I’ve been playing my Humphrey Geekmeister whistle almost exclusively since i got it. Well, yesterday i played some tunes with an accordionist friend, and i used my Silkstone alloy. I’m listening to the recording right now, and just wanted to let you know, that’s still a great whistle. [bait]It even makes me sound good. And when i play it i play faster, and i look sexier, and play more in tune.[/bait]
Silkstone Alloy is a great whistle. Loud without being shrill. Sounds like a whistle, not a recorder. And very much in tune. I had a bagpiper look at mine a few weeks ago and he was multo impressed with the workmanship. In loud sessions I keep coming back to mine, which I bought from Wanderer. Not sure why he sold it.
Didn’t i buy mine from Wanderer too? 
I think he has a business selling them on the side. 
Does he have any more? 
I never thought the one I have was that loud. It’s tone certainly carries, but I don’t consider it very loud. Now, I do believe it’s one of the most in tune whistles by far. The C nat is not only spot on, but as strong as any other. I think the tone is a little…I think I heard someone use the term “stark”. I like chiff.
Oh. A positive thread, after all. If I’d say something/one “blows mightily”, well…you know.
Huh? I don’t think Gary’s whistles are at all geeky.
He is refering to the tuning of his Humphreys: Werkmeister III, in fact. You have to be a geek to know about different intonations, and a Geekmeister to know about and want a whistle with organ tuning…
Oh, and on the subject of Sikstones: I am proud to provide the odd man out. I don’t like them. They strike me as poor in harmonics and too loud.
I had a go on one and didnt like it
I started playing the wrong tune, and everyone heard it 
Still, nice whistle
We had a gentleman sit in at the hoolie just a couple of weeks ago in fact that brought a Sindt and a Silkstone with him and he and I swapped out playing whistles all night long and I have to say I liked both whistles for different reasons all around.
As far as the Silkstone goes specifically, I thought it was a very even tempered throughout and genuinely a nice instrument to play. Just like anytime you pick up a new whistle, especially a different make, it took me a few bars to get used to it… takes a little coercing to jump between octaves back and forth, but shoot… that took all of about 2 seconds to get used to… quite easy in fact.
Overall I thought it was a great whistle for sessions… strong voice but not really too piercing… I like the statement made earlier… it “carries well”. It’s not super loud, but cuts through the rest of the noise without being too harsh.
My 2 cents anyway.
And no to the email I just got as I edit this… just because I’m a maker doesn’t make me a biased enthusiast. I’m not about to post anything negative about another whistle or it’s maker of course… I just won’t post if I find anything as such, which is rare, however I don’t find anything wrong with being fond of someone elses work aside from my own. I may not word things just right sometimes, but I’m also pretty good at making sure I keep my cool and share my thoughts in a polite manner. But that really burns my butt and I’m posting it here for all to see and make a point because it’s come up before and I’ve let it slide.
Anyway, sorry for the rant.
Take care all, and by the way… I really do think that Silkstone I played was a purdy darned nice whistle.
-John
Lol, if I do, i’m a bad businessman, I didn’t make a profit on either one
I sold the first one, because I needed the dough (due to the years of joblessess that came from being a tech programmer after the internet crash), it hit a harmonic that hurt one of my fillings, and so it went on the chopping block.
I sold the other one, because we sounded so good together with you on it, and me on the copeland
Yes, that’s one reason i like it, it’s a very satisfying whistle to play. Very player-friendly, no squeaks or out of tune notes. I also like the attack it has. It’s not a super loud whistle, but it holds well in noisy sessions because it has a very definite, almost percussive attack. Same thing happens with the O’Briain.
I bought mine almost by accident. Nobody was bidding on it on eBay, so i thought i’d put a bid in to get things started… i was embarassed to buy it for the price i got. I offered Greg to let him keep the whistle, but he was a gentleman.
I have a PVC Silkstone D – I’ll grant it has a good sound, until I try to play the 2nd octave B. No matter what, that note will not play nicely. I bought it through the Whistle Shop and Thom Larson did offer to have Paul Hayward adjust it. But I don’t understand how it can be adjusted – for just that one note, when it’s probably something I’m doing wrong … isn’t it?
I’ll take suggestions, please …
~Judy
If he offered, i’d send it to be adjusted or replaced, just in case.
I had a Silkstone PVC D. I loved it. It was my favourite take everywhere with me whistle. That was it’s downfall. Stuck in my belt while mowing grass. I mowed it’s head off. I’m going to play the field for a bit before getting another. Drown my sorrows with a little WHOA for a while.
Brian
…
I don’t think it’s you Judy…I’m having the same problems with it. Other than that it seems to play very nicely, so it would seem that maybe a couple of adjustments would be in order.
Hey, Judy. I also used to have a Silkstone PVC D – I say used to because I sold it as it was just too loud for playing in my small office and it was aggravating my tinnitus something terrible. Anyway, I was thinking back to when I first got the whistle and how my playing sounded like a sack of wet cats competing in a cussing contest (actually that’s not true – I’m not being fair to the cats). It took a little time before I was able to make the second octave b sound respectful. I learned that by agressively jumping into the note and tonguing it gave the extra push that was needed to get a clear tone out of the whistle. Of course this is just my own personal experience with the Silkstone, and yours may indeed have a flaw that needs to be tweaked.
Will O’Ban
My only experience has been the alluminum (aka alloy) Silkstone, and it does not have such a silly high b.