Help me spend $15!

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 8:35 pm

That's right, I'm livin' large and going to town with $15 whole dollars to spend on a whistle. I mainly play flute, played whistle more regularly a few years back, but want a secondary axe for my sessions.

I have a clare 2 piece I like, but as James once said, they've got "tuning irregularities".

So, what's my best bet for a cheapie tunable (including the hot water tunable method), whistle these days?

Oak, feadog, generation (is the folk any better than the others?)?

Thanks,

Eric

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 9:06 pm

Jayhawk wrote:Oak, feadog, generation (is the folk any better than the others?)?

My feadog is very much in tune, but it was really squawky, untill I replaced the head with a Whitecap. Now it's great. You might have more luck with tweaking than I did with mine.

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 9:18 pm

Look into a Jerry Freeman tweaked whistle.

Blackbeer · Post by **Blackbeer** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 9:28 pm

Eric; no, no, no. Go out and spend an hour picking up pop cans and get a Jerry Freeman Shaw. It is a must. Realy, I kid you not. You just made me put down my flute and go through every one of my Gens, and my Oak, and my Feadogs, not to mention my Clarks and Sweatones and I am sorry but you owe it to yourself to get your hands on one of Jerrys Shaws. Hell I will lend you the difference but don`t cheet yourself out of one of these. They are plenty loud enough for a session and they make the right sound and they feel good and ................ well have I made myself clear. Now where did I put that flute.............

Tom

vomitbunny · Post by **vomitbunny** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 9:35 pm

YOu could get an oak and a sweetone both for 15$. And they are both usually pretty good right out of the box. I hear Megs are usually good, mine was, and only three bucks. I've got several gens here that didn't take much tweaking to sound good. Five or six bucks for the D.
I really like the Feadogs, but they took a little more tweaking, and wind up pretty sensitive, breath wise. I've got a Little Black Whistle (Walton) I like really well, but it wasn't great right out of the box, and I could'nt recomend it over a generation. The other Walton's Ive got were decent and playable right out of the box, but rather unremarkable in tone.
You don't have a Clarke do you? I think it's some kinda law that everybody has had to own at least one Clarke. You may have to bend on it just a tad but they have a really really pretty sound. (I think they are on sale right now some-wheres or other for about six bucks)

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 10:08 pm

I like Oaks for around $12.

I got a Sweettone C and it's pretty darned nice right out of the box--so to speak. $8. You could get a C/D set if you look in the couch cushions for loose change.

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 10:21 pm

I better post my past whistle experience. I'm a former Clarke owner, and I like them, but they are not tunable which is a big deal to me playing in session. So, that would kill the Freeman tuned Shaw, too (I had a Shaw years ago - about 1992 if I recall correctly, but didn't like it as much as the much cheaper Clarke.

I've also owned a Walton's LBW, a copper Gen D (not a good one), my current clare, and an Oak in the late 80s.

Of the above, I liked either the Oak or the Clarkes best (I also have a tendency to sit on Clarkes for some unknown reason).

So, I'm leaning towards an Oak right now, but I hadn't thought about a Sweetone which is an option, too, or maybe both like Vomitbunny suggested.

Anyone play a Walton's Mellow D recently? Has the off low D improved?

Keep the advice coming and thanks for all the replies so far!

Oh, I almost forgot, I do have one of Mack's replacement whitecap heads to put on most standard tubes if the head joint is a problem...I'm really after an in-tune tube.

Eric

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 10:31 pm

My Oak is fairly in tune with itself until you get to the upper G-A-B. Then you have to blow a little harder to get in tune.

I haven't checked the Sweettone.

Someone posted recently that the Feadog tubes are pretty in-tune. And the Whitecap will fit.

Regarding the Whitecap and an Oak tube. It's a tight fit. In fact I cracked a Whitecap head trying to muscle it on. There is a slight flair on many Oak tubes that makes it hard to put a stadard Whitecap on. If you send the tube to Mack he'll turn down the flair and make the head fit nicely.

Blackbeer · Post by **Blackbeer** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 10:35 pm

Jeez Eric I forgot you said tunable, sorry. I just re-checked my sweatone for tuning and it is dead on. You can adjust the head a bit and it is conical and the intoneation is pretty darn good. My Oak seems a little quite for session work but it is in tune and they do sound pretty good with a Feadog head. I don`t like my Feadog but a whitecap head will take care of both of them. Anyway have fun

Tom

vomitbunny · Post by **vomitbunny** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 6:39 am

I've got a mellow d. It was pretty fair right out of the box, but I've worked on it a bit. Just a bit louder than most other tube style whistles. And a bit mellower, in a way. I used to like mine pretty well, but I gravitate toward the lower air whistles more now.
Man, if you don't have a Sweetone, pick one up. The first one I got is fantastic. The other two in D were pretty good, but the one in C I had was a bit muddy, and wasn't in tune with itself. The tube was about a quarter inch too long. (the d's were a tad flat, both upper and lower)
Sorry to hear you didn't like your Gens. I really like mine.

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 12:14 pm

The urge to order, and perhaps get delivery this Friday or Monday at the latest, took over. Thanks for everyone's advice.

I ended up ordering an Oak and a Walton's Mellow D. The Oak will provide a great tube for my whitecap if I end up not liking the Oak head, and the Mellow D was ordered based upon advice from Whistle and Drum as a nice change of pace whistle...besides, I was lured by the promising "Mellow" name.

Now, I just have to wait!

Eric

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