truly terrible ones that everyone else seems to have, and I’ll note that most of my cheap whistles have had a habit of improving considerably with age (which is much more down to the player than the instrument).
As I read them, the two questions posed are entirely different.
1) Inexpensive whistle preferences. (The thread title question.)
I take that to mean “what inexpensive whistles do you prefer?”
For me the answer is old Generations and Feadogs.
2) What inexpensive whistles do you find most consistent in tone and playability? (The question asked in the OP.)
With most makers I’ve not played a large enough quantity of their whistles to have a meaningful opinion as to their consistency.
How many would it take, I wonder, to form a meaningful opinion. I don’t think two or three is enough.
Over the years I’ve played hundreds of Generation Ds and they varied from superb to practically useless. As I’ve said I once had a crack at an unopened box of 24 Generation Ds straight from the factory and just in that one box the full spectrum of superb to useless existed.
I think my second-largest sample size has been with Feadogs, possibly a hundred or so. They didn’t vary as much as Generations.
The third-largest sampling would be a certain model of Dixon High D. This is due to meeting Tony at the NAMM show where he had a booth with perhaps 15 or 20 of the same model High D, a plastic head on an alloy tube body. These Dixons had a large degree of consistency.
I’ve played quite a few Susato High Ds over the years. From what I’ve experienced they get remarkably consistent performance out of their moulded ABS heads.
Thing is, you can have an extremely consistent maker that makes whistles you don’t care for.
Waltons Mellow D is my favorite so far. Love that it has a slightly wider bore than other common inexpensive whistles. It’s a bit louder and also provides capability to play nuances with air pressure when it comes to vibrato etc… The second choice is Dixon Trad, it is crystal clear, however, it is “too easy” to blow. It barely requires any air pressure, which is hard to control, especially in the upper octave. Susato is great option too, though I’m not sure it it falls under <50$ range.