I ran across a current offering of “New Hudson Whistles - D Brass Pro” and was wondering if anyone has one or any experience in its playing qualities?
In my brief research here on C&F it seems the Hudson Winds whistle maker stopped making their whistles about 8-10 years ago.
Is this someone who has taken the basic design of the “old” Hudson and started making them again?
I’ve got a bunch of questions about them if anyone has any experience or knowledge of them.
Thanks in advance.
These ones?
Note they have two listings, one selliing at €95, the other at €90.
The ones in the ebay offering don’t appear to have any relation to the models Pete Bonsteel (did I rememebr the name right?) was making. They look like yet another Sindt take off, much like the Killarney, the Chinese made one and recent Lir.
The bandwagon is getting very full.
Now let’s see if anyone comes along who starts undercutting the prices and bring them down overall.
The same seller, Clarke’s music in Athlone also seems to be selling Hudson branded flutes.
Yes, those are the ones. I had only found the one at €95.
I do wonder how much leeway there is in pricing them, because I would think that Hudson, Lir, et al. would be trying to compete with Killarney more on price. Instead, they’re all around the same price point, or even higher. Maybe they’re great whistles, but Killarney has such a corner on the market at the moment that I get the sense that these other brands are going to have significant issues gaining ground unless they drop their prices a bit. I wonder if the process is just a bit too labor-intensive for them to be able to offer these at a significant enough discount to make a difference.
Or, they can just get their whistles into some talented and well-connected hands to get the videos and recommendations flowing, as Killarney has done quite well.
If you check the photographs of these Hudson and the Lír whistle it is evident that they come from the same source.
The greatest likelihood is that these instruments are made in China. I don’t necessarily have a problem with that. Chinese goods are manufactured to a price point and a quality. They would obviously be perfectly capable of manufacturing very good whistles. Good luck to them and I hope the workers get decent wages doing it.
What gets me is not the behaviour of the Chinese, but that of the distributor; the label/brand owner. Omission of information and subtle (and not so subtle) attempts to imply that these manufactures are something they are not I consider dishonest. It’s a marketing ploy that leaves a bad taste in the mouth (so to speak).
If I felt the need, I would happily buy a whistle made in China, as much as I have bought whistles made in the USA, Ireland, South Africa and of course England. I personally don’t wish to fetishise aspects of whistle making, including where they’re made.
Since I’m no pro, could someone point me to the Hudson Amateur model? No need to waste all that upgraded performance on the likes of me.
I saw one of these for sale in Powell’s in Galway yesterday (shops re-opened on Monday and we’re allowed travel outside our local areas again).
I only had a quick glance, so I may be mistaken, but it seemed the whistle in the shop was of a design similar to the Setanta the shop also had for sale rather than that of the Sindt/Killarney type i.e. the airstream breaking on the turned at an angle edge of the tube.
I wasn’t remotely tempted to put down the amount of money they were looking for.
I wonder where they came up with the name, Hudson. Hudson River? Maybe Hudson runs the shop where these whistles are made.
Yes, you got it right: Peter Bonsteel made the original Hudson whistles, one of which I still own. Nice whistles, and as you’ve noted, nothing like these current offerings from The Hudson Guitar Company.