I believe the Shaws are not tunable. Is the tweaked product in tune, and in tune with itself? I play with a classically trained violinist turned fiddler. She’s real picky about being in tune.
(Jerry, a while back I wanted a loud, in-tune whistle. You recommended a Syn. I got it. Thanks. It’s just what I needed.)
I don’t check each individual whistle for tuning, but the ones I have checked have been respectably in tune.
Before tweaking, some of them tend to play flat, which can be corrected by blowing them up to pitch. This takes a lot of air and effort, however. After tweaking, this problem disappears, and they play on pitch without extra attention. Someone mentioned this, so I checked one before and after tweaking, and that’s what I found.
If anyone does get an out of tune (or otherwise unsatisfactory in any respect, for that matter) whistle from me, I’ll retweak or replace it or refund the purchase price, whichever is preferred.
Best wishes,
Jerry
I just got my tweeked Shaw soprano D from Jerry last night, and I have to agree - it’s really what I’ve been wishing my original Clarke’s sounded like… a really clear, pure tone without the excessive breathiness, and plenty of volume - perfect for loud sessions OR a pretty slow Air… Waiting now for the tweeked soprano D Sweetone I ordered from Jerry, and eyeballing a set of tweeked Gens as well… I can’t wait until Jerry starts making his own design of whistles too!
Harry
Thanks for the kind words, Harry.
Yes, there will be Jerrywhistles.
Give me another six months or so to get set up and do some prototyping. I’ve been pondering what to make as my first design, and I think I’ve pretty much got it worked out.
The tweaked whistles will continue to be available as long as there’s interest, and I will add my own designs as they get worked out. This is a natural progression for me, starting with the exercise of becoming familiar with many different whistles and discovering how to get them to sing, then extending what I’ve learned to creating from scratch, the design I think the whistling world needs next.
Thanks again, everyone, for your continued friendship and encouragement.
Best wishes,
Jerry
After reading this board for a while, I consulted with Jerry by email about one of his tweaked whistles. Since I’m learning, I wanted a whistle that was properly in tune (so I knew that any errors or odd sounds were my fault, not the instrument’s.)
He carefully explained the differences between the whistles he handles, and I wound up choosing one of his Shaws. I’m very pleased with the decision. It has a fine tone–a pure, “singing” quality that I hadn’t experienced before. My husband actually brings me the whistle and ASKS me to practice, so he can listen to it. (And you were right, Jerry–I do have to work a little for that high B. It’s worth it.)
Dictyranger