I recently found and bought a Feadog Mk1 and Mk2.5 on eBay.
I’m very, very impressed with the Mk1. Wow. It is so nice to play. Lovely tone, easy to get into the 3rd octave. No squeaking, squelching, or shrillness at all. I had been thinking of searching for a high priced high D whistle before getting this one. It’s so nice I’m not even looking anymore for a custom made high d. I would have gladly paid $100 or more for a custom made whistle that sounds like this Mk1 that I got for $7.50 plus $4 shipping.

Now the other Feadog, the Mk 2.5, it’s not so great. It seems to be just your average large production whistle. I’ve already had to try to help out the upper octave (a, b, C#) with the poster putty tweak. It helped but it just isn’t as nice sounding nor as easy to play as the Mk1.

Why did Feadog change their Mk1 design. From my small sample of 1 and the stories I have read on this forum about how good the Mk1 is (was) I don’t understand why they changed it. Or why they haven’t admitted that their changes didn’t improve things and go back to the Mk1 design.

They have been trying to gain volume. The first model, while playing nicely, feels somewhat restricted in tone, which is something you masy or may not like. The voicing of subsequent models gradually opens up the tone and along the way compromises will have to be made and some of the balance between the octaves will suffer.

It's a development you can see in Generations and other whistles as well. A demand for louder whistles to 'hold their own' or 'cut through' (as some people put it on these forums) increasingly larger sessions. The old players took up the flute when they wanted volume, modern players seem to want to stretch the whislte beyond its naturtal habitat and if you do that, there are sacrifices to be made. Think of it as an arms race of increasing volume.

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My brain hurts

I could be considered a "modern" player, but I buck that trend. Since I don't play at sessions (yet), a quieter whistle is actually desirable to me. Perhaps a Feadóg MK I would be right up my alley?

They can be on the dull and lifeless side, tonally, some of them.

But they are easy to pick up : here's two currently on ebay, a regular brass and a rare nickel one, and a Connemara marble fish thrown in for good measure. All for £12.50 but mind the cost of postage.

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My brain hurts

Thanks Mr. Gumby. That makes sense. My Mk1 is quieter than my Feadog Pro.

Since I'm not playing in sessions it meets my needs quite nicely.

This. Musicians often use the phrase "cut through the mix" as if the rest of the band was weedy undergrowth they had to hack out.

I have a Mark 1 and really like it, but it's noticeably quieter than other whistles. Quieter, and sweeter sounding. i have an old Generation from the 70s and it's also quieter and "Sweeter" than the modern ones.


In my experience one of the big differences between good musicians and not so good musicians is good musicians can get the effect they want at almost any volume, but your average Joe can only play with the pedal floored. At least that's true for me--on the flute, i have a hard time playing quietly and tend to be at full roar all the time. I'm working on it.

Also back when there were sessions and I went to them I would sometimes not be able to hear myself, but dealing with that problem by getting louder is a mugs game because everyone else just gets louder, as Mr.Gumby said an arms race. I've found that as I get better at an instrument I hear myself better, probably because there's a closer relationship between what I want to play and what I actually play

I love the sound of my old Feadog MK1. It's freeblowing and sweet and pure, yet the tone has a certain complexity to it.

That was the major difference when I compared that Feadog to the Sindt D I had, the Sindt was a bit louder and the tone was a hair more bland than the Feadog's.

I did play a Jerry Freeman modified Feadog that was fantastic, it was very, very close to my vintage one. I should have bought that! Because I don't think he made many of those.

Here's my earliest and best-playing Feadog on the left, in the middle is a later one when they used a brighter green plastic, on the right is a yet later one.

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Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle

Here are (some of) mine, two Is, although it appears the heads are shaped slightly differently, two IIs, brass and nickel, and a 2.5, which is the least succesful of that gathering. Forgot to include the nickel/blue III, somehow.

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My brain hurts

Mr Gumby,

What did you think of your MkII's?

Are the III's what they are producing now days?

Thanks!

My cost would be ~$44.25 US...and that's exclusive of any cut the state of Michigan might want. Never mind how long they might be caught up in red tape! I'll keep them in mind, though; I'd like to obtain a nickel whistle, and the marble fish is kind of neat.


I'm not sure, but I have a Feadóg I bought in 2017. I've been very happy with it.

Mr. Gumby -
Was your 2.5 a dud, or was the design just not as good as the others?

Mike

Dan,

Did you get those 2 MkI's that Mr. Gumby provided a link (both a brass and a nickel)? I waited a day for anyone on here to buy them and went back to the site to get them if they were still available but they were already sold.

Curious as to how they turned out if someone on this forum bought them.

I don't think was a very succesful design. It doesn't seem to have been around very long, it's much rarer than the other incarnations.

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My brain hurts

Thanks, I saw one on eBay but I'll pass.

Sadly, no.