Talking About Your Generation

herbivore12 · Post by **herbivore12** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 11:48 pm

This'll be wearing to hear, but: brass. Not so slippery. More "trad" looking. Love the patina.

I just bought two more brass D Gens, and after tweaking (filled the cavity, pulled the head back a bit, and filed -- gently! -- the blade on one), they are both very good. One, in fact, is as good as any high-end D I have or have played, and is probably about to be my favorite D whistle. Even my wife, who loves pure Burkes and sort of squirms at the upper end of most cheapies (as you do, I gather), really likes this one. A real keeper, and a relative bargain. If only my preferred oxx ooo fingering for C nat was also the Gen's preferred fingering.

The same easy tweaks have given me two wonderful Bb Gens, as well, one in brass and one in nickel. In this case, my favorite instrument is actually the brass tube with the head from the nickel whistle. Wish it were red, instead of blue (the whistle head, I mean) . . .

Ah well. Maybe some of the Buddhists are right, about not seeking perfection in all things. Leave at least one thing a little out of whack, right?

What I don't get from any of these instruments is a pure, Burke-like sound (I know you have some Burkes). And the tuning takes a bit more attention to get near-perfect than it does with some high-end whistles. I *do* get that wonderful pop and chiff that you hear on pure-drop trad recordings, though, and that welcome, familiar Irish sound. I also feel like I can push them a bit more, play them with more edge, than one can a Burke (I have a Burke D and Low G, for reference). Your experience with Overtons should put you in good stead if you can find or tweak a good Gen; in my experience, they probably lie somewhere between a Burke and an Overton in how one plays the things.

--Aaron

(Note: on the other hand, I also have a nickel Eb Gen that needed only the head to be moved, and no other tweaking, and is otherwise just about perfect, so maybe nickel's not so bad. Still a little slippery to me, though.)

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 12:11 am

You know, I think I must have fingers made of sandpaper or something. I've never thought nickel was slippery.

Blackbeer · Post by **Blackbeer** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 12:45 am

I just can`t make up my mind anymore. I used to think brass was better and yet the nickel Eb I lost while out riding was much better then my brass one. Though that could have been a difference in my tweeking. My brass C is a killer whistle but it took forever to get it there. I think my brass Bb is great and it plays like an Eb but my nickel ones sound very good in some other unexplainable way. My D in brass is with out a doubt better then my D in nickel. I never noticed any slippryness in the nickel ones so thats not a problem. I know I will get another nickel Eb and maybe a F. So there you go another difinitive answer to a subjective question-)

Tom

Could someone tell me why every time I try to use an emoticon everything I have written goes away?????

skh · Post by **skh** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 1:33 am

Blackbeer wrote:Could someone tell me why every time I try to use an emoticon everything I have written goes away?????

Because the page is a bit buggy in some browsers. In Mozilla/Linux sometimes the entry box seems to have lost all I've written. Click on "Preview" below it - does that help? You can then go on with editing and only click "Submit" when you're finished. I love the preview function.

Sonja

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 1:37 am

Mabey...everything you've written is highlighted, and you click on a face and it replaces the highlighted text with a face? Just a guess....

burnsbyrne · Post by **burnsbyrne** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 5:57 am

I have three Gens: nickel C and Bb and brass D. I love the sound of the D. When the head cracked due to over-zealous tweeking I replaced it with a whitecap and it sounds better than ever. The nickel C is a wonderful instrument. It's easy to play and as perfectly in tune as my ears can hear. I don't play the Bb very much but it has a thinnish tone, but that may be because I haven't learned to play it well.
Mike

Ridseard · Post by **Ridseard** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 8:26 am

The best Gens I have are green-top brass. (However, my very best cheapie is a brass Feadog D, untweaked except for making sure the blade edge is smooth.)

fluter_d · Post by **fluter_d** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 8:43 am

I'm with Cranberry here - Nickel? Slippery? If that was it, I'd rather not rely on the gunk that builds up on the brass ones to hold on, either

! (No offense meant to anyone here or elsewhere, ever. Well, hardly ever). I prefer the nickel ones, mostly because they don't get all gunk-y, and seem less resistant to dents. This is an important point for me; although I should clarify that this is a necessity because I tend to knock things off tables and chairs and things, NOT because they slip from my grasp. Ever. :roll:

callybeg · Post by **callybeg** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 4:54 pm

Wish me luck folks - I am buying a nickel generation D tomorrow - I can no longer stand the horror of the bloody clarke wooden fippled thing that won't play in the higher register unless I bite so hard that my gums bleed. Even if I don't get a good gen it has to be better than Clarke. Why did no one warn me?

We are shockingly sparse on decent whistles around wolverhampton - its clarke or gen, and clarke has failed to impress. The tweaked c is okay now, and can sound nice, but the other one is just depressing.

Quick survey (answer on a postcard please.) Are all whistles whose brand names start with C crap? Do we think that this is what the C in Cooperman, Clarke etc stand for? Do crap whistles coming out of Christmas Crackers Count? How can we stop the proliferation of these abominations?

Callybeg

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 6:32 pm

Quote @ callybeg

Quick survey (answer on a postcard please.) Are all whistles whose brand names start with C crap? Do we think that this is what the C in Cooperman, Clarke etc stand for? Do crap whistles coming out of Christmas Crackers Count? How can we stop the proliferation of these abominations?

Clares are all around really good, IMHO.

skh · Post by **skh** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 6:35 pm

Clarkes can be very fine whistles.

Sonja

(the original ones. I don't like the SweeTones, but they have loyal followers, too)

Blackbeer · Post by **Blackbeer** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 7:28 pm

Jeez, I realy like my Clarke Original D, it was the C that I chucked out the window.

Tom

Yep it was the browser but I am hooked on slim and sick of IE

PhilO · Post by **PhilO** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 8:17 pm

I generally like brass, but my favorite gen happens to be a nickel Bflat.

Philo

mat · Post by **mat** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 3:46 am

I think that the age of the instrument is FAR more important than the material.

At some point Generation have changed the way they make the head of their whistles, and this has not been an improvement. Look at an old Generation on the underside of the head; see that mark where it has come off the moulding? Now look at a new one; no mark and in my experience no soul either!

I am surprised that I have never heard anyone else mention this, or are you all keeping quiet in case the rest of the whistlin' population comes and clears out your local car boot sale and charity shop!

I dont know when exactly when (or why) Generation did this, perhaps I will get in touch and ask them!

But remember........shhh dont tell everyone

(but brass is best!)

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 4:14 am

Quote @ mat

(but brass is best!)

You just want everybody to go out and buy brass so you can have all the amazingly superior nickel ones.

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Talking About Your Generation

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