Chiff and Fipple Forums

My Feadog MKI is the whistle that I measure all other high D whistles against. For my taste it is exceptionally great sounding and easy to play.

Seeing that I have a fairly severe case of WhOAD, I acquired a Mk II to see what it sounded like. I then acquired a second one (the one with the large sticker) accidently. I thought I was buying another MkI but it turned out to be another Mk II (no stripped sticker at the bottom).

The MK II’s are nice whistles but just not as nice (in my opinion) as the MKI’s. They are louder than the MK I’s and have a more gravely sound in the lower octave and a much more shrill sound in the higher octave. I’ve never felt the need to put putty in either of the MK II’s that I have because their notes have always sounded stable and I haven't had them squeak or squelch. But I have never been satisfied with their sound since they didn’t have the nice velvety mellow sound the MkI does.
I decided to try doing the reversible tweak on them using the small piece of plastic attaching it directly under the wind ramp. I attached it with a tiny piece of putty so this is reversible. I first did it on the MkII with the big sticker and immediately liked the results. To me it sounded just like the MkI. After playing it a few days and comparing it to the MKI, I would say it sounds about 95 percent like the MkI. There are some very subtle differences when you really listen closely. But I think blindfolded I wouldn’t be able to tell which one I was playing, that’s how close they sound to one another now.

I then tried it on my other MkII with the small sticker. The results were good but not great. It lowered the volume of the notes and made them more mellow and velvety but it just wasn’t as close as the first MkII I had done. I wasn’t satisfied so I took the piece of plastic out and put a bevel on the leading edge and when attaching it back in the whistle, I placed the bevel facing downward. Much better! Now it sounds almost as good as the MkI. I would say about 90-95% as good. When playing the three back to back to back, I have to look at them to know for sure which one it is I’m playing.

If anyone is interested I will share more detailed information about what I did (placement, shape, size, and etc.)

One curious thing I have found is that it seems of the 4 whistles I have (Mark 1, 2’s and a 2.5) the two MkII’s are different. I’ve included a picture for you to see what I mean. The MkI and MkII with the big sticker have holes that are alike. The MKII with the small sticker and Mk2.5 have the same hole size and placement to each other but are different from the MkI and MkII with the big sticker. You cannot see it in the picture but the MkII (small sticker) and Mk 2.5 are just a tad shorter in length than the other two whistles. I’m attributing those differences to why I had to bevel the plastic in the small sticker MkII and not in the big sticker Mk II to get them to sound alike.

(l to r : MkI, MkII, MkII, Mk2.5)

That's interesting. Looks like they changed head design but continued to use the MK1 body for a time.

I've posted this before, my oldest MK1 (left) and a second MK1 I bought a few years later (centre).

The older one is a darker green, and I feel it plays better. I don't know anything about the change in colour. When were the different colours used? Was there was any change in the mould?



BTW I don't know when I got the one on the right, or what it might be called. It looks different from all of yours. It isn't very good.

The one on the right of your three is the current Feadog whistle.

pancelticpiper wrote:That's interesting. Looks like they changed head design but continued to use the MK1 body for a time.

BTW I don't know when I got the one on the right, or what it might be called. It looks different from all of yours. It isn't very good.

That was my supposition too, I figured they had some MkI bodies left over and used them up making some of the early MkII's.

The far right one in your picture looks like the head of my Feadog Pro. Like ecadre said, it is current day production MkIII (or a MkIV if you call the Mk2.5 a MkIII)

As far as I know it was Cillian O'Briain who suggested some changes to help with better intonation to the Feadóg tubes once he started 'improving' them. Feadóg teo adopted those changes.

I don't think the Feadóg pro head is in any way different from the standard. Some pro tubes may be thicker (that's what they tell us anyway) although I haven't really seen any evidence of this.

That's quite a difference in head design! I have the newer one. So the MKIs sounds much better? And how hard are they to find in good nick?

AuLoS303 wrote:That's quite a difference in head design! I have the newer one. So the MKIs sounds much better? And how hard are they to find in good nick?

To me the MkI sounds better than the current production model. It has a purer sound and is not as loud as the current model. The MkI is not what I would call a quiet whistle but is not as loud as the current ones. I've been told that is why Feadog changed their design. Their customers (those who played sessions) wanted a louder whistle. They were able to make it louder but lost some of the great sound that I love from the MkI in doing so.

They come up for sale from time to time. I've been looking for the past several months for another one as a backup to the one I have now and have not found another one yet. I'm still looking for one.........

Interesting. I only play at home, just myself so I don't want a loud whistle, but rather one that sounds nice, which lead me looking up Clarke Sweetones etc.

My feadog is 2 years old and it has the same sticker as the one you are calling 2.5 but it says on the order that it was F10. It wasnt my favorite before but the more I play different whistles the more I like the sound, though it does have a couple of unstable notes and I always have to be careful not to give too much air or overblow.

Michelle

.......so I don't want a loud whistle, but rather one that sounds nice....

That sounds like the Tony Dixon ABS would fit the bill, I prefer mine over the Clarkes.

fatmac wrote:

.......so I don't want a loud whistle, but rather one that sounds nice....

That sounds like the Tony Dixon ABS would fit the bill, I prefer mine over the Clarkes.

Or a Clarke original. I imagine them to be quieter because of the wooden block

fatmac wrote:That sounds like the Tony Dixon ABS would fit the bill, I prefer mine over the Clarkes.

My cats probably would disagree, but I think mine sounds great. It even does okay when I try to play quietly.

Someday I shall get my hands on a Feadóg MK I.