Chiff and Fipple Forums

Hello,
Apologies if this has been answered, but does anyone know where I could get a new head for a Generation Bb?

Mine never played well, I'll admit I tried adjusting it and made it worse. The tube seems to be reasonably in tune with itself, so why not a replacement head?

Obviously, I'm probably looking for "what will fit on that tube" more so than "what's made exactly for the application I desire"

A sweetone head fit loosely (and then could be tighened up with tape) but the blade was too small to allow for any real volume.

Any thoughts?

Simply buy a new one. I wouldn't bother trying to tweak it. It costs only a few bucks. That being said, I once made a plastic body for a Sweetone head. But I don't know any mouthpiece large enough to fit a Generation Bb apart from the head for a Generation Bb. And I don't think they sell the heads separately. Sure there might be other Bb whistles with a head that fits. I think Susato selles their heads separately. But I have no idea if a Susato Bb-mouthpiece will fit. I doubt it. Another idea might be Tony Dixon. They used to sell replacement heads.

Yes just buy a new one. Or a couple new ones, they're inexpensive.

As I've said on these boards, since I started playing whistles (1970s) I've tried Generations at every opportunity. I've picked up excellent D's and C's over the years, but never found a good Bb in a shop or at a festival.

Oh, I had tried plenty of wonderful Bb's, but they were owned by other players and not for sale.

The first truly excellent Bb I ever owned was one I bought from Jerry Freeman. The tuning is perfect, as is the voicing.

Then a couple years ago I tried a modification somebody told me about: you saw through the windway. The material lost in the sawing shortens the distance between the end of the windway and the blade, which raised the normally flat 2nd octave.

When you glue the halves of the head back together you have a couple minutes while the glue is setting to experiment with the precise alignment of the windway and blade. You can try the whistle with various alignments to dial in the ideal voicing. Once the sweet spot is found, let the glue dry. The result is a perfect Generation Bb head.

The Generation Bb I made in this way is fantastic. The high notes are very sweet and clear and the low notes are round and full. The whole scale is right in tune.

On the left is an off-the-shelf Generation Bb, on the right is the one I modified



I play this modified Generation Bb at around 2:34 on this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-fQhvleWq8&t=159s

I think buying a new whistle will be the cheapest option, unless you can find someone to 3D print one. There are a few designs online which may need to be scaled up to fit a Bb tube. See: 3D printed whistle head

Richard, i can't see the picture you posted is it me ?, never heard of the modification you mention and it sounds worth a try on my Bb whistles that don't work.

Cheers

Strange, the picture just popped up !

I think sawing the head in two through the window accomplishes similar things to what Jerry Freeman gets by gluing an extension to the bottom of the blade:

1) shortening the distance between the end of the windway and end of the blade, which raises the 2nd octave

2) changing the alignment/orientation between the windway and the blade.