I’ve got one of the old style D’s in Maple. Bought it in the summer of 2000, I think. I love its sound up to the second F#, then going gets tough. The lower notes are really easy to get a very nice sound. They have a nice ‘pop’ to them that I don’t get from many whistles. Notes that I tongue have a nice crisp articulation to them.
I have a new version in laminate, as well as old ones in D and C.
The new one is really VERY new–pretty much a new instrument. Anyone familiar with the old versions will notice right away that the second octave is much better and that the instrument is generally more responsive. I do still find high C# and D challenging, but I have relatively little call for those notes anyway. It helps for those songs to first be sure the windway is clear.
This business about the upper register is a result of the conical bore. The very real benefits of the conical bore are 1) the outstanding intonation and full bodied tone and balance throughout its range, and 2) the exceptionally strong lower register. As I’ve said before, when I play with my flute playing son I use the Sweet exclusively. The excellent intonation is very noticeable in that context, and the flute cannot overpower the whistle, even on the lowest notes. The full bodied “woody” sound also goes very well when matched with the flute or other instruments. This is where you hear it at its best, because when matched with other instruments you’re not bashful about really cutting loose. It’s very impressive when you push it.
I really can’t recommend this model enough and believe it’s well worth the money. I’ve had no maintenance problems with the laminate model, which is as it should be. IMO, it marries the best qualities of wood (tone) with plastic (ease of maintenance).
Oh, and although it’s very loud, the tone is mellow.
I like it, if you haven’t guessed by now.
a brief addendum:
I’ve found with the new laminate whistle that two fingerings that I don’t normally use work very well and make a difference in two areas that are often troublesom.
For the third D I think xxxooo works better than the more usual oxxooo. You have to tongue it to get it up from a G, but it seems clearer and easier to get to.
For C natural I use a lot of fingerings (and this whistle is quite accomodating in that respect), but for slower songs where correct intonation is more crucial (sorry…) I use oxxxoo.
Some of you may use these fingerings already, but the new Sweet is the only whistle I use them on.