Hello, everyone.
I received six Shaw soprano D’s and one low D from England today and spent the rest of the day tweaking them.
I’m pleased to report that they all tweaked up as well as the ones I’ve done for individual C&Fers.
These whistles are significantly different from the untweaked Shaws in two ways.
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There’s no problem at all with the air requirements after tweaking. The tweaked Shaws are very comfortable to play and provide an appropriate amount of back pressure for expressive playing.
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The timbre of the tweaked Shaws is much more focused, richer.
The tweaked soprano whistles have what I would call a pure, sweet, tinwhistle sound. It’s related to the sound of a Clarke Original, but you can hear that the whistle is made from higher quality materials and craftsmanship.
The low D is deep and rich, full throated, with plenty of overtones. But very clean. Not a lot of random breathiness muddying up the timbre.
The overall effect of the tweaking with both the Shaw soprano D and low D whistles is that they’re easier to play and more musical sounding, more expressive. I would say that they much more give the sensation that the whistle “sings.”
(edited here to reflect the discussion below)
The soprano D Shaws play what sounds to me like a very acceptable Cnat with OXXXXO fingering. So you can take your choice of cross fingering or half-holing, depending on your preference and the tune you’re playing.
The low D Shaw plays a Cnat with OXXXXO fingering, but it’s noticeably weak sounding. Half-holing produces a better note on that whistle.
For a review of the Shaws I’ve tweaked:
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=11712&start=0
TWEAKED SHAW SOPRANO D PRICING ETC.
I can sell the tweaked Shaw soprano D's for $26.50 each plus $3.85 U.S. or North American postage (postage anywhere else in the world, $4.50) That's only $6.00 above the list price for this whistle.
TWEAKED SHAW LOW D PRICING ETC.
I can sell the tweaked Shaw low D for the regular list price of an untweaked Shaw low D, which is $86.00, plus $5.00 postage (for international postage rates, email or PM me). This low D whistle came out well. It’s very similar to the one reviewed in the link above.
Someone has already expressed interest in the low D. However, if you’re interested and this one turns out to be unavailable, I will reorder as soon as possible.
INDIVIDUAL TWEAKING OF YOUR OWN SHAW WHISTLE(S)
If you already have a Shaw whistle that you would like tweaked, I am happy to do them for $12.00 each, plus postage to send it back to you.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
If you’re interested, please PM me on this board (yes, it does work, even though there’s a wierd error message)
or email me at:
jerryREMOVE THIS SPAMBLOCKER@tcenet.net
(delete “REMOVE THIS SPAMBLOCKER” to get the email address to work.)
My heartfelt thanks and best wishes to all,
Jerry