Feadog Pro review & comparisons

Whistle
1

I have one of the new Feadog Pro whistles, and I like it a lot.

Before you read further, if you haven’t already, you should check out Bloomfield’s excellent review of this whistle:

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=33909

This is a handsome little whistle–well, in looks it’s a nickel Feadog with a black fipple. The label is the “reverse” of the regular Feadog label, black background with golden print, and says simply “Feadog Pro D.” I reckon that kind of covers it for appearances.

Feadog has done a lot right with this whistle. It shares the abilities and agility of the regular Feadog without being quite so touchy on breath control. In the comparison I did for this review, the original Feadog and the Generation were the two most demanding whistles in terms of breath control. The Feadog Pro feels much more like a high-end whistle when you are playing it. It’s a much more forgiving whistle, very nice chiff popping in between notes, good strong low octave and clear, easy high octave.

Ok, here are the recordings. The tune is “Loch Earn,” which I found on thesession.org one day and made the mistake of playing. It quickly became an obsession and now I can never quite drive it out of my head.

First, on the Feadog original, to give a “baseline:”

http://www.flutesite.com/feadogpro/lochearn_feadog.mp3

Now, on the new Feadog Pro:

http://www.flutesite.com/feadogpro/lochearn_feadpro.mp3

Everyone knows when you find a good Generation, you find a remarkable whistle, so I thought I’d include a good redtop Gen, for comparison:

http://www.flutesite.com/feadogpro/lochearn_redtop.mp3

One of the most consistent and best players, in my opinion, of the inexpensive whistles is the Oak:

http://www.flutesite.com/feadogpro/lochearn_oak.mp3

A favorite whistle of mine for its combination of sweet tone and aggressive play is the Syn. Here’s how it sounds:

http://www.flutesite.com/feadogpro/lochearn_syn.mp3

A much-maligned whistle is the regular old SB Susato D. I include it because I can, and because it’s become both a favorite and an old standby:

http://www.flutesite.com/feadogpro/lochearn_susato.mp3

Finally, to give you a true high-end to compare against, here’s the tune on the Burke narrow bore brass D. I’ll not be giving up my Burkes anytime soon, they still take the crown for ease of expression and loveliness of tone:

http://www.flutesite.com/feadogpro/lochearn_burkedab.mp3

As I have grown in my whistle playing, I have come to understand that many inexpensive whistles are remarkably good instruments, once you reach a certain level of ability, particularly in terms of breath control.

I think perhaps the best feature of the Feadog Pro, in addition to its $10 price tag, is that it is a very forgiving whistle in terms of breath control. You still don’t have the leeway you have on the Syn or the Burke, but it is much easier to control than the original Feadog or the Generation.

There you have it folks.

One last thought: on the recordings, please forgive the failings of the artist, and focus on the whistles instead. It is the whistles and their sound that I intend to showcase, not my own playing.

–James

Edited to add the recording of the Oak.

2

Nice, James.

Do we expect that the Pro’s will be consistently good out of the box?

3

Nice job James, you, of course, are right as rain about the Syn and the Burke but as for the less expensive whistle the Gen puts the rest to shame, IMHO that is. I still have my first whistle, a slightly tweaked Gen D that I got from Blackhawk many years ago and it still speaks Irish to me. I got intouch with Feadog after reading Blooms review to see about ordering one of these Pros but now I think not. Guess Im just not into the sound. My favorite high D is my Shaw tweaked by Jerry. Now that is a whistle. I dont play a lot of whistle since becoming addicted to the flute but there are days when I dust the old Shaw and this incredable C, unknown maker, unknown age, and have a go and way to much fun. Anyway, as always, thanks for your comparison. Always injoy your playing.

Take care

Tom

PS. I sure would like to post a pic of this C whistle to see if anyone might have any idea as to what it is. Great whistle. I just don`t know how to get a pic on this forum.

4

With one exception, every Feadog I’ve tried has been good, and they have been very consistent whistle-to-whistle.

It’s possible the “bad” one came to me too early, before I really had the control to play it yet. At the time it seemed horrible. Maybe it really was–I don’t have any way to turn back the clock and find out.

At any rate, to give you the best answer I can, Feadogs seem to be very good and very consistent whistles. I would imagine the new Pro line will be as well, so I would think you’ve got a solid chance of getting a really nice whistle.

Generations are still the most hit-and-miss whistle out there, in my opinion, but when you get a good one it can be a really superb whistle.

Tom, email me a pic of that whistle and I’ll post it for you.

–James

5

Good job James! I think I might have actually liked the susato better compared to the gen and feadog.

Please don’t kill me

but you can’t beat a Burke thats for sure! (except maybe with a Bleazey) but anyway, very nice review!

6

Great review, thanks!
The soundclips are very nice too!

I’ve got my Feadog Pro early this year, and I like it very much, but right now I like better my NT Water Weasel… and I’m so glad I already ordered a Burke and a Syn, really love that sound :slight_smile:

7

Jim: I thought the Pro sounded good.

I actually emailed them, and have gotten “no” response.

That’s o.k. Somebody must be trying to tell me something…I love my Cillian O’Briain Improved D and my Oak D, and do not hear enough in the Feadog Pro to tempt me away from them.

I would actually be interested in your addition of an Oak to the mix of tunes. :party:

M

8

On the email, there have been times my emails wouldn’t make it to Ireland, sometimes for a month or more at a time. No error messages or notifications on either end, they would just fall off the wire.

So don’t assume Paul has actually received your emails. If you have another account, maybe a work account or a gmail or hotmail, etc, try emailing him with that and see if you get a reply.

As for the Oak, it just so happens I can do that. :slight_smile:

–James

9

James likes his Oak.

I liked mine too until it broke. Now I’m trying to swap a head off an Acorn but it’s really stubborn.

10

As for the Oak, it just so happens I can do that. :slight_smile:

–James[/quote]

There’s a certain bell-like clarity to the upper octave that still has that little pop of chiff that I just love.
That’s the ticket.

M

11

Oh great, now I have to go dig out my Oak. That was great. I forgot how good an Oak sounded,

Take care

Tom

12

Wow, that was a great comparison. To a noob like me (I’ve been playing the whistle for 24 hours) the chance to hear clips of different whistles on the same tune is a real learning experience.

Thanks!

Bob Z.

13

You keep asking that. Those Who Know keep not answering you. You should take that as an indication that your question reflects the wrong mind set. :slight_smile:

Ask not whether the whistle will be good enough for you; ask whether you will be good enough for the whistle.

14

Interesting. My impression is that the Feadog Pro is not noticeably more forgiving in terms of breath control than the regular Feadog, except that it is perhaps rounder sounding. Generations strike me much more forgiving in terms of breath control than Feadogs or Oaks, and only Waltons are easier than Generations in terms of breath.

Best,

15

Oh please, Bloom. I think you understand my question and it doesn’t pertain to learners having troubles with certain whistles until they learn to play.

Everyone–even James–talks about the inconsistency of Generations. Right? My question is this? Does the Feadog have the same problems? When I plunk down my ten bucks, do I have a reasonable expectation of getting the manufacturer’s best effort? That all I’m asking.

I wish you wouldn’t make it into something else.

16

Oh, for Pete’s sake.

Having tweaked a few hundred Feadog whistleheads, I can tell you they’re very consistent. Considerably more so than some of the other well known mass produced whistles.

Best wishes,
Jerry

17

Look, I think that Generations are actually more consistent than Copelands. I’ve never understood this stuff about buying lots of Generations to find the one good one. Sure there are subtle differences (listen for that screech in the second octave), but it’s been rarely if ever a problem for me. There was a pretty bad Generation Bb that I fixed for a friend a few months back. I did come across a Feadog that was faulty some years ago, but I have never had a consistency “problem” with Generations or Feadogs or Oaks.

And “everyone” talking about the inconsistency of Generations… I don’t know. I think perhaps I used to talk that way, too, until I started buying Generations by the tens and really working with them. Most of the stuff you read are people just regurgitating what they’ve read on c&f and I shouldn’t wonder that most who complain about the inconsistency of chapos don’t own more then 2 Generations.

18

Regardless of whether you agree that Generations are as inconsistent as some people report, the question was a fair one.

My experience, again with several hundred to several thousand of each, is that D Generations are fairly consistent except that they may have more or less flash and swarf to deal with. These aren’t real inconsistencies in the castings, though. Generation Bb’s, on the other hand, are astonishingly inconsistent in the actual castings themselves.

Waltons are about as consistent as Generation D’s except they don’t tend to have the occasional bit of swarf/flashing to contend with, and except for a truly defective run that got into the marketplace (and of which Waltons replaced all that were reported to them) a year or so ago.

Sweetone whistleheads are pretty consistent, although there is some variation in the soundblade edge and there is about one defective soundblade per 50 or 100 whistleheads.

Overall, I would say that Feadogs are the most consistent, precise and cleanly finished plastic whistleheads I’ve encountered. I would say that the craftsmanship of those whistleheads, even with a mass produced item, is admirable.

Best wishes,
Jerry

19

Look, I think that Generations are actually more consistent than Copelands. I’ve never understood this stuff about buying lots of Generations to find the one good one. Sure there are subtle differences (listen for that screech in the second octave), but it’s been rarely if ever a problem for me. There was a pretty bad Generation Bb that I fixed for a friend a few months back. I did come across a Feadog that was faulty some years ago, but I have never had a consistency “problem” with Generations or Feadogs or Oaks.

And “everyone” talking about the inconsistency of Generations… I don’t know. I think perhaps I used to talk that way, too, until I started buying Generations by the tens and really working with them. Most of the stuff you read are people just regurgitating what they’ve read on c&f and I shouldn’t wonder that most who complain about the inconsistency of chapos don’t own more then 2 Generations.

I think Oaks are pretty consistent too. But I confess to only buying two Generations mainly because no one near me sells them, but partly because the legend makes me not want to keep buying them and buying them. One was okay and the other was really screechy in the upper end. I’ve gone back to it several times as I’ve progressed and it’s not much better. They’re both broken now, and I’m not sure I even know how that happened. I’m blaming the kids. I’d love to buy another, but even at ten bucks, I don’t like wasting it.

You have probably seen that in the past, I’ve posted at least three separate times that most of the unplayability of some whistles is the problem with the player. I’m fully on board with that concept. I have lived that concept. I ain’t asking for miracles. I only ask for quality control.

On your say-so, I shall buy the next Generation I find–as long as it’s a red top brass.

20

I didn’t say it wasn’t fair. I just said it reflected the wrong mind set. :smiley:

All right, all right. I am being silly. But I only posted it after he asked for the bloody third time. :wink: I’ll slink back into the shadows now.