The Kelhorn Corporation in Brasstown, North Carolina, which is owned and operated by the Kelischek family, makes Susato Pennywhistles.  It was George Kelischek, a master violin maker from Witten, Germany who started this family affair when he in 1955 founded Kelischek Workshop for Historical Musical Instruments.  In 1960 he and his family moved to the USA and incorporated in North Carolina as Kelhorn Corporation in 1972.  They have now been in business for well over 50 years.

The Susato Pennywhistle was born in the late 1970s when George Kelischek, frustrated with the poor quality (from a musical perspective) of mass-produced pennywhistles at the time, set out to make a pennywhistle that would be both affordable and musical.  His first prototypes were met with such enthusiasm that he developed specialized tooling and patentable processes to facilitate their mass production.  Today more than 30,000 Susato Pennywhistles are sold worldwide each year.

Susato Pennywhistle Models: Kildare & Dublin

Susato Pennywhistles come in two different models, the Kildare and the Dublin, which are available in 19 different pitches from High G to Low C.  The biggest difference between the two is that the Kildare is tunable whereas the Dublin is not.

Kildare & Dublin Shared Features:

• Constructed entirely from a series of injected molded ABS plastic parts, which are either cnc milled or turned for final modifications (such as the milling of tone holes) all to tolerances within 1/1000th of an inch.  ABS Plastic is an ideal material for wind instruments as it is a poor heat conductor, ensuring stable pitch, and is impervious to moisture.
• Curved windway and labium enhance playability and tone.
• Ergonomic oval tone holes used where they are easier to seal than round ones.
• Certain pitches (High Eb, High D, Bb and Low F) are available in two different bore sizes. (See “A Note on Bore Sizes ” Below)
• Keys available on lower pitched whistles for easier reach. (See “A Note on Keys” Below)

Kildare Features: (Most Popular Choice)

• Tunable (Important when playing with others.)
• Tapered Bore (Improves Playability)
• Available in multi-pitched sets that share a common mouthpiece.
• Additional bodies and mouthpieces available for purchase separately.
• Includes fingering chart, thumbrest, joint grease and protective vinyl pouch.
• Affordably Priced

Dublin Features:

• Non-Tunable
• Cylindrical Bore
• Includes fingering chart and thumbrest. (No protective vinyl pouch.)
• Lower Price

While the lower cost of the Dublin is attractive, we, as well as most of our customers, feel the Kildare is a much better value as it is the better player, is tunable and comes with a protective vinyl pouch.

A Note on Bore Sizes

Generally speaking, the higher a pennywhistle’s pitch, the smaller the bore (and the shorter the length).  The opposite is also true.  This has to do with there being an optimum bore/pitch ratio to achieve an optimum character of sound.  As it would be cost prohibitive to develop tooling to produce whistles in 19 different keys all with optimum bore/pitch ratios, makers generally use a shared bore size that acceptably serves a range of pennywhistle pitches.  In the case of Susato Pennywhistles, four different bore sizes serve the 19 available pitches (See Chart Below).

You’ll notice that some pitches (italicized) are available in two different bore sizes.  For example, you can get a High D Susato Pennywhistle in both the V-Series and the S-Series.  In such cases, the pennywhistle with the larger bore will be slightly louder and fuller in tone when compared to the one with the smaller.  Most customers choose the larger of the two unless they require a quieter whistle.

If you are new to playing the pennywhistle, we suggest that you select the S-Series High D. Not only are most tutorials written for High D pennywhistles but most Irish traditional music can be played on a pennywhistle in this key.

A Note on Keys

As mentioned above, keys are available as an option on the lower pitches to help facilitate reach.  While this is helpful for some, especially those with really small hands who might not otherwise be able to play lower pitched whistles, we do not recommend these to players who wish to play in an Irish traditional style as they impede with ornamentation.  Lower pitched whistles (commonly referred to as “low whistles”) should be played with “pipers grip”.  By using this grip, even those with smallish hands can learn to play low whistles without the use of additional keys.  If you are new to playing low whistles and wish to learn proper low whistle technique such as “pipers grip”, a good tutor on the subject is The Low Whistle Book by Steáfán Hannigan and David Ledsam available in our Tin Whistle Tutorials section.