Hi,
I was wondering which is the better whistle - easier to play with better tone? People have told me that the Seery whistle is a copy of the Abell one. I’m interested in the Delrin models.
Thanks,
Dublingirl
I have an Abell delrin; I had and sold a Seery delrin. IMHO, there is no comparison, other than superficial looks. The Abell is one of the best soprano D whistles I’ve played. The Seery was loud and I found the high B to be difficult and shrill. The Abell is easier to play with easier transitions and a warmer tone; you may have to get used to the mouthpiece which is stout or chunky compared to others. The Abell is also more expensive.
PhilO
The Seery is inferior, but it is reliably loud and pure. The Abell delrin can be a gem, but more often than not, it lacks focus in tone. Wooden Abells improve dramatically with playing-in. Delrin Abells do not. So you could get lucky. Or not. In my experience, Chris Abell is leaning more over time to a less-focused, more breathy tone in his whistles, as the old ones seem much better than the new ones. He says he likes the more breathy tone, as it sounds (to him) the way a whistle should sound. I disagree.
I agree with that Jessie… As you may recall I ordered a full set from Chris a while back and returned them for the same reason. Very breathy and not “focused”. It was hard to return them though as they were lusty to look at! But, I just couldn’t justify keeping them as I don’t buy instruments just to look at. I actually had someone else email me asking for my opinion because they were thinking about returning their set as well.
What had encouraged me to purchase the Abells was when I played a friend’s that he had had for a few years - and I like it… Still not as focused as say an O’Riordan, Burke or Silkstone but also not so breathy as to be undesirable. I’ve come across another “vintage” Abell since and thought it was a better whistle than the new ones I ordered.
I guess if one is in the market for an Abell but wants a more focused tone, you would be well advised to discuss the sound you’re after with Chris first.
Jessie, is Chris setup to make his “fipples” custom to the customer or would he rather not risk messing up a piece of blackwood in the attempt?
Of course the above is for “what it’s worth”. David Migoya, a very respected Fluter and Whistler around here just loves Abells. He was sad to hear that I had returned mine. To this day, I have yet to see a more beautiful wooden whistle! But to me, I’d rather play a Rose or Busman any day (which are still gorgeous and feature lovely workmanship by the way!).
bla bla bla…
He will customize them to some degree, but he will not deviate too far from what he thinks is best.
I guess I got a “focused” delrin; it sounds better than some blackwoods I’ve heard. I also got a used blackwood Bflat/A set through Dave Migoya about 2 years ago that I love. I guess it would be best to speak with Chris carefully about what you want. My taste runs with Jessie and Blayne here - I do prefer a more focused sound. A good word for it.
PhilO
Hi thanks for all the info! I’m very disappointed that the Abell whistle hasn’t got a great sound, I expected it to have a lovely clear sound, especially at that price!
I really don’t like a breathy sound at all, which is such a shame, as it takes away from the overall lovely appearance of the whistle, doesn’t it?
Dublingirl
Just to throw a different perspective into the preference arena, it’s the breathiness of the Abells that makes them my absolute favorite whistle. I have a Rose, the purest sounding whistle I’ve heard, and an O’Riordan set, not far behind in pure, non-breathy sound. To me, the Abell’s breathiness is very pleasing. The amount of breath pressure you use does alter the amount of breathiness to some degree, but it’s not going away. I got a Bb/A set a little while ago. At first, I was taken aback by the pronounced breathiness. I got used to it and learned to control it somewhat. Now, I love that set. I’m hoping Chris comes out with a low f that sounds like the others.
Tony
Please don’t misinterpret Dublingirl; IMHO, the Abell delrin D I have as well as the ABell blackwood Bflat/A set have a “great” sound to match their great appearance.
Regards,
PhilO
That fits nicely with my (admittedly limited) experience with Abell whistles: I have tried an old one, which was crystal clear in its tone, and another, newer one, which had more breathiness. I, unlike Jessie, much preferred the new one. 
Jens
Ditto. What I did on a hunch was reversing the head so its window would face down.
It does make the sound significantly more focused.
Since I didn’t find any difference in sound when doing this to my other whistles (beside some subjective “muting” to the player) I wondered. My explanation it has to do with the particular shape of the Abell metal “sleeve” over the head, with its tip protruding farther than the fipple block. Because of this, slight changes in embouchure may alter the angle at which the airstream enters the windway.
My Abell D is neither very clear nor very breathy. I won’t use the term unfocussed for ordinary breathiness; I reserve that term for a sound that’s muffled, which is rather different from being overtone rich. A Grinter low F is overtone rich, even raspy, but it is unfocussed only the day after you’ve given it it’s almond oil bath.
I like variety in whistles so I’m rather glad that my Abell doesn’t sound exactly like my Busman and that neither sound like my Thin Weasel nor like any of my metal whistles. But my Abell is nowhere near as breathy as my Overton or my Copeland high D. I don’t know how old it is; I bought a full set second hand.
I, like Zubvika, (finally checked the spelling carefully) notice a difference in the breathiness of the Abells with the angle one blows through the windway. (in case someone thinks he’s crazy) (or thinks I’m crazy)
Tony
I think that if one is going to buy an abell
D, it’s far better to buy one in blackwood than
in delrin. The maintanence is minor
and the whistle quite tough.
It’s likely to sound better, to improve,
and to keep it’s resale value. FWIW
True, blackwood is so tough, needs so little oiling, one may wonder about the strange idea of ordering plastic for the same price. If not for blackwood allergies, of course.
That all seems to make sense; however, it’s not been my experience. Granted, blackwood is so dense and stable that it requires little maintenance and endures well; I love it; but my delrin Abell sounds better than at least two other Abell blackwoods I compared it to head to head, and is a great whistle that doesn’t need to “mature” evolve or anything else. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it…
Regards,
PhilO
I have played about 30 Abells and I never liked a delrin one. I think it doesn’t respond to the tools in the same way that the wood does. In looking at the blades, the delrin ones were much sharper than any of the wooden ones. This should have given them a pure tone, but it didn’t. Just my opinion.