Whistle Review - Busman Soprano D Bucote

Whistle
1

Yesterday I received my whistle from Paul; here goes.

Appearance - This is truly one of the most beautiful pieces of wood I’ve ever seen, fantastically uniquely grained. Nice double brass ferrules top and bottom that are distinguished from Glenn’s wonderful thinweasels by a sort of grooving of the rounded ferrules that I found very attractive. (My very old TW does have this on top only; my new one does not)

Fit and Finish - Top notch with a perfectly fitted tuning slide. The finger holes are well done to my liking and they are very similarly sized and placed to my old (and venerable)TW cocobolo D that I have.

Mouthpiece - A delrin plug is set into the brass; it is comfortable and does not clog. Typically arched windway perhaps a bit squatter than the TW.

Sound - Good bottom end and exceptional (to my tastes)high end. Full round sound (to my liking)yet retains some “sweetness”, mostly pure with just a hint of chiff.

Ease of play - No unusual air requirements, easy transitions and very goof proof.

I compared via recording and playback of all types of tunes to my Grinter and TW. There are subtle tonal differences, with the TW and Busman being closer than to the Grinter (as expected). The Grinter is a little less volume, a little less piercing (that is for lack of descriptive phrase and not a negative)and a little warmer and “sourer” in that it has more of that almost bagpipe tone to it. The Busman is definitely more goofproof than the other two. All three are terrific.

Notes: The whistle does not come with a bag and Paul and I discussed that possibility for the future. I personally neither want nor need one as I usually carry among a bunch in one of several bags I have that are meant to carry and protect and probably most of us don’t use the cloth bags that are thrown in. It is though nice to see a pretty felt bag when opening your new package.

Second, the horseshoe shaped part of the plug that can be seen has a rim that is cosmetically grained like wood (a factor in the cutting of the piece), but it is all delrin (and as I said clog-free and comfortable).

That’s all for now.

Regards,

Philo

2

Thanks for your kind words, Philo
I guess I misunderstood your question about the fipple. There is indeed a thin rim of wood visible around the Delrin plug-- on a lighter colored wood this is more visible: once the Bocote is oiled it gets pretty dark. This rim of wood is in contact with the player’s lip, but so far I have not had anyone complain of allergic irritation. Very sensitive players might want to alert me to this, and I can coat that wood to protect their lips.

3

Paul - Not necessarily “kind” words; I was thinking maybe “objective.” Yes you’re right, we had a misunderstanding; I initially thought this outer rim was indeed wood (bocote), as it is. Therefore approx. 98% of the surface area of the plug that comes into contact with the mouth is delrin? Whatever it is, it’s comfortable and doesn’t appear to clog. Thanks for clarification.
Regards, PhilO