I’m looking to get a tunable whistle in A. After a bit of web googling, I’ve found three, Overton, Susato and Dixon Alloy. The tunable Overton is too expensive, and so I’m looking at the Susato or Dixon Alloy in A.
Any recommendations for A) other tunable whistles in the key of A; and B) any recommendations/comparisons between the two? I’ve got a Susato low D, and while it has taken awhile to tame, sounds great. I’ve not played a Dixon Alloy so don’t know.
Thanks!
-Mark
The Overton is the way to go if you can scrape up more cash.
It might be out of your price range, but a Burke would be a fine whistle in A, nice pure voice.
Chieftain Low A has a chiffy trad voice, just under the price of a Burke. Try before you buy to see if it suits you.
Susato also have a character you should hear and try before you buy.
I’ve heard good about Dixon’s in general, and the price is good.
If you could find someone willing to part with a Water Weasel in A - it’s a really fine whistle.
I’ve only got access to a Susato to try out. However, the Chieftain looks really nice, and I could maybe stretch up to that in terms of budget…
Any comments on playability for the A’s? I’m going to be playing it as well as my wife–and she has smaller hands. I’m thinking also in terms of how much breath one needs, etc.
-Mark
I’ve not played a Dixon but I’ve had a couple Susato A’s: one with a narrow bore, like they use for their high D whistles, and one with a medium bore. The one with the narrow bore was very much in tune and had a soft sweet voice. It was a very nice player. The one with the bigger bore I didn’t care for as much.
That narrow-bore A was bought a long time ago and they might not make that style any more.
Now I play Burkes in Low F, G, and A. I love the way the Burkes play.
If you can find a used Water Weasel, it is a particularly fine key, from Glenn. Check with Doc Jones at the Irish Flute Store.
Best.
Byll
i honestly think I don’t need TUNABLE whistles in A.
I think there is an overton A for sale on the Used Instrument Exchange forum,
by the way.
I would recommend a Sindt.
I have a Dixon A and like it just fine. I often use it to play D tunes e.g. Ashokan Farewell.
I also have a number of Susatos and like them too: durable, in-tune, not too costly. I borrowed a Susato narrow bore A once for a few weeks. I found that closing the holes was tough for me. I think the trouble I had is rooted in simple anatomy: I have small fingers. Everyone is different.
If you can, I suggest borrowing a few and trying them out.
trill
I have a Dixon tunable poly A and it’s quite nice. Deep, strong, flute-like tone and accurate. I’ve played other good A whistles but no more than I use an A, the Dixon does a good job.
I always assume that any whistle from Bb on down will require piper’s grip on at least the bottom hand. That pretty much eliminates the personal anatomy factor in choosing whistles. Any low whistle player needs to acquire piper’s grip as a necessary skill. It’s non-optional. And not hard. Then if you come across a low whistle that you can manage with standard grip, that’s a bonus.
Take a Goldie Overton! They are NOT too expencive. Just look at the quality and the craftmanship. AND the customer support.
PS: If you think a Goldie whistle is too expencive, maybe you don’t deserve one anyway.
Aren’t you a bit too fast to judge? For example, when 15, I wouldn’t get a holiday job, and with 3-4 euros of pocket money, I’d have to accumulate money for quite a long time - could be the same case here.
Yeah, that’s just silly and crass. Are you saying that poor people don’t deserve nice things because they are too poor to be able to afford them? 
I also think that Goldie-Overton is the gold standard in low whistles. In Thailand the annual per capita household spending is around US$1500. The Overton low A costs €181 or US$258. Or approximately 17% of average disposable spending. That’s a lot of gai kua noodles. Food for thought, eh?
If that’s not what you meant, then my apologies.
Well, Kenny had to day because he was poor 
Anyway, that’s not to diminish the point I agree with.
Well, for what it is worth I’m an American living in Thailand (Chiang Mai, actually), running a study abroad program for American students. So I live on American professor wages, which are better than most here, but still not great! 
That said, the “affording” issue has to do more with A) marriage and B) a chronic case of MMIAD, more insidious and difficult to cure than WOAD. MMIAD (multiple musical instrument acquisition disorder) started innocently enough when I inherited my mother’s mountain dulcimer and started playing again a few years ago, but now the living room is full of dulcimers, bordhrans, whistles, guitars and random folk instruments. Since I play in an Irish/Folk band with actual gigs, I can use that to further justify all sorts of purchases. However, we’re “paid” in a tab at the pub, so no money is actually generated (and money “saved” on Guinness doesn’t “count” oddly enough). 
-Mark