Low F Whistles

[hans]

What is your favorite low F whistle, and why?

I just got a new low F made by Maurice Reviol,
tunable in black anodised aluminium,
which plays nicely, with a strong bottom end and
easy top end. I don't know how to characterize the tone,
it is quite clear with a little bit of "fuzz",
a little less focussed than my Overton low G,
a bit more complex in tone.
I enjoy it, and it likes to played expressively,
if that makes sense.

Cheers,
~Hans

[Irish Marine]

Makes perfect sense as I have a Reviol low F myself. Great, great whistle. Love it!

[pipersgrip]

I have always heard great things about the MK low F.

[hans]

I found this old thread about F whistles:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=833
but it does not discuss specific F whistles.

There must be players here who enjoy their low F whistle.
Please let us know about it!

[Tommy]

My low F is a Chieftain OS low C that with one cross finger plays in the key of F. The tone is very smooth, and I will always have this whistle.

[Steamwalker]

Here are some other posts on the subject:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=61431
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=58574
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=47361
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=45999
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=39558
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=33447

One has to find some inventive ways to find keys through the search as it won't recognize single letter keywords.

[hans]

Thanks for those great links, Marc!
Those comments were exactly what i was looking for,
thanks to all those posters!

Now how did you find those old threads? Using Google?
Or what trick did you use on the forum search engine?

~Hans

[Steamwalker]

Thanks for those great links, Marc!
Those comments were exactly what i was looking for,
thanks to all those posters!

Now how did you find those old threads? Using Google?
Or what trick did you use on the forum search engine?

~Hans

No google; just used the forum search here. Nearly any thread I have seen about Low Fs undoubtedly mention the mythical Grinter Low Fs so I just searched for "grinter" and "low" as keywords. There's a method to the madness.

[AbraXas]

I bought a Kerry Pro Low F not too long ago, and I know we will be partners for a long, long time. It´s a magnificent whistle in all aspects. I haven´t tried an Overton yet, but from what I read, they shouldn´t stray too far apart from the Kerry Pro, and vica verca. Phil has at least two for sale at the moment, for £150. A pretty good deal if you ask me, especially since the Chieftain V3 series is more expensive at the moment. And I would choose a Kerry Pro over a Chieftain any day.

Check out some of Michal Mcgodricks playing. He has quite a handful of Low F songs in his usual live set.

[littlejohngael]

I am sure that somewhere in this great mass of Chiffposts (maybe even the ones listed above), I've said something about my deep and abiding love for my Alba Low F. It was a cheap trick by a friend of mine, really. He once had an online store, and I ordered an Alba Low G from him. Since he was out of stock, he sent me the Low F to play with while I waited. Naturally, I fell in love with it. It had this hauntingly sweet, chiffy, overton-ish sound to it. Plus, the fipple was sky blue with a swirl of white in it -- very cloudlike.

I wasn't happy having to send it back. And I never had the money to buy it. HOWEVER, when I finally left the company I'd been with for six years, several of my coworkers chipped in and bought it for me as a going away gift! What a great lot they were. So yeah, it's got a great deal of sentimental value as well.

Little John

[starstutu]

I have an Overton low F and a MK F. Both are great whistles. Both have their little differences. Used to have a Kerry Pro F, sold it for almost nothing. It can't even compare to the Overton or the MK. Don't waste your money on a Kerry F.

[greenspiderweb]

I have an Overton low F and a MK F. Both are great whistles. Both have their little differences. Used to have a Kerry Pro F, sold it for almost nothing. It can't even compare to the Overton or the MK. Don't waste your money on a Kerry F.

Everyone forms their own opinions by what they play and hear, and how it works for them (and sometimes unfortunately, only from what they read)-so it's very subjective, from one individual to another, and also from one whistle to the next. Unless you've played many of the same one, and can report some genuine shortcoming about them, then it's just one whistler's opinion about one whistle, and their opinion of it should be considered only in that light.

Interesting that only two posts before yours Carlos, AbraXas says he has that exact whistle (Kerry Pro F) and in no uncertain terms states that it is a magnificent whistle, and it will be with him for a long time. It doesn't sound like it could be a bad whistle to try to me, since it gets such a positive endorsement from someone who has one. It could be that you found you didn't like yours yours just for personal taste differences, or possibly you had a bad whistle. *Also, people don't always have the right breath control for a given whistle when they try it, and will give it up before finding out how to play it best too, which may lead them to believe that it was the whistle was at fault, and not them. Remember trying certain whistles when you first began playing and thinking they were really bad, only to try them later and find that they play pretty well now? I know that's easier to do with cheap whistles than the more expensive lows, since you tend not to keep all of the more expensive ones around as long probably.

*Doc Jones wrote an excellent post where he talks about playing an Overton properly (which could also be applied to other whistles, no doubt too), and may help clarify what I am getting at:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=62029

So when you say don't even bother with a certain brand of whistle, it's really not fair to other players or the whistle maker, to give that impression about any makers entire lot of whistles they've made to date, especially when you are only talking about one whistle you had, whenever that was in your journey of whistling skills development.

Barry

[narrowdog]

Barry thanks for the post, very well put.
I was going to say something very similar, but I think you put far better than I ever could.

I have a Kerry Pro F and love it to bits, it does everthing I need it to do

@Starstutu
We all buy and sell whistles from time to time, we keep the ones we like and sell on the ones we don't for whatever reason, its all part of the journey, but to slag off a whistle and not give any constructive reason for doing so and just say its worthless is bang out of order.

Nick

[AbraXas]

I have an Overton low F and a MK F. Both are great whistles. Both have their little differences. Used to have a Kerry Pro F, sold it for almost nothing. It can't even compare to the Overton or the MK. Don't waste your money on a Kerry F.

As far as I know, the basic design on the Overton and the Kerry Pro are very close to being exactly the same. Don´t forget that Phil Hardy used to make Overtons as well, and that Kerry Pro is his version of the Overton. When was your Kerry Pro made? And for how long did you use it?

I have to agree with greenspiderweb and narrowdog. If you slaughter a whistle like that, with no argument to back it up, its just rediculous and of course of no value at all. You seem a bit close minded too me by stating the above. You could easially fix that by providing a small description, and being a bit more open minded about it.

[MTGuru]

Not long ago I bought a "mythical" Grinter F, from a shady-looking unicorn in a dark alley behind the cold fusion plant in Atlantis. OK, I really bought it from a friend, but that's beside the point.

The whistle was in excellent shape musically and physically, and sounded great in the hands of both my friend and of Paddy Keenan, who had tried it shortly before.

And within 48 hours I returned it to the seller for a refund.

The combination of breath response and physical feel and tone in the ear - it just wasn't for me.

I think experienced players learn to read declarations of either "fantastic instrument" or "piece of crap" with a critical eye. Ultimately, it's a matter of personal taste and ability and whether the instrument suits the musical use you put it to.

I've played both the Overton and MK low F, and would consider either one my very tasty cup of tea.

Also, it's been a long, long time since Kerry and Overton whistles shared a heritage. So I think you have to judge each one independently on its current merits, pro and con.