Identify whistle?

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kkrell
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Tell us something.: Mostly producer of the Wooden Flute Obsession 3-volume 6-CD 7-hour set of mostly player's choice of Irish tunes, played mostly solo, on mostly wooden flutes by approximately 120 different mostly highly-rated traditional flute players & are mostly...
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Identify whistle?

Post by kkrell »

I'm trying to identify this whistle:

High D, blackwood, tunable with slide.

Possibly significant features:

Appears to be a blackwood head with aluminum tip & rings (seem to be easily scratched), polymer fipple plug. Note that there is a comfortable bevel to the metal at the mouth (unusual to me), and a smaller one toward the lower part of the head. The metal surround rises slightly above the fipple plug & end of the blackwood tube, rather than a flush fit. Has a reasonably deep scooped beak. Long ramp on blade. The mouth end has a curved entrance to the windway, which also has a slight ramp leading down into it. Came to me with a 2-piece soft holster pouch, similar to those seen for fifes.

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International Traditional Music Society, Inc.
A non-profit 501c3 charity/educational public benefit corporation
Wooden Flute Obsession CDs (3 volumes, 6 discs, 7 hours, 120 players/tracks)
https://www.worldtrad.org
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chas
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Re: Identify whistle?

Post by chas »

That's a Wilson Woods. (I don't remember getting a bag with mine, but Ted is/was a fife maker, good call.) The fittings were marketed as silver, although mine haven't tarnished at all, although the slide is discolored. I compared it to mine, and it's the spit 'n' image.

Mine has a very faint stamped script W between the top hole and the wide ring, maybe 1/4" from the ring. Mine has silver paint/foil in it, which has presumably worn from yours, but you might be able to feel it with a finger tip or nail.

They were notoriously inconsistent. Mine is a spectacular player, as was the one Dale was sent; others were mediocre to bad according to the reviews.
Charlie
Whorfin Woods
"Our work puts heavy metal where it belongs -- as a music genre and not a pollutant in drinking water." -- Prof Ali Miserez.
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kkrell
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Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: Mostly producer of the Wooden Flute Obsession 3-volume 6-CD 7-hour set of mostly player's choice of Irish tunes, played mostly solo, on mostly wooden flutes by approximately 120 different mostly highly-rated traditional flute players & are mostly...
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Re: Identify whistle?

Post by kkrell »

chas, thanks for your info. There is no marking on mine, although I'd like to see photos of yours. The fingerholes & top of the windway are a little roughly cut, but so far it seems to play well. Compares in playability & tone (side by side comparison here) to a Busman. I figured that style of case is probably used by US Civil War re-enactors. It's best that this one not be disassembled to maintain the tuning slide from going out of round. Seems to be an OK eBay purchase. At the price, I thought it was a cheap polymer, but no.

Edited: just read your review in 2002 - fits the description pretty well:
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/viewt ... f=1&t=6363
International Traditional Music Society, Inc.
A non-profit 501c3 charity/educational public benefit corporation
Wooden Flute Obsession CDs (3 volumes, 6 discs, 7 hours, 120 players/tracks)
https://www.worldtrad.org
User avatar
kkrell
Posts: 4831
Joined: Mon Jul 29, 2002 6:00 pm
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Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: Mostly producer of the Wooden Flute Obsession 3-volume 6-CD 7-hour set of mostly player's choice of Irish tunes, played mostly solo, on mostly wooden flutes by approximately 120 different mostly highly-rated traditional flute players & are mostly...
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Re: Identify whistle?

Post by kkrell »

fifeanddrum.com is no longer there, closed long ago. I see a brief mention on the Wayback Machine in 2001 for Wilson wood whistle, but unfortunately none of those pages or images are archived. No result for me in Google, either. Do you still have yours, chas, or did it make its way to me?
International Traditional Music Society, Inc.
A non-profit 501c3 charity/educational public benefit corporation
Wooden Flute Obsession CDs (3 volumes, 6 discs, 7 hours, 120 players/tracks)
https://www.worldtrad.org
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chas
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Re: Identify whistle?

Post by chas »

kkrell wrote:fifeanddrum.com is no longer there, closed long ago. I see a brief mention on the Wayback Machine in 2001 for Wilson wood whistle, but unfortunately none of those pages or images are archived. No result for me in Google, either. Do you still have yours, chas, or did it make its way to me?
Yeah, fifeanddrum.com didn't last long.

I get the impression that there were only a few good ones made, so I'm not parting with mine. I had a close look at your pics with my whistle, and there's no doubt in my mind they're the same. The chamfer on the beak end of yours is a little longer, but the narrow windway, long ramp, chamfered mouthpiece, wide ring at the top of the body, are all there. I'll try to get some decent pics and send them to you. Had a try with the phone last night and that didn't work so well.
Charlie
Whorfin Woods
"Our work puts heavy metal where it belongs -- as a music genre and not a pollutant in drinking water." -- Prof Ali Miserez.
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