Chiff and Fipple Forums

And Derek who wanted to hire D Mc to polish his MK, although Misha now makes them this way.

I'm sure Pancelticpiper will agree (he's mentioned many times) all MK's seem to play differently. I concur. I wish they were all plain aluminium. The one you like best might not be. I haven't tried anything from last four years of production. I wish more MK's would make it across the pond, they're worth comparing, unlike Burkes which are extremely predictable.

No problems holding or playing mine; dark green matt finish.

Bought mine directly from Misha four or five years ago; can't compare it with anything else as it's the first and only low whistle I've ever had, but I'm happy with it. Don't play it all that much - it's currently in storage with most of our household stuff.

Derek Blackwell wrote:
I'm sure Pancelticpiper will agree (he's mentioned many times) all MK's seem to play differently.

Probably different whistles from all makers play differently, it's just that my sample-size with most makers is one or two, while I happened to own six different MK Low Ds, usually two or three at a time, trying to find that magic one, which I did.

My largest sample-size was my oft-mentioned chance to try a straight-from-the-factory box of 24 Generation D's.

Next was my opportunity at the NAMM Show to play a dozen or so Dixon High D's.

In truth those six MKs had much less variation than the 24 Generations, or my two Killarney Ds.

I have found that mouthpiece patches for clarinet and saxophone do the job with a nice grip.


Take a look into these ones:
https://www.justflutes.com/category.php ... order=name
I am using the BG A10L (black) on the MK Pro Low D and MK Pro A.
I have put a pad for the upper hand thumb and other pad for the lower hand pinky.

I wish that Misha could offer polished versions again, however this is what he replied me:
“Metal polishing is a very dirty process. Standing at the polishing wheel for many days and weeks was slowly killing me - inhaling the polishing/metal dust into my lungs. Any solution needs to be sustainable in terms of health and safety- I've done enough damage to myself as it is!”

Interesting, that's why I wear a dust mask when polishing aluminium or sawing, filing and cutting it. And not one of those small ones, either. Something like this:
https://www.rothhaas-online.de/artikel. ... t=10373300&

Thank you R Pereira for that tip, I have ordered a couple of packets. Thanks also for posting the reply to you from Misha about the polishing process, I guess that ends the speculation on that subject, and fair enough too.

pigwhistle wrote:Thank you R Pereira for that tip, I have ordered a couple of packets. Thanks also for posting the reply to you from Misha about the polishing process, I guess that ends the speculation on that subject, and fair enough too.

You're very welcome!

Another option is a thumbrest. Susato makes nice plastic clip-on thumbrests (https://www.susato.com/products/0970-su ... -recorders). I found a #4 fits the MK D very nicely. Personally I added the thumbrest not because the whistle was slipping, exactly, but more to ease up tension in my lower hand. It helps!

Derek Blackwell wrote: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.

The silver MK is anodized like all the other MK’s. It’s the same finish without the dyes for color. I asked him about this because I’d like to get a silver D. I wouldn’t want one without the anodized finish. I put a product for guitar picks on mine for the right thumb. It might be called “monster grips.” There are several products like it out there.

Thanks Bruce, I stand corrected. I guess nobody else here has bought an MK in silver. I'm surprised and disappointed. I thought maybe Misha had been inspired by the earlier discussion and pictures.

While the anodized finish looks nice, I have several low C/D/F/G/A plain aluminum/aluminium whistles by various makers and don't have similar grip gripes with any. They may get more scratched and tarnished, but for me it's all about practicality. I do find it's helpful for the low Cs and sometimes Ds to use a Susato thumb rest, but that's to reduce fatigue, not to keep the thing from slipping out of my hands, as with any MK I've tried, maybe 6 or 7 over the years. Now that I think of it, they were all anodized. I just looked at the MK site for the first time in a long while. Misha used to offer a polished version which was more expensive, but this option seems to be gone. I recall he wrote to me these were easier to grip and I had intended to order one someday. I wonder what on earth happened? I'll say it again, MKs are otherwise a triumph for playability.

Monster grips would be perfect if they were a little bigger. If you place it well, it took me two tries, it should solve the problem. It is a very grippy surface. I’m kind of surprised Misha doesn’t offer something like it, just bigger amd oval shaped. It makes the contact point more solid than any smooth metal or plastic surface. They stick really well amd don’t shift, plus they are clear and not all that visible. I have another one for picks that is a cicular cork material. It also looks like it will work well. I need to find them again and try one.

Derek Blackwell wrote:Misha used to offer a polished version which was more expensive, but this option seems to be gone. I recall he wrote to me these were easier to grip and I had intended to order one someday. I wonder what on earth happened?

I asked Misha about the polished model back in 2018. His response was: "We had to discontinue the polished finish whistles because of health and safety concerns with the process itself. I'm still looking at ways around this however and I hope that we can switch back to polished finish in the not too far distant."

In 2015, he put this out on the MK blog: Polished finish MK Pros will be discontinued for the foreseeable future. This is so that we can concentrate on finishing work on different keys of whistles – G, A & Eb are all in the pipeline (quite literally!). We do currently have a very small number of polished finish Mk Pro D and Fs until such time as stocks run out. [May 2015]

We'll see. I for one would be keen on seeing the polished version available again.

I have a silver anodized MK low d. I almost never play it, because it’s such an ergonomic disaster for me.

I should probably just order a couple susato thumb rests.

I’ve actually thought about installing a clarinet thumb rest. I’d have to drill holes in the whistle and tap the holes, but then I could screw the thumb rest to the whistle body and not have to worry about glues or sticky tape.

Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Durable-Clarinet ... nts&sr=1-2

The model above has a ring for installing a neck strap as well as the thumb rest. The little machine screws it comes with would protrude into the whistle, probably not a good thing i guess, and drilling and tapping would be a fiddly operation, but it would make the whistle easy and comfortable to play. I could maybe find small machine screws that didn't protrude

I'd say definitely try the Susato thumbrests before making a permanent alteration to your instrument. They're plastic, snap on in a second, and don't go anywhere until you move them.

Susato thumbrests are a pretty good solution. I find they do slip a bit on my MKs, I've tried several.

I'm sorry to hear about Misha's health concerns, I'm quite sympathetic as I have lung issues myself. I haven't heard about this from other makers though; I wonder if there's a good solution, or are they all putting themselves at risk?