Chiff and Fipple Forums

Altering especially the high end whistles that command top prices ought not be allowed without original instrument maker's permission, otherwise, the instrument is no longer that top ender. Buyer beware, and questioning whether instrument has been altered in any way ought to be asked with every purchase.

It's a dilemma isn't it, considering the forum celebrates whistle 'tweaking' and 'tweakers'.



I would agree it's only good manners to make a prospective buyer of a used whistle aware alterations have been made. I have seen some really ugly examples in the realm of uilleann piping of people doing things to perfectly fine instruments they just didn't understand, including makers taking their tools to instruments of other makers and essentially ruining them. So I would be wary of that sort of thing and I have in the past responded to similar discussions on the flute forum with a degree of vehemence. Respect for a maker's output, knowledge and intention is a good starting point. But whistle tweaking is usually put forward here as almost a necessity and certainly something looked at with a degree of esteem and people are often encouraged 'to have a go'. So where do you want to draw the line?

I must say, I have had a greater percentage of perceived 'high end' whistles (let's face it the only high end about them is often found in the price) that didn't live up to their promise and proved a disappointment. Mind you, I am not a great buyer of whistles so the sample size may be limited compared to some here but I do play them.

FWIW, most used whistles I bought through the forum looked like they had never been played much at all so I am not so sure it's a real problem to begin with.

Mr.Gumby wrote:But whistle tweaking is usually put forward here as almost a necessity and certainly something looked at with a degree of esteem and people are often encouraged 'to have a go'.

I suspect that it's only a minority who think like that. I think it may be one of those occasions when, because something is repeated often, it appears to be prevalent, when, in fact, it may be that only a very few people support it. I'd like to think so. I never tweak instruments. The people who I know who have tweaked instruments, and whose opinions I respect, have only ever used reversible tweaks, like shading in a flute hole with removable wax or something like that.

There seems to me to be a difference between "tweaking" an inexpensive, mass-produced instrument (e.g. Generation, Feadog) and a hand-crafted instrument. I've messed with (or messed up) a number of Generations in the past just to see what the results might be. On the other hand, I wouldn't think of messing with a hand-crafted whistle or flute without checking with the maker to see if he/she had thoughts on how my interests could be met, either by the original maker, by some other suggested maker, or by me.

I do think a lot of folks here have done some level tweaking on their whistles (raise your hand if you've never tried putting blu-tack in the head of a Generation}, or cleaned out the flashing left over from a worn mold. Don't have any idea how many have tried the more advanced Cillian O'Briain/Jerry Freeman ramp modifications.

I've had restoration work done on antique flutes ( for Jon C) but that's a whole different category.

And, even if I owned it (and I'm stretching this example way out of shape), I'd never consider that I had the right to paint a moustache on the Mona Lisa.

Them's my thoughts.

Steve

L.H.O.O.Q. worked OK

Mr.Gumby wrote:L.H.O.O.Q. ...

Left Hand Operated On (in) Quilty ?

Best wishes.

Steve

Steve Bliven wrote:

Mr.Gumby wrote:L.H.O.O.Q. ...

Left Hand Operated On (in) Quilty ?

Best wishes.

Steve

You do know what L.H.O.O.Q means, right?

I am aware of the oeuvre and some of its meanings. I could insert a Father Ted quote here, from the Lovely Girls episode. The left handed thing brought Dr. Dumouchel to mind but can't think of anything clever to make of it



[inserted link]

benhall.1 wrote:You do know what L.H.O.O.Q means, right?

Not without Google. You guys use a different language over there.

Best wishes.

Steve

(raise your hand if you've never tried putting blu-tack in the head of a Generation}

Well, my hand is up....never bothered....some say it works, others say it made no difference.

oleorezinator wrote:That’d be the day that I was told what to do
with my personal property.
As soon as the instrument polizei were in place
I’d buy an expensive tooter and hack it into bits and
hammer it back together again.

That's why I would be leary of buying a whistle from you or anyone who has modified the original condition. I'm not trying to hijack the thread but I would like to know if any tinkering had been done on the whistle from original condition. Yes, I have purchased used whistles but carefully and with a preference for buying new directly from the maker.