Susato VSB Review Please....

Whistle
1

Hi once again,
Don’t know whether to go for one of these, what are they like???
Thanks Tony…

2

Thin, piercing, less volume than the standard bore. I found the sound unpleasant. It was given to me by a board member who didn’t like it and passed it on, and I did the same. Someone had a suggestion to rough up the blade, but I’m not interested in tweaking unsatisfactory whistles.

3

I ordered two of the same model. One was as Tyghress described and the other was very pleasant, not piercing, good volume and balance. So there you have it.

4

Shortly after buying a VSB it got pulled out of my bag by an airport security person. He offered it to me to prove it was in fact a real instrument. I was so embarrassed by how bad it sounded that I played one note and gave it back. It screeches. I have now tweaked it, and now it’s decent.

5

I have a VSB-

its loud and when i was first learning to play very shrill, but as I learned its quirks, and have become a better player, it is not so shrill, and while loud, is usually pleasent sounding. It does sound a bit like a recorder, but I find it really really easy to play, and the transition between the octaves is smooth. Its not breathy sounding, and unlike my Waltons and Generation, does not buzz. I have the tunable version and I find that it tunes really nicely..

all in all its the whistle I always play at my lessons and practace on. The only other whistle I have that sounds as nice is an Oak, which has a really nice sound (better the the Susato) except its one of the “poison Oaks” (meaning your mouth goes numb after you play for a while). So unfotunatly I rarely play the Oak. (I am taking it home this vacation and hoping my Dad and I can come up with a way to rid the Oak moutpiece of its numbing qualities) My Sweetone is okay… but I like the Susato- I don’t think its the end-all or be-all, and I am currently raising funds to buy a Silkstone or Elfsong, but I find the Susato really easy to play, and it suits my needs, but that may just be me.

-Angela

6

My VSB will surely squeak if I overblow it, but otherwise it is very stable. The tone is slightly thin, but not unpleasant. Here is a soud clip. It was recorded in a rather dead room with the microphone about 12 inches away from the whistle, so I think it gives a pretty good idea of the way it sounds to the player. (Please ignore my bad technique. I’m a beginner.) http://pw2.netcom.com/~ridseard/donnybrook.mp3

7
  • I like my D VSB, but posters are correct in saying its not a quiet whistle, and its tone isn’t everybody’s cup of Guinness. The description of its tone as “thin” seems accurate, and I doubt most would confuse its sound with that of a non-plastic whistle. The sound is pretty pure, sometimes sweet and sometimes annoying -depending on mood, room acoustics, ambient noise and player skill. Breath requirements are low to moderate.
    Mine clogs easily, but I clog ALL whistles easily.
    I like it for its good tuning, forgiving play
    and reasonable cost. Mine has
    roughly the same playing dynamics as
    my alloy Silkstone D-Plus, a clean octave break requiring similar breath pressure right up through the B note for both whistles. I haven’t played it above high B yet.
    -I think its a good value, and like having it in the quiver.
8

I love mine. And the best place I ever played mine was in an indoor swimming pool in a hotel. The acoustics were perfect and it sounded angelic. In my kitchen it is loud as hell and I use my new wonderful Hoover for practicing nowadays. But I still love my Sausato.

9

I should give some actual comments.

It’s really in tune with itself. It makes a the transition between octaves nicely. I find that it’s very forgiving on the legato and note bending.

It clogs fairly easily. And it’s shrill on the upper A and B. I haven’t gotten it past the third D (nor do I want to, for fear of attracting dogs from nine counties).

10

Check out this (recent) thread. It has links to three previous threads that should give you all you’ll be able to discover short of playing one of them.

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?topic=7892&forum=1

/bloomfield

[ This Message was edited by: Bloomfield on 2002-12-16 10:44 ]