Syn Whistles invite C&F....

herbivore12 · Post by **herbivore12** » Mon Apr 07, 2003 3:45 pm

Wombat wrote:
peeplj wrote:What can I say except "Me too?"

I wonder how long it takes to get a whistle from Australia...

--James
Usually between 4 and 10 working days—more if customs think you're importing biological weapons.

I had a didgeridoo shipped from Australia, and the maker had a sense of humor -- perhaps of the kind typical of Aussies -- and put "Organic Bazooka (Didge!)" on the paperwork. This was shortly after the 9/11 attacks.

You can imagine the explaining I had to do . . .

Australians work about two days a week so that should help you do the calculations.

No wonder everyone there seemed so relaxed when I travelled through.

--Aaron

blackhawk · Post by **blackhawk** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 11:05 pm

John Allison wrote:Just got my Syn whistle by special delivery this evening!!! Guess I caught the Aussies on a good work week. Unfortunately it's a bit late tonight to be playing so I'll have to give it a go tomorrow and let everybody know.

At least now I know who the mysterious Mr. Syn is...or should I say Mrs. Syn???

Well? How does it sound?

John Allison · Post by **John Allison** » Sat Apr 12, 2003 12:20 am

You wouldn't believe how many nasty messages I got after posting clues to who the Mysterious Mr. Syn was!! That's why I decided to come back with a bogus claim as to having received one of his whistles before they were even available. After the McH****e affair I certainly would not be one to order a whistle sight unseen/ear unheard/lips unplayed (take your pick).

I did receive a new Burke Low-A that very night and have been completely happy with it ever since!

blackhawk · Post by **blackhawk** » Sat Apr 12, 2003 12:22 am

John Allison wrote:You wouldn't believe how many nasty messages I got after posting clues to who the Mysterious Mr. Syn was!! That's why I decided to come back with a bogus claim as to having received one of his whistles before they were even available. After the McH****e affair I certainly would not be one to order a whistle sight unseen/ear unheard/lips unplayed (take your pick).

I did receive a new Burke Low-A that very night and have been completely happy with it ever since!

:roll:

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Sat Apr 12, 2003 1:01 am

The only name I've found is (-edited at the thought that mabey I was actually right and didn't want to give it away if I was-) of Australia, but I've never heard of him till just now. I haven't been here for much of the history of the board, so that's probably why. Apparently he makes pipes or something.

rbm · Post by **rbm** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 10:55 am

hehehe

well I just got in from work and my mother-in-law came round with a package from oz..........

... yep my syn is here!!!

PhilO · Post by **PhilO** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 11:00 am

The withholding of an immediate, superficial, totally meaningless, first impression, know-it-all review would be synful!

Philo

rbm · Post by **rbm** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 11:10 am

ner-ner-ne-ner-ner

so 1st impressions

plays very very well -I like, I like alot

!!

it only took a couple of seconds to get used to plays both octaves well and strong, but is not as loud as some others - stacey's for instance. It has a resonable amount of back pressure so seems to be quite frugle in the air reqirement dept.

it's well in tune with itself and the tuning slide works well not to loose.

unfortunatly the brass pin is a little bit proud of the head (might be due to the postage from one side of the world to the other!) but other than that the head is very comfortable indeed.

there are a couple of small but deepish scratches in the back of the body but for me they are not a problem (and I'm only mentioning them to try and be objective) - and heck for me the sound is everything and this does sound very good indeed, it has very little chiff and a nice round warm sort of a sound.

I think this may well become one of my session whistles due to the cracking sound

Thanks syn for sending it to me in good faith - us beekeepers need to stick together

sorry about smellings - still cana type!

Celtoid · Post by **Celtoid** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 3:05 pm

Just received my syn, and I agree with rbm's comments above. Mine had no scratching on the tube however, but since it is made of aluminum, there is simply going to be a great deal of it over time, not a problem as far as I am concerned. I like the delrin head, but it would be better looking perhaps to take off the head of the pin and smooth it to the surface. However, it really makes no difference, and makes the whistle a bit different. The bore of the tube is fairly large...large enough for my Sindt to mate with it. The sound is very, very nice. The bell tone is very rich. It is easy to move through octaves and has no shrillness. The c natural is decent. Overall it is a very nice whistle, and for thirty dollars a spectacular whistle.

blackhawk · Post by **blackhawk** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 3:21 pm

I just got mine, too. I like it a lot, first of all. The finish isn't great, having numerous scratches in the aluminum, but in the sheet of paper included, Mr. Syn acknowledges that. And for the money, I couldn't care less about scratches. The thing to me is, it sounds great, like you'd expect from a far more expensive whistle. It's not quite in the Burke class, but it's not expected to be. I'll say one thing: I paid $90 for an aluminum Chieftain and it didn't sound one tenth as good as this Syn. For that matter, I've played high end whistles, many of them that are revered on this board, some of them costing in the hundreds of dollars, that didn't sound nearly as good as this Syn. The only two I can say right off the bat that I still like more are the Burke and the Sindt. Third place goes to this whistle. Good job, Mr. Syn! Your product is Synfully excellent.

DaveG · Post by **DaveG** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 4:00 pm

Mine arrived today....wow. This would be an awsome whistle at twice the price....

Jerry Freeman · Post by **Jerry Freeman** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 4:11 pm

SHHHH!!!!

csharpd · Post by **csharpd** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 10:50 pm

Got mine today, too.

I am really pleased. This is the first non-cheap whistle I have ever played (I have a Clarke original, a Sweetone, SB and VSB Susatos, and a brass Gen, all in D) and the huge leap in quality was apparent to me immediately. The tone is full and rich across the range, octave jumps are smooth, oxx ooo sounds great for Cnat.

Mine has various small scratches and nicks; I think Mr. Syn's accompanying note addressed that issue squarely and well. I look forward to helping develop its character with finger oil, etc.

The one thing that surprised me was that the holes are, well, on the "rustic" side. They feel good under my fingers -- there's no sense of roughness at all -- but from an aesthetic standpoint, rounder holes would look nicer.

I really like the size, weight, and feel. It's quite a bit larger in diameter than my Generation brass ("folk" model); in fact, the Gen will just slip inside the Syn.

I feel lucky to have this and am so happy that Mr. Syn chose to distribute his initial batch to C&Fers at an amazing price.

--C#/D

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 11:00 pm

I'm glad that Syn decided to go the strait and narrow, but the whole time I was in Australia riding horses with him, he never once let me try one of the Syn Whistles!

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 11:33 pm

Walden wrote:I'm glad that Syn decided to go the strait and narrow, but the whole time I was in Australia riding horses with him, he never once let me try one of the Syn Whistles!

You should have asked Wombat and you'd have got to play the prototype.

Seriously folks, now that they are arriving, do the commercial products fit my earlier descriptions of the prototype? Nothing said so far surprises me but my description of the sound as Burke-like, not quite as pure, is an opinion I'd like to have confirmed (or denied.) Not as well finished or responsive as a Burke of course, what were you expecting, but still the best value for the money in it's price range by far. And I'm only playing the prototype. Apart from my comment on tone, I suppose Blackhawk's comments do pretty much agree with mine, and all the other comments conform to my impressions as well.

I'll be sending mine back to take advantage of improvements made during the development stage. Those of you who want a great little cheapie, get in while it's still a cheapie. The wages of Syn .... will rise. After all, he clearly wants to live in the style to which academics are accustomed.