Does anyone know if a Susato low G would be workable for small female hands? I think they sound gorgeous, it has me reconsidering my decision to order a Bb.
edit: Oh, I forgot to mention I heard it played on the telephone by a far away relative. I’ve seen at least one TERRIBLE review of Susato Low G already. Anyone else?
You can always use piper grip.
I do on G whistles. I feel it more comfortable.
(Bb is the lowest I systematically play with the finger pads).
As for the Susato G, if you like its sound, go for it:
when you play, it is what you’ll hear, not the advice against…
your dichotomy of the bflat vs the low g is interesting.
with small hands:
you will definately be able to handle the G with a piper’s grip.
you may well not be able to handle the G with fingertips
so it depends on if you are willing to start fooling with pipers grip.
what i find interesting is that i have large hands, and the b flat is the lowest whistle i can play comfortably with fingertips.
so, unless you are willing to stretch, you, with your small hands, may find even the b flat falls in piper’s grip territory.
so, if you are looking for a suprano whistle a little lower and fuller than the D, you may want to go for a B (now widely available) or even a C.
meir
a low g i think would be fine with somebody with small hands. it gives you that lovely low whistle kind of tone without the struggle that the low d can be.
but. i do recommend you try some others in addition to the susato. the susato sound has a reputation for being mean and aggressive. the low g mitigates that a bit. the tone on my susato low g is okay; not incredibly responsive–sort of like pushing dough thr a tube, alot of back pressure. of course, you can judge for yourself whither you like the sound.
but the real reason i hate it is that it is so out of tune with itself. perhaps this is a defect with this individual instrument; but i struggle(d) to keep it in tune. So if you look into a susato, try it out and with a tuner.
Good luck!
As far as low whistles go, the susatos are among the hardest to finger with small hands, in my opinion, mostly because of the right (lower) hand.
Yes, it may make sense to try one before you buy it.
There are alternatives that you might wish
to consider, too. Generally a G is within
the capacity of people with small hands. Best
IF you are looking for an ABS ‘plastic’ G whistle,IMHO I think that you would be better off with a Dixon.They are less ‘aggresssive’ than Susatos,the finger stretch is very comfortable,and they are cheaper.
If you are prepared to pay a bit more,then I can certainly recommend a ‘G’ whistle by Bernard Overton-mine is a fantastic whistle (Pipemaker Davy Stephenson was absolutely enamoured by it,when he tried it out!).
HERESY WARNING: Have you considered a treble Rc**Dr? 
Aulos and Zen-on do very nice models for about the cost of a Susato tunable(U.K. prices) and they are chromatic.NOT the instrument of choice for ITM though!
okay, just found, dusted off, and played a few tunes on my susato low g. well, it’s not as bad as i’ve made it out to be. but, the internal tuning is off, and i have a tunable one too. the low g rides flat relative to the rest, and it bugs me (and stood out when i was playing with a piano). anyway, the tone strikes me as a tad drab, which is perhaps due quite simply to its being plastic. it’s not a tin whistle after all.
Thanks for the replies. I went ahead and ordered the Gen Bb (affordable!), I guess I’ll see how I do on that before commiting to a G. Pipers’ grip seems a bit intimidating to me, but I love that low whistle sound, and I intend to go as low as I can!
Thanks for the Dixon suggestion, kevin m. I’m already playing a Dixon soprano D, and it’s plenty aggressive enough for me. Susato may be too much.
It’s difficult to sort these things out on my own, as I have yet to ‘hook up’ with anyone in the scene locally. (Basically, I’m not any good yet.)
I really appreciate your kind and patient feedback.
You might even try buying a two-piece medium bore Susato A, and then adding a G body later on.
FWIW, there’s a huge difference as you go down the scale of Susatos (as you’d generally expect with any whistle, I suppose). The lowest Susatos I have are A and F bodies that go with the medium bore mouthpiece. No G for me…I have a nice Kerry Pro that does the trick wonderfully and is a comfortable stretch for the hands. The Susato A is really comfortable and I suspect you’d have no problem with it. A nice whistle, too. The F, though, is MUCH bigger a stretch for the right hand. Not my favourite sounding whistle, either. The stretch is not a problem for me, but I suspect that it would be an issue for some.
Jef