What was your first tin Whistle?

[jiminos]

a feadog. still have it. still play it...

be well,

jim

[ancientfifer]

It was a Clarke original in C in 1968-9.
Feadoggie

Same, 1970.

[henryz]

Soodlum's - bought at a flea market years ago.

[Gawn]

A Shaw D that I bought in a shop while hiking/hitchhiking in Donegal in 1996. I loved it because it was the only one that didn't contain any plastic...
Bought it together with Geraldine Cotters tinwhistle tutor and thus had a companion during my outdoor evenings there. Only later I discovered that it is somehow out of tune - the lowest note is C# rather than D...
I still have it in my collection, but I haven't played it much since...

Georg

[Katharine]

Walton D; bought at a Highland Games 'cause there weren't many choices, had no idea how it would sound. Still love it and the sound, though I think I need to do some tweaking to it (seems to have troubles ever since I detached the headjoint even though all I did was soak it in warm water-- getting breathy-ish squeaks and skips that I never had before I did it. If anyone has any tips for getting rid of that-- silicone grease??-- I'd appreciate it. Hope I didn't ruin the whistle.)

[plaidpotato]

A Clarke Original. A little under a year ago. I was shopping for a harmonica online, and somehow came across tin whistles. I went to Youtube to listen to a few clips and I thought, yeah, I want to play that.

I did a little research, and read somewhere that Clarke Sweetones were supposedly great whistles for beginners, so I went to Amazon to buy one of those. But I liked the look of the Original better, with the black and gold, and I liked the idea of wood fipples better than plastic, so I ended up ordering the Original instead.

The next day, I went back and ordered a Sweetone, since they were so cheap. But the Original came first in the mail, so that was my first. I fell in love with it right away, and more or less forgot about harmonicas (infernal little contraptions).

Now I've got 10 whistles (plus there were 4 or 5 others that I either sold, gave away, or lost), but I still love my Clarke Original. It was my very favorite and most-played whistle until just recently, but has now been surpassed by my Mack Hoover Narrow Bore D and Impempe Bb, both of which are just beautiful in looks and sound.

I never did like that Sweetone, though. I thought it sounded cheap and nasty, and I ended up giving it to a hobo who was camped out in a freeway median where I'd go sometimes to practice last summer. I hope he liked it better than me.

[kokopelli]

Mine was a Generation D with the blue head. I found it behind some books on a shelf when I was looking for something else. My dad had bought it years earlier with the intention of learning to play it but he never did. I more than made up for that and seldom went anywhere without it for the next few months.

[ecohawk]

Feadog D. Couldn't play it. Got a Mellow Dog from Jerry. Learned how to play. Feadog plays just fine now. Obviously I was the problem, not the Feadog!

ecohawk

[Hotblack]

Red top Gen C back in about 1980. I never really got to grips with it at the time. I kept it (and several others ie Gens D and F and high G, and a Clarke C) in a drawer until 2 years ago when I ferreted them out. I haven't looked back since.

[rhulsey]

A Jerry Freeman Mellow Dog (D), in December, 2006. Great whistle!

[cboody]

Somewhere in the dim and distant past I bought 3 at about the same time: And Oak, a Sweetone, and something else. The Oak was a fine sound but badly out of tune. The Sweetone was spot on in tuning but not a particularly interesting sound, and started my love affair with conical bore instruments. I happened on a Copeland back in the early days and that remains my axe of choice. The other one disappeared. It is interesting to read the various reports of problems/joys of those first instruments. And it is also interesting to see how the same model were apparently quite different in "quality". No wonder Jerry Freeman is in business.

[Happy Whistler]

A Waltons D that I bought a long time ago. It sat in the box until I quit smoking. Now it's the standard I'd like to reach with the whistles I make. Haven't reached that goal yet.

My first, a used waltons D got it to help me stop smoking, worked a treat haven't had a ciggy since the whistle arrived.
Now have around 7.
Wonderful things whistles, should have got one years and years ago.

[maki]

Walton D; bought at a Highland Games 'cause there weren't many choices, had no idea how it would sound. Still love it and the sound, though I think I need to do some tweaking to it (seems to have troubles ever since I detached the headjoint even though all I did was soak it in warm water-- getting breathy-ish squeaks and skips that I never had before I did it. If anyone has any tips for getting rid of that-- silicone grease??-- I'd appreciate it. Hope I didn't ruin the whistle.)

Try wrapping the top of the tube with teflon pumbers tape.

Don't over do it, or you'll risk splitting the plastic head.
I'm thinking that your "breathy-ish squeaks and skips" could be a lack of seal were the two parts join.
Good luck.

[narrowdog]

Mine was Shaw D, still have it and quite like it
although a bit too loud for me.

[kenny]

Clarke "C" - 35p, bought in Dundee.
Bejasus - I'm a poet