As the title of this thread implies, I have two questions I would like to impart to you.
Concerning my newly-bought tin whistle:
-I have tried, as C&F suggests, putting my mouthpiece in hot water, but the glue on my (Generation This was a gift - I had no choice about the brand!) whistle refused to comply. I am stumped at what to try next - are there any other methods that work for getting the glue to melt?
-If all else fails, I am thinking about sending my whistle in for professional tweaking; how much does this cost, and where does the tweaker live (the gentleman’s name has slipped my mind )
I usually put the coffee cup in the micro for 2 minutes, then put the whistle, fipple first, into the water. Wait 30 seconds, then using oven mitts, take it out of the water and it should twist right off. It’s very easy to get a good sounding whistle (Generation or Feadog) with the simple sticky tack tweak once you have the fipple off.
Assuming this is a key of D Generation you’re talking about, you should be able to get the mouthpiece off just fine. You can bring the water to a boil if it seems not to come off in water that’s less than boiling hot. I heat a pot of water to where it’s just beginning to boil and then keep it at that temperature while I remove a batch of 20 or 30 whistleheads. Don’t let the whistlehead touch the sides or bottom of the pot, and only leave it in for 15 seconds or so at a time. Be careful not to scald your hands. It should twist off easily enough after one or two such dunkings.
This also works on Bb, Eb and G Generations. However, F and C Generation whistleheads are hard to remove without cracking.
I would suggest you try the tweaking techniques mentioned here and see if you can get a result you like. This is a whistle that many have tweaked to an outcome they’ve been very happy with, and I would encourage you to try it.
I don’t tweak Generation type whistles one at a time because some elements I use have to be calibrated to fit the exact geometry of the whistlehead, which can vary from one factory run to another. It’s efficient enough if I do them in batches of 20 to 40 all alike, but considering how inexpensive the whistles are to begin with, setting up to do one whistlehead at a time doesn’t warrant the extra effort.
My tweaked Generations sell for $36.50 plus postage. They’re voiced somewhat differently from the factory run Generations. I’ve matched as closely as possible, the voicing of vintage, pre-1980’s Generation whistles, which are somewhat sweeter/purer voiced than the ones manufactured now.
If you destroy the head in the process, you can send the tube off to [u]Mack Hoover[/u] and get a Whitecap mouthpiece for it for just $20.
If you end up going this route, be sure to tell Mack whether you want your whistle to be loud, medium, or quiet. (I have one of each.) Actually, you could probably just order the Whitecap and put it on, yourself. Mack will tell you what’s best.
Actually, the Waltons Mellow D’s that I have played have all (that’s more than ten) sounded fine without tweaking at all. They’re the only cheapies I’ve ever found that sound good as they come from the factory. And that’s ONLY the Mellow D variety of the Walton’s. Well, the C also sounds good, and I like the key of C better for playing slow airs anyway.
Agreed, on both the Mellow D and the C. Very nice whistles for the price, and usually good to go out of the box.
I did have one C that needed minimal tweeking - a long shaving of plastic (caused by the tube being inserted at an angle, it looked like) was hanging down, but all that needed was for me to pull the tube out, brush off the shaving, and reinsert. I packed blue tack under the windway, too, but it wasn’t really necessary.
I also have had good luck with Oak D and C whistles, but they have an entirely different sound - fairly pure and focused compared to the Waltons. Still inexpensive, but about twice the price of a Waltons.
What I do with C and F Generation whistleheads is a little drastic, but you could do the same thing if you’re ambitious.
A few drops of acetone in the joint between the whistlehead and tube will soften the plastic enough to pull it off. It will also crack the whistlehead.
After removing the whistlehead, which is easy with the help of the acetone, I let it dry and then replace it on the tube. You will notice that the crack is open somewhat. This is because the whistlehead was too tight before, and the crack has made the whistlehead able to enlarge a little by opening the crack, to better fit the tube.
With the cracked whistlehead back on the tube, I then carefully wrap with a layer of strong thread, the round part of the whistlehead, where it goes on the tube. I wrap as much of the length of this part of the whistlehead as I can, leaving about 1/16 inch of plastic at each side of the wrapping. Then I mix some epoxy and soak the thread with it, spreading the epoxy with a cut piece of thin plastic packaging material or the like.
Once the epoxy has set, the whistlehead will have been restored to strength, and it will now be slightly larger inside the socket, so it should be a snug fit, but loose enough to easily remove and replace for tweaking and move up and down on the tube for tuning.
If the cracking has extended beyond the socket of the whistlehead, you can put a drop of liquid superglue on the crack. The superglue will spread in the crack by capillary action and bond it back together.
I just finished removing the heads of three Gens. One D brass, one D nickle and one Eb brass. I did it just as blackhawk desribed. I heat the cup of water for two minutes in the microwave, dip fipple end in for 15 seconds, use hot pad to twist off the top. They came off very easily, no power necessary. I usually only remove the lose plastic or any that is not supposed to be there. Sometimes I do the sticky tack but usually not. Sometimes I dull the blade minutely and bevel the bottom of the windway at the window. I remove the heads for tuning and for ease of cleaning. A clean whistle sounds much better than a dirty one. However I hand pick my whistles from a large group.
Let me add Clare D’s to this list. I’ve done no good whatsoever tweaking three Clare D’s. Oaks I find that sticky-tack helps, although all the Oaks I’ve had have been poison Oaks. The Walton’s C I have is, along with my first Clare D, the best untweaked inexpensive whistle I’ve played. Loud, though, not much good for in the car.
There are other ways to get a C Gen head off, but let me ask you first: Why exactly do you want to do this? What tweaks will you perform once you have the head off? I don’t think it will be worth the bother for the blu-tac tweak.
You don’t need to remove the head for dulling the blade. You can reduce the windway and replace the blade w/o removing the head. Is it tunability?
I’ve tried lots of variations on hot and cold, but none that work predictably.
One thing I like about the acetone technique is, it automatically adjusts the socket so it’s just the right amount of tightness for being able to tune the whistle or remove the whistlehead for whatever reason comfortably after it’s done. I don’t like having to sand/bore the inside of the socket to get it so it’s not too tight again when I put it back on. I actually prefer cracking the socket for that reason. Plus, it’s very fast and easy, even though the wrapping can be a little tedious the first time or two.
This was a gift - I had no choice about the brand!) whistle refused to comply. I am stumped at what to try next - are there any other methods that work for getting the glue to melt?
)
Ack! 
