My friend is turning 18 soon and me and my sister want to buy her a tin whistle. As she already has a few we want to make sure its something fairly unusual (so that she won’t already have one) and of as high quality as we can afford (so that if she already has one in the same key then at least this one might be an upgrade). We plan to get her name engraved into it so it needs to be metal rather than plastic. one we were looking at was the Freeman Tweaked Shaw C because it seems like its a little different from the others and I don’t seem to remember her saying she has a C whistle. Firstly, is this particular whistle worth getting?
Secondly, are there any other whistles (around the £20-£30 mark) which we should consider and where can we get them from for the best price?
Any help is greatly appreciated as being a string player I know absolutely nothing about whistles!
Thanks,
Laura
I would let her choose. It could be even more special for her if the whistle had the playing characteristics she prefers. Just a thought.
Yeah, I know that would probably be best, but we really did want it to be a suprise, and to be honest, I don’t think she’d have a clue if we asked her!
Laura
Obviously, there are many choices you could make. But honestly, your first idea is a good one. Shaw whistles aren’t common, and are different from the mainstream due to being conical. Some people like them a lot, and few really dislike them that I’ve ever heard about. If she already has other types of whistles, but not a Shaw, this might be a great choice!
maybe the people at bigwhistle.co.uk could issue a gift certificate?
The Shaw is great, but I’d make it a D.
Or you could get a nice O’Briain D Improved whistle.
That one is a particular favorite of mine, has a great trad sound to it, and I wouldn’t imagine she already has one.
M
Just wondering why a you would reccommend D whistle more? Is it because most tunes are in D? The problem is, I seem to remember her saying she had a D… but I’m likely to be wrong!
most irish tunes are played on a D whistle.
I don’t play many other kinds of tunes, and so I almost never have use for a whistle of any other key.
We all have dozens of D whistles of every description and make.
I don’t use my C whistles as much as D and A but if she plays with other people, I’m sure she’d appreciate a C whistle.
I have a C Shaw myself and I am happy with it. They’re a bit on the quiet side but she may like that. It’s a quality whistle and I’m sure she’d appreciate it.
I wish I had friends like you! 
Matt
a quiet Shaw? My how things have changed in the last decade.
The first whistle I ever got was a Clarke original. The second I ever got was a Shaw…It was like a Clarke on steriods. It was breathier, louder, and took more air than the Clark. It was all the things I didn’t want as a newbie whistler. I can appreciate them now..but back then, I think that shaw got 2 hours play time before I decided to replace it. heh 
In fairness, I think in addition to my added experience, the modern shaws aren’t quite that hard to tame…
You might look at the Dixon tunable Aluminum. About $50 (US) metal tube plastic head. Pretty nice whistle and a good upgrade from the Clarkes and Generation level of instrument (though a nice one of these can be hard to beat)
The cool thing is that the tube is painted metalic silver, so if you had it engraved you would get a nice effect I imagine
I wish I had friends who would get me instruments for my birthday! I usually only get socks and a DVD or two. 
Good Luck!