Since I’ve recently sold some unused whistles I’m now in the market for a new C whistle. I’m looking for a session grade C whistle. It needs to have plenty of volume…but it also needs to be versatile..able to play slow and mournfully or rough and powerful. I am thinking I would prefer brass but I’m not sure. So far I’m considering a Burke or an SZBE. My limit is about $200…any suggestions?
If you don’t mind the wait, Sindt Cs are very nice. Sweetheart makes the Pro model in C and those are also pretty nice and are available a lot quicker.
I searched and searched some time ago for the best C for me. I even bought, then sold, several.
Eventually I came back full circle to one I already owned but hadn’t fully explored. The C tube on my Reyburn D/C set ended up being my pick. It has all the benefits of a Reyburn and that nice warm tone of a well done High C.
Other than that, my Freeman Tweaked Gen is nice, and a Sweetone is charming.
I agree that the Reyburn C is a very good choice.
Burke, Humphrey and Alba are all good choices.
What for fecksake is a ‘session-grade’ whistle?
This seems to work by the way
Oh silly Peter.
It’s…
Which would sound even more lovely with a session-grade player.
In High C, I have a session-grade Generation, and a session-grade Sweetone. Trouble is - I’m not necessarily session-grade meself. 
‘Session-grade’ sounds about as silly as the often heard here ‘professional’ (looking) whistle, what does that mean?
Fair play to you if you managed to find a Sweetone C in tune, personally I think that’s probably the worst whistle I have ever come across.
Flogging Jason, meet DreamOGreen
Ah… the’ve sold allready, but thank you. Yeah I think either the Syn or the Obrien would make good session whistles 
i would go for a Burke, they are in that price range, and the volume is good, i just love Burke whistles.
I just had an incredible realization. At my current rate of progress, I’ll be able to play at Peter’s level by my hundredth birthday. Somebody pass the vitamins…
Sindt C
I just got a Sindt C. Georgeous tone. Now I’m trying to organize a “C session”
The vitamins may help. I have the impression that other things needed to play like that are any Generation whistle, and play it in the kitchen. 
The professional looking whistle would be wearing nothing less than an Armani suit, silk shirt & tie, and Florsheim shoes.
That’s like my bamboo Sazzad in A, brought back to me from India by a good friend. I especially like the packing tape to affix the gold label. And the metalized Mylar tape at the end is stunning.
And it plays like a dream - a bad dream. Yet I can’t part with a gift from a friend.
http://www.beancurdturtle.com/Whistle/20070325-Sazzad-A.mp3
I was playing with the concept of “session-grade.” It’s a decent whistle and I do ok with it. Maybe because I played a Freeman Tweaked Sweetone D for maybe the first 3 or 4 months of my whistle playing.
http://www.beancurdturtle.com/Whistle/20070325-Clarke-Sweetone-High-C.mp3
The little articulation at the end - I think it called a “blatt” - really pulls this tune together. 
He’s not too shabby for a session-grade player.
I’d go with a Humphrey, so I would.
The best C whistles for me are Busman, Abell, Black Diamond and my O’Brien Rover in blackwood.
I believe that C may be Paul Busman’s best key (that is saying alot because he does make terrific D and Eb whistles as well). Priced in the middle between my O’Brien and Abell, my Busman C has a very appealing woody sound with terrific balance across octaves. Paul makes them in a variety of woods (mine is in satinwood - just lovely). My D is Tulipwood and my Eb is Pink Ivory and all are stunning.
I sold my Black Diamond D and kept the C which plays much better (although the standard Bb fingering of oxxooo is very sharp).
I also do love the O’Brien 3-piece wood Rover in C. Both the D and C Rovers are great wood whistles at a very attractive price. My Rovers have great tuning and balance through the octaves. The 3-piece design with shirt pocket sack is really fun and works well.
What can you say about Abell? I love my D/C set and feel they C body is sublime. The most traditional sounding wooden whistles I own, Abell’s represent world-class craftsmanship. Possibly the most spot on tuning of any whistle I own, oxxooo splilts the uprights on my tuner whithout changing how you blow the note one bit.
My Reyburn C/D set is due in this week and I can’t wait as Ronaldo is a master craftsman. I have the NB D and Bb and love them so, although I have not yet played the C, I’m sure the previous Reyburn recommendations are justified.
Patrick.
That’s like my bamboo Sazzad in A, brought back to me from India by a good friend. I especially like the packing tape to affix the gold label. And the metalized Mylar tape at the end is stunning.
And it plays like a dream - a bad dream. Yet I can’t part with a gift from a friend.
I bought an Indian whistle at a denominational conference, at the international shop. Surprisingly, it wasn’t horribly out of tune, but the C had to be half-holed. I played it about four times.
Hey – I’ve got one of those, but not the deluxe version like you have. I don’t have the mylar tape prettying up the end, but it only cost about 4 bucks at a ren fest, which means I only overpaid by about 2 dollars.
Are you sure yours is in A? Mine appears to be somewhere between A and B flat, tuned to a pitch that has yet to be seen in western music except in really crappy accordions. If yours really is in A, then you probably have one of the rare G sharp models.
The uniform finger spacing really helps my piper’s grip, and the only downside to this fine whistle is that it tastes and smells like old socks.