Glenluce Wooden whistle

[JN01]

Hi,

New to the board and pretty new to whistles. I started out with one of the tourist tin whistles with the wooden plug and wasn't too impressed. I next bought a Sweetheart laminate D whistle, which I love and is light-years beyond my first whistle.

I am also involved in 18th Century re-enacting and would like to obtain an all wood whistle to play at events. While the Sweetheart is very nice, the laminated wood looks out of place. The current production is available in rosewood and ebony, but is fitted with rubber O rings and brass reenforcement rings. I haven't had much luck finding an older style Sweetheart.

Is anyone familiar with the maple whistle made by Glenluce? (http://www.hobgoblin-usa.com/local/prod ... ?ID=GR2336) How are they for quality, sound, ease of playing, etc?

Does anyone else make a decent all wood whistle for under $250 USD?

Thanks

[brewerpaul]

You can get the Sweetheart in Blackwood too which looks terrific.
The Glenluce looks a bit recordery. For me that's not a dirty word: I'm just sayin'...
I'm sure there are other wooden whistle makers out there...

[Mitch]

Maple is not a good wood for whistles. It is very soft and will absorb a lot of the sound. Maple is abundant, true. The harder varieties make good guitar necks .. with a steel rod added to counter the warps. If this maker has any real contribution, I will take notice when they start using the correct materials.

I am yet to try a Sweetheart whistle I didn't like. The Sweets have a good long tradition in woodwinds - on top of that they make stuff that is afordable and playable in proven tonewoods. There are others like them.

Wood is not easily worked. If there's a company that can do a wooden whistle worth having for less than $150 USD that plays OK - I would start looking for the raggedy guy in a sweatshop doing 1000 units a day or his sister gets killed.

But hey - if you like it - cool, it works for you.

Criticism on this welcome

[Brigitte]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpEtZuE8HKc

Found a youtube vid where one is played. It is made by the recorder company Meinel http://www.meinel-blockfloeten.de/ , designed by Rene Schlegel, http://www.flautissimo.de/instrbody.php4?serbez=118, link with prices. They have it in two woods, maple and pear wood which is (are) common woods used over here for rec(oi)rders and pear also for "old" flute models and pipes.

Brigitte

[OldFencer]

Wood is not easily worked. If there's a company that can do a wooden whistle worth having for less than $150 USD that plays OK - I would start looking for the raggedy guy in a sweatshop doing 1000 units a day or his sister gets killed.

And what Mitch is not telling you is that he makes some of the finest wooden whistles around. Tons of praise in various threads here at C&F. I've ordered one and am trying to be patient until it arrives.

So, the man knows what he's talking about whistle-wise.

[Tommy]

Hi,

New to the board and pretty new to whistles.

Hi JN01,
welcome to C&F, and the exciting world of whistles.

[Feadoggie]

I would start looking for the raggedy guy in a sweatshop doing 1000 units a day or his sister gets killed.

Doesn't look too raggedy, Mitch. Bummer about the sister though.

Thanks for the links, Brigitte

Maybe someone could clear things up for us here. There are a lot of maple varieties. I am only familiar with the North American varities. I agree with Mitch that they are not the most suitable timbers for use in a whistle. They are less dense, softer than you'd like and tend to be less dimensionally stable than other more suitable woods. I do have several nice European re&*^%ers made from maple that play well and are very stable forty years after their initial purchase. I know that some of the woods used by these makers are stabilized woods (treated, impregnated, etc) and I have heard that the European maple used is more like a sycamore. What's the real story? Does anybody around here know? Just curious. There are so many maple woodwinds out there, there has to be more to the story.

Welcome, JN01. You could be the first one on your block to buy a Glenluce whistle and report back to us here on just what it is like!

Feadoggie

[Brigitte]

The Glenluce is just a different name for Rene Schlegel's whistle, I read somewhere today that his German name does not go down well for an "celtic" instrument hence Glenluce (whatever that means) at Hobgoblin and others may use other names like Tamlin for it.... the Hobgoblin photo has Schlegel as a mark on it, I have seen meanwhile other photos where there is no mark so he seem to do both. From what I know from the different wooden instrument makers we know who use pear wood they treat it with different methods as well as seasoning well. I presume you can order it straight from him. Maybe contacting and asking him which wood he would recommend more for the whistle is the best way to go.

What I could see about Ahorn (maple) in General is that the European Bergahorn and the Canadian are quite similar in hardness and reading at a makers page that maple has very long fibers and is not prone to crack, very stable and needs low maintenance.

Brigitte

[Feadoggie]

Thanks again, Brigitte.

Well, JN01, if Glenluce = Tamlin then there have been posts on these whistles. Here's one.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=63273&hi

I am sure if you do a search you will find others.

I am still curious about the use of maple in woodwinds though, and not just because I have a bunch of maple curing down in the shop.

Feadoggie

[Ballyshannon]

Tommy Dion is making some excellent wood whistles for well under $250...see thread at viewtopic.php?f=1&t=67562. Then there's Gene Milligan....see thread at viewtopic.php?f=1&t=68583

[MTGuru]

So is the Glenluce/Meinel actually a reincarnation of the Tamlin/Adler whistle?

Adler ceased production in 2006, and I can imagine their designs were acquired by others.

Doing a search on Adler here in the Whistle Forum turns up a number of threads with comments on the whistle.

I've not played one myself. But my impression is that it is essentially a recorder with a whistle tonehole layout, and voiced similarly to a recorder from the same makers. Strong and reedy, but with little traditional chiff.

The Glenluce name does strike me as unfortunate. Except for the German made whistle, the rest of the Glenluce line appear to be Pakistani reproductions.

[MTGuru]

I am also involved in 18th Century re-enacting and would like to obtain an all wood whistle to play at events.

Well, if you look at examples of flageolets from the 18th / 19th centuries, you find that many have fittings of metal, ivory, bone, etc. So I'm not sure that metal fittings on a modern wood whistle should be a deterrent.

And if it's 18th century authenticity you're after for 18th century repertoire (Playford, etc.), a baroque reproduction recorder might be as close or closer to the mark than a modern whistle, wood or otherwise.

[Tommy]

I am still curious about the use of maple in woodwinds though, and not just because I have a bunch of maple curing down in the shop.
Feadoggie

Sent you a PM.

[Feadoggie]

Thanks, Tommy.

[JN01]

Wow, great responses.

I appreciate the video link Brigitte.

MT Guru- I would really like to have a reproduction of a whistle actually used in Colonial America circa 1750-1780 or so, but haven't had any luck tracking down pics of museum pieces or contemporary artwork showing them. I understand that there were many different styles and types. I was going for something more like a commoner might have without silver fittings and such.

Thanks to all for the comments, I have more food for thought.