Ebay treasure

Blackbeer · Post by **Blackbeer** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 11:42 pm

OK folks here is my latest ebay treasure: item # 2577781546
I have no idea who made it or if it is home made or what. I got it today and it is a real beauty. It is in the key of C and is very heavy, well in tune though I have not been able to loosen the tuning slide if that in fact is what it is. It is the finest sounding high C whistle I have ever played, no kidding. The design is nothing like anything I have ever seen. The airway is a seperate piece attached to the top of the fipple, the air requirements are similar to a Clark or Shaw but the tone is more refined, almost flute like with some nice harmonics and a bit of chiff. So any ideas as to who made it? I just can`t pass up things like this to save my soul and this is the reason. For the price of a sweetone or Gen I have one heck of a whistle. And how about those blade guards.

Tom

Zubivka · Post by **Zubivka** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 1:37 am

Cool. A true collector.

Looks like someone adapted a windway, then drilled holes, on an organ flute complete with its "ears"...

You have absolutely no identification, markings, stamps or labels?

Fenguin · Post by **Fenguin** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 3:13 am

Totally cool, nice find.

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 6:32 am

Man Tom, that was sold at an estate sale right from under my nose! Not that I was actually at the estate sale, but I've never seen anything other than piano accordions and brass like trumpets at the estate sales here in KC!

Nice buy.

Eric

Steven · Post by **Steven** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 7:38 am

Cool-o, Tom! Those blade guard thingies look like they serve the same function as the ridges around the window on the lower Copeland whistles ("for strong, stable tone" according to his website). That rolled bottom end is also interesting. Seems to me we've seen something like that around here sometime recently, but I can't remember what it was.

Anyway, I'm glad you're liking the new whistle, and it looks like you got a pretty good deal on it too. I really should check eBay more often!

Steven

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 9:30 am

I guess I have to start seaching FLUTE too!

Blackbeer · Post by **Blackbeer** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 10:16 am

Yep it is a pretty cool whistle. Not any marking at all Zoob and I even used a magnifying glass. The rolled end isn`t a rolled end. It is a seperate ring. The workmanship is first rate. I get the feeling that this is a proffessionaly made instrument but I could be wrong.
Today would be a great day to just sit here and play the darn thing as there is a total white out blizzard ragging outside. But, somewhere out there are 25 draft horses waiting for their breakfast so I had better crank up the old 63 dodge and head out to find them. Not to mention Molly, who I can hear voicing her outrage at me for being late. Morgans are a very upady breed of horse.

Tom

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 11:07 am

Great find, Tom. Congratulations. It does indeed look professionally made based on the pictures IMO.

Lawrence · Post by **Lawrence** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 2:05 pm

Wow, Tom. Great find. What beautiful craftsmanship. Here's a link to make it easier for others to admire.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 2577781546

Lawrence

Post by **Nanohedron** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 2:12 pm

An interesting and unique solution to the windway! Instead of a fipple plug, the mass underneath functions as a support block for it. I've never seen anything like it.

mdutr0 · Post by **mdutr0** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 1:28 am

It must be from another planet..... It's like a Robo-Clarke......

Micah

mdutr0 · Post by **mdutr0** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 1:33 am

It must be from another planet..... It's like a Robo-Clarke......

Micah

susnfx · Post by **susnfx** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 8:30 am

It says "vintage" but in the photos it doesn't look old at all. Almost looks like somebody's prototype in their first attempt at whistle-making.
Interesting.

Susan

tomcat · Post by **tomcat** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 9:08 am

maybe molly has some ideas about who made the whistle . . . sorry to hear about the white out . . . here in phoenix, the only white out is found at Office Depot.

OutOfBreath · Post by **OutOfBreath** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 9:30 am

susnfx wrote:It says "vintage" but in the photos it doesn't look old at all.

Oh, but everything on ebay is either vintage or rare...

Remember eBay, that's where one pair of idiots will bid the price of a Clarke original up to three times its retail value while there are other Clarke originals on the same index page that have no bids at all

susnfx wrote:Almost looks like somebody's prototype in their first attempt at whistle-making.

That's kind of what I thought. My first impression is "that's what a machinest would make if he was trying to duplicate an Overton from a fuzzy picture." Not that it's bad. It looks like a labor of love that was modified a few times to get it exactly right (the "wings" look to be an afterthought, for example). I think the ebay ad said it was from an estate sale, kind of makes you wonder if maybe the world lost a whistle maker just as he'd perfected his prototype...