Walton's Mellow D - still the same?

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ChristianRo
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Walton's Mellow D - still the same?

Post by ChristianRo »

Hi fellow Chiffers,
it's been a while since I've posted anything here. Alive and blowing:) I've a question: Does anybody know if the Walton's Mellow D has had a design change in recent years? Or is it still the same with its notoriously sharp bell note? Asking because I'd like to reproduce a tweak I did on one many years ago. It ended up in a plain ugly whistle with surprisingly good behaviour. Maybe I can do better. Thanks for helping.
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Re: Walton's Mellow D - still the same?

Post by ecadre »

I have a Waltons Mellow from June or July last year, and an old Soodlum, not sure whether they'd coined the "Mellow D" name back then.

I've just tried them on a tuner, and I forgot how finicky they are to tune. Anyway, I got them both blowing an A with a reasonable tone, and on each of them the bell note is about 20 cents sharp.
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Re: Walton's Mellow D - still the same?

Post by André B »

I have a recently bougth Mellow D, and it has a very sharp bell note, and the same problem with the G note. Does anyone know if the traditional "Irish whistle" in D from Waltons has these (or other) problems too?
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Re: Walton's Mellow D - still the same?

Post by RoberTunes »

Didn't I see somewhere how whistle owners can tweek a whistle's bell note by adding a wrap of metal to the bottom of the whistle, enough lengthening of the whistle tube below the bottom tone hole to drop the frequency into ideal tuning? "Ya, right", my brain says, because who's got extra brass strips lying around the Sunday lunch table? LOL
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Re: Walton's Mellow D - still the same?

Post by ChristianRo »

Ah thanks. I think I might try my luck ordering one or two. Yes, lengthening the tube is an option. I believe Jerry Freeman does this on his Mellow Dog model, a tweaked Mellow D.
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Re: Walton's Mellow D - still the same?

Post by ecadre »

RoberTunes wrote:Didn't I see somewhere how whistle owners can tweek a whistle's bell note by adding a wrap of metal to the bottom of the whistle, enough lengthening of the whistle tube below the bottom tone hole to drop the frequency into ideal tuning? "Ya, right", my brain says, because who's got extra brass strips lying around the Sunday lunch table? LOL
A Generation B flat tube is just slips over a Mellow D tube.

Might be an excuse to buy a Generation B flat, chop the bits off the top and bottom to make yourself a B whistle and them use those bits to extend your Mellow D.

OK ... I know, I know :wink:
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Re: Walton's Mellow D - still the same?

Post by Nanohedron »

Whenever I had a sharp bell note on a whistle, I'd stick a lump of soft red cheese wax on the inner wall of the bell; you locate it at the top so as not to impede condensation flow. It's tuneable, and reversible. :thumbsup:
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Re: Walton's Mellow D - still the same?

Post by ChristianRo »

André B wrote:I have a recently bougth Mellow D, and it has a very sharp bell note, and the same problem with the G note. Does anyone know if the traditional "Irish whistle" in D from Waltons has these (or other) problems too?
I used to own both. I don't remember the "Irish Whistle" having the same issues. I didn' like it compared to Gens and Feadogs, so I gave it away later. Same with a Walton's C.
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Re: Walton's Mellow D - still the same?

Post by André B »

ChristianRo wrote:Ah thanks. I think I might try my luck ordering one or two. Yes, lengthening the tube is an option. I believe Jerry Freeman does this on his Mellow Dog model, a tweaked Mellow D.
He used to do that with Mellow D whistles, but he makes Mellow Dog's bodies from scratch now.

About extending the tube, I made it and it works fine; but the G note was still sharp, so I also had to partially cover the third hole with electrical tape.

I like the tone and volume of the Mellow D, but the body is made very out of tune :/
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