Whistle Review: Paul Busman

Whistle
1

Hi all,
I just got my D whistle made by Paul Busman AKA Brewerpaul. Here’s my review (be nice, it’s my first ;0) ) :

Looks: Made out of bloodwood with stainless steel rings and brass tunning slide. The fipple is delrin. Overall it is very sleek and professional looking. It does look alot like a thin Weasel, but than again Paul did learn from Glenn Schultz.
Paul said that he coated the inside of the whistle with something to repell water, thus it makes the breaking in time shorter. I was actually very surpised when I first picked it up because it was very light in weight and feels so nice. I have a blackwood flute and it’s very heavy, so it was a nice surpise to have my whistle be so light.

Sound: When I first heard Paul play my whistle over the phone, the best way to describe the sound is “round”. To me it sounds as if there is no chiff in the lower octaves and very little in the upper octaves. I have to say if you like a whistle with a lot of chiff this is not for you. But for me I love the sound.

Tunning: The tuning is right on if you pull the tuning slide out about 1/8". Paul said that he tuned the whistle a little sharp so I could play with instruments that are sharp. I’m not really picky with tunning so much as it sounds good, but I did test my whistle against a meternome (sp?).

C-natural 0XX000 works great and is right in tune.

Volume: The whistle is pretty loud. The lower octave is very strong. The upper octave is a little weaker but I don’t find that much of a problem. I don’t have much to compare the volume with but I have to say it’s around the level of a Susato, but without the pricingness in the upper octave.

Clogging (or lack of): Another thing that amazed me about this whistle is the lack of clogging. I can play for a very long time and not have any clogging!!

Air requirements: The Air Requirements are alittle high. I find you can really push the notes, and not have them jump octaves.

Wait time: Almost none. Paul is working on some whistles right now in different hard woods.

Price: $175 + $5 shipping

Overall: I love this whistle. This is my first high end whistle and I am very happy with it. I also have to say Paul’s service was wonderful and he was great to work with.

~Caryn


[ This Message was edited by: DaleWisely on 2002-07-24 08:27 ]

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Sounds lovely! Do you have a picture of it?

Kim

3

Thanks for the kind words, Caryn and I 'm glad you like the whistle. Just two points–

  1. I voice the whistles to sound very clean, because I personally like them that way. However, I can leave a bit of chiff in there if someone wants that type of sound
  2. Due to the recent rise in the cost of postage and postal insurance my shipping cost is now $10, which includes insurance for the full $175 value of the whistle and priority shipping in the US. The old $5 cost actually did not cover the entire cost of my postage. For any whistles already ordered, I will honor the old price ,of course.