Killarney 2014 v 2018

[pancelticpiper]

I got my first Killarney D in 2014. I loved it!

It was incredibly sweet and had the easiest 2nd octave of any whistle I had. The scale was not to my liking on a couple notes so I substituted a vintage Generation D tube. The resulting whistle is just about perfect, with extremely good tuning and voicing, having very sweet high notes yet full low notes.

My go-to whistle for nearly 40 years has been a Feadog MK1, a very sweet player with great intonation. The Killarney played in a very similar manner but gave a bit more volume. Tonally both the Killarney and Feadog are very pure-sounding, the Feadog's tone being a tad darker and woodier, the Killarney's tone being brighter.

I recently purchased a new Killarney (both the 2014 and 2018 came direct from the maker).

The first thing that struck me about the 2018 Killarney was the dirtier tone. Next I noticed that the issues with the scale I had felt about my first one had been rectified. However the 2nd octave overall felt flattish. It wasn't unti I put all three whistles up against an electronic tuner that I could clearly see the flat 2nd octave of the new Killarney.

I wonder about three things:

1) are my 2014 and 2018 Killarneys typical of each's time period?
2) If so, why did they change the design?
3) When did this change take place?

Here are the three things L-R c1980 Feadog MK1, 2014 Killarney, 2018 Killarney.

[Loren]

It should be noted, for those who haven’t read some of your previous posts on the subject and who haven’t looked at the tone holes on the whistles pictured, that you have modified (enlarged) multiple tone holes on both the Feadog whistle tube, and the Generation tube pictured on the 2014 Killarney, to adjust the tuning. Which is to say, they both had tuning issues of their before you modified them to your liking. So, one couldn’t expect a MK1 whistle, or 2014 Killarney with a vintage Generation tube to have what you consider good tuning, without first breaking out the files or dremel tool. In other words, simply swapping bodies or finding an old Feadog is not a solution.

[pancelticpiper]

Yes holes have been carved out to adjust the scales of both the Feadog and the vintage Generation tube that I stuck in the 2014 Killarney head.

The scale of the new Killarney is just fine- the F# and B are a hair flat, which is preferred by many players.

The tuning issue of the new Killarney is the octaves, something that can't be corrected by carving holes, but rather a product of the head design.

[MichaelRS]

That's a tad...concerning(?), because I was planning on topping off my D stable with a Killarney in a month or two.

Have you called or written to them and questioned them about that? Maybe it's something they would like to know about and correct.

I'm surprised more Killarney owners have not weighed in on this yet.