Chiff and Fipple Forums

So for the benefit of anyone else with a wobbly Clare: I finally got mine fixed!! It's got a rock-solid joint now, possibly even firmer than my brass Clare. Here's how it happened: I was visiting my local instrument repair shop for other business, and brought along my Clares to ask if the guy there ...

And I, unfortunately, got a black top and that sucker won't move. Tried just twisting, tried hot water, tried several incantations, tried several explicatives, and it still won't move. Hmm... you could take the temperature-difference thing further. Put the whistle in the freezer for 5-10 minutes (a...

Have you tried reversing the ends of the upper section? Tolerances are fairly tight, so it may be enough to make a difference. This suggests that you have been able to remove the mouthpiece. I've tried (for tuning purposes) but have not been successful. If you did remove it, what technique did you ...

Have you tried reversing the ends of the upper section? Tolerances are fairly tight, so it may be enough to make a difference. I thought of that. However, the joint part of the upper section isn't plated, unlike the mouthpiece part. I couldn't get the upper section to fit into the joint, although I...

Hello again! Many thanks for all the suggestions! Unfortunately it's still wobbling. Teflon tape was an obvious first step, but as I suspected it would, it just shredded on the way in. The problem there, I think, is that upper part of the joint is already quite tight: it feels the same as my brass C...

Hello all! I got my second 2-part Clare whistle, a nickel model, a little while ago, and fresh from the package, it wobbles when put together. It takes about as much effort to assemble and disassemble as my 2-part brass Clare (which has a rock-solid joint when put together), and as far as I can tell...

I got my second Clare around mid-March. This is a two-part nickel whistle, for which I requested and received a green head (not an option on their order form). All of my correspondence has been with Olive Le Bas (Dave's widow), and she seems to know what she's doing. So yes, they're still going, and...

He also has some health issues that interfere with his production, so he often doesn't have a lot of completed whistles on hand. He mentioned to me that his health issues pretty much shut him down last summer, but that they've been resolved, at least to the point that he's back in action. As one mi...

I toyed with the idea of taking the Feadog head off, just to do the whole tweek thing. But I haven't been brave enough yet. Go for it. It's not glued on. If it feels like it is, just use a towel to increase your grip. And getting the head back on isn't tough either, just be careful that you line it...

Embrace the flaw. I appreciate the sentiment, but the scratch is prominent enough that I feel it every time I hold it to play. I'm not against older instruments acquiring their share of character (and indeed I wouldn't've asked about the touch-up for the logo except it was topical), but this is a r...

My Walton's Little Black D in Aluminum is the only whistle I regret purchasing, as for me, too, the second octave is horrible to play. I don't regret purchasing mine, actually. I mean it when I say that I prefer to practise on poor whistles: if I can get that high G to work on the LBW, it'll sing o...

Two quick addenda -- Besides my Sweetone D, I've also got one in C. This is a perfectly decent whistle, but not in the same league as the D: it's nicely in tune, but it doesn't play as easily as the D in the very high register, and its low C and D are very quiet. I haven't played any other Sweetones...

Hi all -- does anyone know anything about touching up damaged finishes on Clarke Originals? I managed to scratch mine pretty badly with a poorly-installed metal snap on a (Clarke-branded!) pouch. I contacted Clarke, who said that the finish is a baked-on powder coat. (They didn't say how they did th...

I don't have proof, but I'm fairly certain Generation whistleheads are ABS, not polystyrene. Bear in mind, ABS plastic is a mixture of acrylonitril, butadiene and styrene monomers, and the proportions vary according to the properties desired in the finished product. I wouldn't be surprised if the p...

I've amassed a good few whistles, and of them all the Sweetone is my favourite D. It's in tune and sounds good no matter what I throw at it. I've taken to *not* practising on it because it does everything I want too easily! It takes more work to get my Feadog or Oak or Clare to sound as good, and I ...