Lancewood C
Lancewood D
Syn D (this one was personalized with “StevenNorCal” around the bell.)
Symply Synsational, you think?
For those who may have been on the I. Ron Wood or Lance tours you will notice a difference in the mouthpiece design. He has changed over to black delrin with a wooden fipple plug. He explained to me he did this mainly for durability. I think it adds a touch of classy to the whistles as well.
Thanks Amar. The etching pic did not post for me.
you’re welcome, in the baby-post i copied jessie’s method of pasting izzarina’s kiddie-picture.
wouldn’t have known either how to do it otherwise.
absynlutely 
Heather
They look nice. How did I miss the lancewood and Ironwood tour?
Ron
nice avatar, who’s the lass?
That is Eowyn, from The Lord of the Rings movie.
Aren’t you smart? Yes, it is Eowyn (I have no idea what her real name is). Eowyn is by far the coolest female character in LOR…but then that’s way OT 
At some point, I’ll find an avatar that makes me happy. Till then I’m still looking.
Heather
Yo - I’d SYN with her any day 
.
And, slightly back on thread - I have a SYN mouth piece with Eb, D, C and A, tubes. WONDERFUL animals! Really fun to play, if a bit finicky. I wouldn’t recommend them for brand new whistlers.
And ‘SYN’ himself is really cool to work with. Seems like a very amiable chap. I plan to look him up if I’m ever Down-under.
LEE
Steven, just out of curiosity, do these delrin head samples have a similar tone to the ironwood you had at the house this summer? That’s the only Syn I have to go by. That was a nice sounding whistle. Are the whistles consistent across samples?
Tony
Not having the original to use as a direct comparison and going by Renee and my memory, I would have to say that they are at least very close. Renee decided to give up her previously favorite whistle to play in deference to these whistles for playability and sound, if that means anything. Certainly the heads are more robust and one will find they spend less time fretting on whether the tip will fracture or not.
Glauber has played both of the Syn tour whistles (ironwood and lancewood) as well and may have some input on this. The tour whistles were all wood heads.
Do you think that Erle would send me 3 or 4 more so I could evaluate this for you? 
I have, indeed… good times… i don’t know how or why but i got in both tours, and in the end, “Ron”, the ironwood, came to live with me.
They were both seriously good whistles. “Lance”, the lancewood was slightly unbalanced (IMHO - not attested by others) in the top of the 2nd octave (too loud up there)). “Ron” was not. Lance also had a short beak, and Ron has a more traditionally sized beak which i prefer.
Woodwise, they’re both gorgeous. Lancewood is darker, and for me, leaves a slightly pepperish aftertaste in my mouth. Ironwood doesn’t seem to have a taste.
Between the lancewood and ironwood tours, i bought an aluminum Syn to see if that would have the same problem with the too loud top of second octave, and i found it didn’t. The aluminum whistle i had (Stacey is borrowing it now) was nice and mellow, loud but not irritating, but the wooden whistles (both of them) sounded way better.
The only complaint i have about the ironwood whistle is that it doesn’t have a metal ring to reinforce the end, so i’m afraid it might split if accidentally banged against a table, for example. But i can see why Erle wouldn’t want to put a ring there, to keep costs down.
If these whistles are still sold for about $100 each, they’re unbelievable bargains.
g
I can weigh in only to say I have played the I. Ron wood, and that’s a bad boy. Really solid and nice tone. The upper octaves require getting used to, but then again, doesn’t every whistle require a little time to learn it’s nuances?
Here’s a pic, that I have already posted of my custom Syns made from Nigerian Teak. There sound is different from the ironwood, mainly because the two woods have different density, the teak being less dense giving it more resonance. A good oiling and plenty of play help them out. I have a lone D, I call the Lone Ranger, with a longer mouthpiece, which I like best, and then I have a D/C/Bb set with a shorter mouthpiece which Erle tells me (Erle, correct me if I’m wrong here) that the shorter mouthpiece works better across the three bodies (keys), as far as optimizing quality. I have to say, I can NOT imagine finding a better wood whistle for for the price, and even ignoring the price, these are wonderful whistles that I hope will outlive me
matt
