Just Arrived: Grinter Soprano D (raffle prize)

Kuranes · Post by **Kuranes** » Fri May 14, 2004 1:25 pm

I just drove out to pick up my new Grinter from the purolator depot.

Wow! This is a beautiful, beautiful instrument. I'm at work right now, so I can't exactly give a comment on the sound or playability, but I'm really looking forward to giving it a run through tonight.

A few questions from those with wooden whistles:

* Where can I get almond oil? Should I try instrument stores, or is oil of the right quality available at the grocery store?

* How do you swab out the whistle after playing? Is a piece of j-cloth on a stick fine?

Thank you, and thanks to everyone involved in the raffle as well.

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Fri May 14, 2004 1:30 pm

Kuranes wrote:I just drove out to pick up my new Grinter from the purolator depot.

Wow! This is a beautiful, beautiful instrument. I'm at work right now, so I can't exactly give a comment on the sound or playability, but I'm really looking forward to giving it a run through tonight.

Yeah, rub it in...

A few questions from those with wooden whistles:

* Where can I get almond oil? Should I try instrument stores, or is oil of the right quality available at the grocery store?

Almond oil is sold in natural or gourmet food stores. It's used for salads.

* How do you swab out the whistle after playing? Is a piece of j-cloth on a stick fine?

Should be. You could buy a plastic piccolo cleaning rod from http://www.fluteworld.com (under accessories, cleaning). It's less than $2. I like it because it's soft plastic and won't scratch the wood. It's useful for oiling too. There's also a "piccolo flag" which sells for about $20 which is useful for a quick swab. You can get it from fluteworld too.

Lawrence · Post by **Lawrence** » Fri May 14, 2004 1:48 pm

Congratulations. Sounds like a beautiful instrument. Let us know how it plays.

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Fri May 14, 2004 2:39 pm

They're ALL rubbin' it in Glaub...sigh...next time, I guess..

chas · Post by **chas** » Fri May 14, 2004 2:44 pm

You won't be disappointed by the Grinter. The playability is unbelievable.

For a swab, you can split the end of a chopstick and put a piece of lint-free cloth on it that way.

Kuranes · Post by **Kuranes** » Fri May 14, 2004 5:38 pm

Well, I've had a chance to play with this baby for a little bit.

First of all, the whistle itself is absolutely beautiful. I'll get some pictures up here next week (the company I work for has a photographer on staff, so I'll get some help with that), as I wasn't able to find pictures of this whistle anywhere on the net.

The sound is absolutely beautiful -- it's a much more substantial sound than I'm used to. I'd describe it as a 'thick' sound compared to the other whistles I own. The second octave is amazingly easy to play in. Not that it's sensitive, but that the breath requirements feel much more linear between the two octaves than my other whistles. The backpressure feels about the same as the Q1, (and the windway is about the same size as well). It requires a bit of push, but not as much air.

It's certainly impressive what a good whistle can do to your playing. Even my wife noticed how much better I sound with it.

Anyway, I'll have to hunt down some almond oil and a real swab from the music store tommorow. I've been using rolled-up j-cloth to swab it for now.

Anyway, I'm off to play...

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Fri May 14, 2004 11:35 pm

You could also get some oil from the instrument store used for oiling clarinets and the like. That is what we use and it works fine.

I know lots of people use it, but I would be afraid of spoilage with natural oils.

sturob · Post by **sturob** » Sat May 15, 2004 8:01 am

Extra virgin olive oil is pretty much equivalent to almond oil for oiling instruments . . . and much easier to find.

Do you have Loblaws in London? They usually have some almond oil in the health food section.

Stuart

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Sat May 15, 2004 8:09 am

NorCalMusician wrote:You could also get some oil from the instrument store used for oiling clarinets and the like. That is what we use and it works fine.

I know lots of people use it, but I would be afraid of spoilage with natural oils.

I used almond oil for years, never refrigerated it and it never went sour, but it's a legitimate concern.

With mineral bore oils (clarinet bore oils), watch which kind you get. Some of them have horrible smells. Others are basically odorless; these are better for whistles and flutes. The odorless ones are basically mineral oil, and you can get that too, very cheaply, in the drugstore (enema section, ouch!).

In case you're curious, here's what i use:
http://www.doctorsprod.com/BoreDr.html
It's like mineral oil in that it dries overnight, but it's plant-based and smells nice. I have exchanged many emails with this guy and i'm satisfied that he knows his oils. He has great cork grease too.

g

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Sat May 15, 2004 9:56 am

Be very careful not to get oil of any sort into the windway, it can cause problems, especually on a wooden block instrument like the Grinters.

Loren

PhilO · Post by **PhilO** » Sat May 15, 2004 10:21 am

Loren wrote:Be very careful not to get oil of any sort into the windway, it can cause problems, especually on a wooden block instrument like the Grinters.

Loren

Now ya tell me?

PhilO

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Sat May 15, 2004 10:23 am

You can get oil there, just don't let it stay there and clog it... a quick cleaning blow should do the trick.

Kuranes · Post by **Kuranes** » Sat May 15, 2004 11:08 am

I found the almond oil no problem. I'll stick with that for now, simply because that was in the care instructions that Micheal Grinter sent me, and I presume that's what's been used on it in the past (can you confirm this Phil?).

For swabbing it, I'm going to stick a bunch of j-cloth on the end of a one of those sticks that come with recorders (don't know what they're officially called). They didn't have any piccolo-sized swabs at the music store, and the clarinet and flute-sized ones looked a bit too big for it.

I've also been looking at a small humidor to keep it in, but can't find one that's an appropriate size -- either just too small, or way too big.

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Sat May 15, 2004 11:32 am

Do a search on humidor over on the flute forum. There have been some good discussions on the benefits or even the need for one. Lots of ideas on less expensive methods as well. Might even be some discussion here to or over on GC.

I don't keep my wood in a humididor. I keep them in a rubbermaid type shoe box.

Montana · Post by **Montana** » Sat May 15, 2004 11:43 am

I have a Busman wooden whistle. Paul recommends adding a little vitamin E to the oil if you're worried about spoilage.

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Just Arrived: Grinter Soprano D (raffle prize)

Just Arrived: Grinter Soprano D (raffle prize)

Re: Just Arrived: Grinter Soprano D (raffle prize)