ChristianRo wrote:Got mine in the mail today. I can confirm almost all that has been written here before. Very good whistle. Quite strong tone. Only complaint: Head is stuck, does not move a single mm, no matter how hard I twist. Might have to try the fridge later.
That's strange. Mine came pre-greased.
Added note: I received an email from the maker and they are now going to send payment confirmation and a delivery estimate. I predict good things for these folks.
Tell us something.: I like whistles, flutes, lyres, cittern/mandolin/bouzouki family instruments, as well as heavy and nasty slap bass. Languages, linguistics, history (especially Migration Period and Bronze Age Europe), cuisine from various parts of Latin America, chili growing, bushcraft, and the works of JRR Tolkien also tickle my fancy.
The head was stuck on mine as well. I gave it a good twist and a pull and got it worked off the tube. When it was removed I could see there was a little grease on there, but it was still hard to get it off of there. I'll add a bit more grease to it, and store it with the head detached when not in use. Hopefully the head will move more easily. I'm not sure how much grease will help, though. It really feels like the body is too tight of a fit for the head on the whistle. We'll see how much a good greasing helps.
Just a thought on the tight head joints...has anyone tried cleaning off both the end of the tube and the inside of the head joint where it slips on the barrel? Maybe there are some flakes of metal, gunk, or something making the fit a tad to tight. I know on flutes almost ANYTHING more than a thin layer of grease will cause a slide to stick.
If that's not the case, a turn or two inside the head joint with fine sandpaper would take care of the issue (less is always better when doing that kind of stuff).
My head joint twisted off o k with a firm grip. The tube was greased. Are you sure you're twisting just the head piece? And, are you putting a little something into it? The head has to come off... it went on.
My only comment thus is I would like the whistle to have some type of identifying mark, serial number, initials, brand, year, etc., something.
Jayhawk wrote:Just a thought on the tight head joints...has anyone tried cleaning off both the end of the tube and the inside of the head joint where it slips on the barrel? Maybe there are some flakes of metal, gunk, or something making the fit a tad to tight. I know on flutes almost ANYTHING more than a thin layer of grease will cause a slide to stick.
If that's not the case, a turn or two inside the head joint with fine sandpaper would take care of the issue (less is always better when doing that kind of stuff).
Eric
This was the first thing I done, the head was very tight but once it moved
it came out Ok but stopped right at the last bit. It did have some grease in there.
Both ends of the body were unfinished and had sharp edges,
a quick rub with some 360 grit wet and dry sorted it.
Now it moves Ok, still tight but that's fine with me,
how often do you move it anyway.
BTW the more I play this whistle the more I like it
Tell us something.: I'm not registering, I'm trying to edit my profile! The field “Tell us something.” is too short, a minimum of 100 characters is required.
narrowdog wrote:Now it moves Ok, still tight but that's fine with me,
how often do you move it anyway.
Never even tried mine till folk raised the 'issue' here (so what need when it was delivered in tune?). But it moves, and that's all I need to know for now!
Peter Duggan wrote:Think it's sounding at a better pitch in Órlaith's clip than Padraig Buckley's own (sharp), but not too concerned about that when the discrepancy could just as easily be video/tech-related as real life and it's clearly working for all of them!
Possibly demonstrating this suggestion from the enclosed care leaflet: 'For solo playing, ma[n]y whistle players prefer to have the pitch a little sharper than D for a sweeter tone.'
Tell us something.: I like whistles, flutes, lyres, cittern/mandolin/bouzouki family instruments, as well as heavy and nasty slap bass. Languages, linguistics, history (especially Migration Period and Bronze Age Europe), cuisine from various parts of Latin America, chili growing, bushcraft, and the works of JRR Tolkien also tickle my fancy.
I lubed it up, and no difference. It's barely movable, but a verrrrry snug fit. It moves so poorly that it's hard to line the holes up perfectly in the center, because it "moves in chunks" , if you get what I mean. It's hard to slightly adjust the body position left, right, up, or down, because it takes such a hard force to move it that it moves by a large amount when you push it. I have a feeling it isn't like this on all of them, though. I think this would be too tight of a fit by a lot of people's standards, but luckily not all seem to have the issue. I am going to email the maker.
"How often do you move it anyway", someone asked? Well, if you don't want the head to lock up and get permanently stuck on the whistle, you should move it quite often....
Anyway, I won't get held up on that issue any longer, because in my opinion it more than makes up for that little inconvenience in how it sounds and plays!!! I agree with Mr. Gumby, that there is room for both. I put it in the same class/"genre" of whistle as the sindt, but the sound is very clearly different. No better, no worse, but different. So, I don't see either as a substitute for the other.. It is hard for me to pinpoint the differences using descriptive terms. I'm going to post a better review after I spend more time with it. As of right now, though, I think it's fantastic and one of my favourite whistles already. Were it not for the body/head fitting issue, my review would be 100% positive. It's definitely worth checking out, but don't expect an identical sindt copy, because that isn't what it is. That doesn't mean you won't be equally satisfied with it (or perhaps even more/less, depending on one's tastes), though.
Just curious whether anyone has relayed these, admittedly minor, issues/complaints to the makers of the whistle? If so, any response? If not, the feedback might help them produce an even better product.
Best wishes for the new year.
Steve
Live your life so that, if it was a book, Florida would ban it.
When I placed my order I used the message attachment to draw the makers' attention to both this thread and Orlaith's FB post which engendered it. I only received (thus far) what is obviously their standard order acknowledgment template e-mail, so have no idea if they have followed the links and perused the discussions.
I respect people's privilege to hold their beliefs, whatever those may be (within reason), but respect the beliefs themselves? You gotta be kidding!
Tell us something.: Whistle player, aspiring C#/D accordion and flute player, and aspiring tunesmith. Particularly interested in the music of South Sligo and Newfoundland. Inspired by the music of Peter Horan, Fred Finn, Rufus Guinchard, Emile Benoit, and Liz Carroll.
Got mine yesterday. (Anniversary present, yay!) Head is definitely on there very firmly, but I didn't make a serious effort to pull it off. Love the way it plays and sounds.
Tell us something.: Whistle player, aspiring C#/D accordion and flute player, and aspiring tunesmith. Particularly interested in the music of South Sligo and Newfoundland. Inspired by the music of Peter Horan, Fred Finn, Rufus Guinchard, Emile Benoit, and Liz Carroll.
For What It's Worth Department -
The whistle I received has a slight "burr" at the bottom of the tube as mentioned in previous notes. I took a fine file and removed it and smoothed it with some fine emery cloth/sandpaper. I wondered if the tightness between the head and the tube might be caused by a "burr" at the upper end of the tube. So I took it apart, repeated the filing/smoothing, wiped it clean of any grit and the lubricant that was on the tube when it arrive, added some new cork grease and reassembled.
And I found no change in the tightness with the head—leading to the conclusion that the tube is just a bit too big (or the socket in the head a bit too small) for a smooth adjustment. Perhaps the entire surface of the tube that fits into the head socket could be sanded down, but I fear that might remove the plating.
All that being said, I really don't care because it's in tune and I probably won't be moving it. And with the lubricant in place I don't expect it to freeze up.
One other thing I did before removing the head was to file a small groove on the backside where the head joins the tube to give a reference point if/when removing the head again or retuning.
Best wishes.
Steve
Live your life so that, if it was a book, Florida would ban it.
Tell us something.: Whistling for 8 years after 40 year break from oboe, not enough puff for that anymore. Play gigs, sessions and for own amusement, though not cat's.
I've succumbed. You're a bad influence, the lot of you, though most of the blame must lie at jemtheflute's feet. And of course Orlaith's stunning playing.
