Although I am familiar with most brands of whistles under sixty dollars, I haven’t played all of them. I’m interested in trying to get a consensus from others who have played any of these whistles as to which ones they feel play well in tune. I know Susatos do; I have a number of those. I’m particularly interested in high D whistles.
Hoover Brass Whitecap: $45
Best.
Byll
Under $60…
Metal
Syn Whistles
You can get a whole set of great playing, well crafted whistles for under $60.
PVC
Hoover
Have not looked at his price list recently, but he makes decent whistle too.
It would certainly help if you were a little more descriptive of what you meant by good intonation.
Dixons are pretty good too.
I have a Serpent Sweet Polly that plays well in tune also.
I think you can get a Water Weasel for around that price, and they’re terrific.
Dixons can be good, but they can also be inconsistent.
Feadóg bodies with Whitecap heads are really good as far as intonation is concerned.
My Walton’s Cs are remarkably precise as well. They cost under $10 each.
I’ll second the recommendations for Syn (fairly pure), Serpent Sweet Polly (fairly breathy), and the Walton’s C (slightly breathy).
I like my Dixons. They do have a reputation for occasional issues, but by repute Tony Dixon is very good about replacing problem whistles. And the ones I own are nice whistles.
Oaks and Feadogs have a reputation for good intonation, too.
O’Briain Improved D.
An old battered tarnished Burke Wide Bore D.
Nobody’s mentioned a Freeman Tweaked Generation. I like mine alot, I highly recommend them.. That and a Clare are all I’ve got left after the sale. If you could spend $85 a Humphrey Narrow Bore or a John Sindt would be some of the best whistles you can buy in a High D. Good Luck.
Steven:
By good intonation I’m referring to how in tune the notes of the whistle are relative to each other.
Hmm. Mine is so-o-o out of tune with itself. What does it cost to ship a whistle to the UK? Has anyone here ever actually sent one back to Tony from the States?
Most of my relatively inexpensive half-inch-diameter whistles (including the Jerry-tweaked Generation, self-tweaked Oak, Whitecap Oak, and Whitecap Feadog) are pretty well in tune with themselves, but none have a perfect C-natural with OXXOOO fingering. However, the same is true of my more expensive narrow-bores (Burke and Sindt). As a result, I half-hole C-nat whenever I can.
I’m beginning to think that this is just a characteristic of narrow-bore whistles. Are there any well-known exceptions?
I had a Dixon whistle that was humdrum in the upper octave. It was harder to play, so I emailed Tony Dixon and told him, and he sent me another one across the Atlantic, and refused to take any money for the shipping. He is an impeccably nice human.
I remember someone smart (was it Jerry? Bingamon? Syn?) saying that thin-walled cyllindrical whistles are usually sharp on the c nat (or out of tune elsewhere). This seems to be what I have observed, too, with my thicker-walled O’Brien and Jubilee Practice whistle being better on the cnat than my Gen’s or my jubilee low metal.
I’m quite pleased with both my O’Brien and my Susato.
edited for idiot spelling and typing errors… sigh
I’d suggest the O’Brien as well.
I like my feadog for seven clams. Not glamorous, but it works for me.
John
I’ve just received my O’Brien D and am getting acquainted with its personality (it does have one). Sounds well in tune, though. Just checked with my little electronic tuner - it is very well in tune with itself, but needs to be pulled out about 1/4 inch to be at concert pitch. Playing a couple of tunes along with my wife (she playing her celtic harp) confirmed both.
OT: Planck, that’s a lovely rubber model in your avatar! What model is it?
If you put 60 bucks on a whistle, it will end up very very flat.
Thanks BEC, very kind of you. It is an Earl Stahl design, “Hurricane”. Here is a link where you can see some larger pictures of it and some very nice models by some very talented modelers.
If you want to be truly wowed check-out the DPCM Cook-up section of picts.
http://www.smallflyingarts.com/4images/
Have a smooth day,
John
I should’ve figured it was one of Earl Stahl’s designs…very nice indeed and thanks for the link.
Back on topic: just received a Syn head and E, Eb, D, C, Bb and A bodies from Erle Bartlett (all for the princely sum of $65 shipped). LOVELY! Sweet sounding yet a bit of chiff, responsive… lots of good things. I already want to order another one just to keep with me.
Don’t know about the intonation yet as I haven’t checked them. The 0xx 000 note (G) on the A sounds a bit sharp, but otherwise they all sound well in tune with themselves (haven’t tried the Bb body yet).