Oak vs. Merely OK

[Wormdiet]

SO a friend of mine has an Oak that is fun to play, good tone, solid feeling.

So I went to a music store and picked one up thinking it would be a nice whistle.

Wrong. The "Oak" I have has a different mouthpiece and is not plated as heavily. To my ears, it also doesn;t sound as nice.

SO I guess the question is, has Oak recently changed their design? Is this old news and I am just waking up to the harsh realities of the cheapie whistle world?

[Congratulations]

My Oak is a little temperamental. It took me a while to get where I could play in the second octave consistently without squeaking. Even now, though, it'll be cross and squeak. Still, it gets a really nice sound. I'm increasingly impressed with it.

I'm pretty sure Oak has changed their design. My Oak D has a sharp part right below the voicing window (sort of like a Generation, not like a Feadog), as you might be able to see from the pics. They didn't turn out like I wanted, but my camera isn't exactly wonderful.

I took the pics out. They weren't any good, anyway.

I don't know if those will help, they're so horrible, but at least I tried.

[Craig Stuntz]

SO I guess the question is, has Oak recently changed their design? Is this old news and I am just waking up to the harsh realities of the cheapie whistle world?

The Oak C and D whistles have totally different fipples. This was discussed in another thread.

[Wormdiet]

SO I guess the question is, has Oak recently changed their design? Is this old news and I am just waking up to the harsh realities of the cheapie whistle world?

The Oak C and D whistles have totally different fipples. This was discussed in another thread.

All of the "Oaks" under discussion are D's, unfortunately. The "nice" one has a narrower windway ; the mouthpiece was generally smaller overall. I don;t have it here with me to describe the other physical differences though.

[ShadowBG625]

Personally, I don't like Oak whistles. I was recommended by a friend to get one, which I did a year or two ago. The sound was definitely not what I was expecting. It was a rather coarse sound, and it recuired MUCH air to hit higher notes. Now, I use my Oak C for miscellaneous other things, such as bottle opening, etc. The best sounding cheap whistle I've come across is any of the Waltons, except the LBW.

Hmm...since its still playable, maybe I can put the Oak under the knife. IT's TWEAKING TIME!!! Mwahahahaha!!!

[NicoMoreno]

SO I guess the question is, has Oak recently changed their design? Is this old news and I am just waking up to the harsh realities of the cheapie whistle world?

The Oak C and D whistles have totally different fipples. This was discussed in another thread.

All of the "Oaks" under discussion are D's, unfortunately. The "nice" one has a narrower windway ; the mouthpiece was generally smaller overall. I don;t have it here with me to describe the other physical differences though.

Oaks did go through a head redesign. The old oaks had the same head as the C's and Acorns, and the new ones have a smaller head. Either that, or it's the other way around. Apparently the Acorn head ones aren't as nice. I have an Acorn, and Oak C, and an Oak D. The first two do have very similar heads. I like all three, but the Oak D is my favorite. The "rasp"-ness that Shadow talks about is what I like, because it gives the whistle character. The Acorn and C are fairly plain... just not as interesting. I also have a Walton's Mellow D, a Walton's Guiness (LBW with white head) and a Feadog. The Feadog is the whistle I play most now, and the Mellow D used to be my main one. Basically, the Mellow D is very nice, but is a bit less interesting than the Feadog, Oak D and Guiness (in that order). But, the Guiness takes less air than the Mellow D (as do all of the others, in fact, except the Acorn and C).

[StewySmoot]

Cheapie whistle world.

I have found you get what you pay for. If you get a GREAT untweaked whistle for between $5-30 USD depending on brand, consider yourself extremely lucky.

Every whistle Ive owned that plays with quality was either tweaked by someone that knew what they were doing or was not stacked with 20 identical whistles in a $2 display carton.

[NicoMoreno]

And yet, I'd say every single one of my whistles were decent. At the bare minimum, within 50% of the quality of some much more expensive whistles I've played. (And that's pitting the worst of the bunch with a very nice Abell I tried, probably the best high-ender I've tried.. if you play it right)

My Feadog? As good if not better than any Chieftain I've tried (I've tried at least two, that I can recall).

[Whistlin'Dixie]

I like Oaks.

I just picked up a nice Oak whistle while on vacation in Seattle ~ it was the 2nd one of the few I tried at Lark in the a.m.... They vary a tiny bit, I guess.
It has a nice raspy tone, and great second octave.

I had a great time whistling my way thru Pike Place Market, the sound really rings out in some areas!

I would guess that of all my cheapies, I love my Jerry tweaked Shaw and the Oaks the best.

M

[brianormond]

-My Oak whistle experiences are Jekyll-Hydeish, the first pretty nice but with a weak bell note I tried to tweak. The whistle suffered catastrophic tweak-related failure, and Oak #2 was purchased, destined to be the next big thing. (or next tweaking victim)- Oak #2 was disappointing due to its inferior tone and when compared to #1.

-Oak #1 was really quite a nice whistle, and I regret tweaking it instead of learning better breath control to handle its weak bell note well. My ratio of good/bad Oaks is 1/1 so far. Would that a good Generation was so easily found, and that my tweaking
skills weren't inspired by Sid from "Toy Story".

[FJohnSharp]

i've grown to really like my Oak. It's about three years old--bought during the poison Oak debacle, and I tweaked it up nice It was one of the first off the line after they fixed the problem. I play it exclusively at sessions because I feel a little self conscious whipping out the Burke at my level of playing. It seems pretentious.

Yesterday I noticed a crack in the mouthpiece, where the tube goes in. I think I can tape it and it'll be fine. But I'm a little bummed to see that they've changed design. Are the new ones as good? I cannot seem to find the thread that someone referred to earlier.

[Elmore]

I've got an Oak D that is at least 16 years old and I recently coupled a Hoover Whitecap to it...Wow, I love the tone, volume and responsiveness of this whistle now. There's nothing like laying back in the hammock and playing my whistle...if I can ever get the dog out of it.
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[Kansas]

I was lucky enough to find a good Oak C while in Chicago this week. There it was - the only cheap whislte in the case.
Excuse me - could I possibly try this?
Mmmm - plays easily and clearly. Might tinker with it a little when home to clear a little chiff out. But a nice whistle. I was surprised at the quality of the nickel plating for 12.95 US. All my other metal whisltes are brass or aluminum.
I'm happy with it. Nice player.

[FJohnSharp]

I There's nothing like laying back in the hammock and playing my whistle...if I can ever get the dog out of it.

This begs the question, why is there a dog in your whistle.

[Elmore]

I There's nothing like laying back in the hammock and playing my whistle...if I can ever get the dog out of it.

This begs the question, why is there a dog in your whistle.

Hammock, brother, the Hammock. What are you?...a Mensan or something?