Chiff and Fipple Forums

Hi Folks,
I have recently taken delivery of an MK Pro Low 'D' whistle which I love the sound of, but forgot to stipulate that I wanted the polished finish instead of the matt finish and I'm finding it very difficult to keep a grip on the whistle as the surface is so slippery, and it's driving me mad. Does anyone here on the forum have the same problem? if so, have you found ways of making the whistle less slippery?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
David

Doesn't it have the thumb grip (ridges)? You can use some cellophane (scotch) tape.

As you might guess, this question has come up before:

viewtopic.php?t=100154

I use a simple O ring between the 4th and 5th holes for my right thumb.

I just hold it a bit more horizontally.

I had the same problem-I put two pieces of blue painters tape on the back where my thumbs rest - works fine

Everything mentioned above will work. I found the O ring to work the best for me. I ordered some relatively large silicone wedding rings from ebay or amazon at one point and they worked well. I can't remember but I think I ordered the largest size available at the time. A hardware store o ring might be cheaper though.

I tried all the methods described here and none of them helped. I eventually gave up on the low whistle, for the most part, and picked up the flute. The low whistle I find to be an ergonomic disaster

I do have a kerry whistles optima which is very light and significantly easier to hold. Gigantic finger holes, but for me at least more playable

Have you tried a low F, low G or low A? That would allow you go get into the "low" range of tones, still have access to some soprano notes for good expressive range, require less wind supply, and most importantly, give your fingers a break because the holes will be closer together to a degree that seems to be at the common borderline between playable and unplayable. I would have doubled up an elastic band and put it where the lower thumb goes on the whistle. Or a thin velcro band secured in the same spot, with a cloth cover.

pigwhistle wrote: I wanted the polished finish instead of the matt finish and I'm finding it very difficult to keep a grip on the whistle as the surface is so slippery

So the rougher surface is more slippery? I seem to recall somebody stating that paradox in some earlier thread.

I had several MKs which were smooth as glass, and I had a Reviol with a rough matte finish, and now Goldies with the brushed semi-matte finish, and for whatever reason I don't have issues holding any of them.

The thing I did have trouble holding was the "Chieftain Gold" Low D that I played for a time. It's thick solid brass and is by far the heaviest whistle I've ever owned. After trying to play that beast I knew why makers normally use aluminium.

It wasn't that it was slipping, it was that using mere hand tension to support it was making my hands cramp. So I bought a Bari Sax strap, it was perfect, with a plastic clip that I could clip on the bell of the whistle, freeing my hands from supporting the weight.

BTW that "Chieftain Gold" had the best 2nd octave of any Low D, so lovely. Phil Hardy plays one on one of his videos.

Thanks Folks for all the suggestions most of which I'm going to try. The slipperiness of the whistle surface may also be exacerbated by the surface of my own fingers/hands, the corrugations on the back of the whistle only help to a small degree. It's not so much that the whistle slips from my grip to a large degree but enough so as to have to keep adjusting my fingers/thumbs more than is usual (for me) to keep the holes properly covered and airtight, much more so than on my other low whistles, which include a Howard low 'D' (polished) and a Reyburn Maple head low 'D' (brass). I like the o-ring and the rubber band idea and will try both, also the painters tape, I also thought of cutting a couple of pieces from one of the fingers of a rubber glove and stretching them onto the whistle, particularly a glove with a patterned surface. And if I'm not happy with either of those I think the Bari Sax strap would work well. I also seem to recall this subject coming up in an earlier thread, and if I recall correctly someone went to the trouble of sanding the matt finish off of their new MK Whistle and was quite happy with the result (yikes!)
Thanks again folks for all your help, it's much appreciated.
David

Here's another thread on the subject, my comments there still sum it up for me.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=100763

At the time, Misha didn't offer a silver (plain aluminum, aluminium, as you wish) finish. Not long after these comments he started doing that. Coincidence?

I have yet to get my hands on a plain metal MK. I have several matte ones and they drive me bonkers trying to hold them, more than any other whistle I've encountered and I've tried many. Mine are covered in egregious amounts of electrical tape. Still baffled, he got so much about these right.

I don't see that I mentioned it on that other thread, but I'll mention it here, that a few years ago I picked up an MK Low D which I was told was bought from Paddy Keenan, who had used it on tour.

It was covered with a thin sticky film which I named Keenan Goo.

No worries holding that one!

I used GooGone to get rid of that icky sticky stuff.

Never had an issue holding mine. Matte black.

Hi Derek,
Thanks for re-posting the link, I thought I was remembering correctly, but I had forgotten about the pictures, what a fantastic job you did, I'm not sure I will try to do that myself but it's tempting, and looking at the pics' and reading your thread again has given me a bit of hope and inspiration if I decide to give it a go.

Apologies Derek and D Mc, I got the names mixed around, it was of course D Mc who went to the trouble of taking the MK back to the metal.