Wooden Whistles

[Bean]

Hello Chiff and Fipple forums, (sorry if this gets posted twice). I've been playing pennywhistles since I was a wee lad, and now that I'm in college I'm in a band playing my whistle. I've owned some traditional tin and brass whistles but my favorite so far has been my Sweetheart Pro Laminated D. Love that whistle and I want to fill out my collection with some other wood whistles in different keys (need a high C). I have looked around the forums and have googled for the past day or two trying to find the answer but I have not yet found it and so I'm going to ask you.

What is a good tunable wood whistle that has interchangeable bodies (use the same head to play on the D and C ect.) The more common and or durable wood the better. The less fancy hardware the better. If only Weston Whistles made a tunable whistle.

http://www.westonwhistles.co.uk/Wood.htm

Basically an amazing sounding, plain looking, durable, tunable whistle with interchangeable bodies if possible. Thanks.

[syn whistles]

You rang?

[Bean]

Perfect! Do you make them? Do you have a store? Do I PM you?

[technowhistle]

I'd get a non-tunable weston whistle anyway. They are beautiful things, I love my blackthorn D to pieces. Now if only I could do it justice!

The makeri is known here as Jetboy (someone please confirm this... my memory isn't what used to be).

[tucson_whistler]

i seem to remember Mr. Weston posting questions about making tunable whistles here awhile back, so you might check with hiim--maybe he's close to having one ready.

you might also try Tommy--he makes beautiful whistles out of teak and cherry, for example.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=78650&p=990944&hili ... on#p990944

cheers,
eric

[Bean]

Thanks, I've emailed Simon and we will see what says.

If the whistle is well tuned do I need a tunable one? I've been playing with this band and when my Generation whistles sound a little off I move the head around until it gets back on tune but if there is no head to move around is there a need for the whistle to be tunable?

Thanks
Bean

[crookedtune]

Yes, you want it to be tunable. Trust me.

http://www.obrienwhistles.com/OBPRoversets.html

[slowair]

If the whistle is well tuned do I need a tunable one? I've been playing with this band...
Bean

If you are going to be playing with other instruments, it would be better to have a tunable whistle.

Mike

[Feadoggie]

How about this fine specimen.

I have no connection or interest in the auction.

Oh, and I have one of Erle's red lancewood whistles, not unlike those in his syn whistles post above, and it's a good no nonsense wooden whistle.

Feadoggie

[Flexismart]

Many would agree that these are amazing wood whistles:
http://www.ozwhistles.com/shop/Sozwhistles.php

[narrowdog]

How about this fine specimen.

I have no connection or interest in the auction.

Feadoggie

This is also a fine specimen

My only connection is that I supplied the piece of Boxwood
for Paul to make these beautiful whistles.

[JTC111]

How about this fine specimen.

I have no connection or interest in the auction.

Feadoggie

This is also a fine specimen

My only connection is that I supplied the piece of Boxwood
for Paul to make these beautiful whistles.

Ahh... so the boxwood Paul made you and the one that sold on ebay aren't the same whistle. With both you and the ebay seller having the word "dog" in your names, I'd have lost money on a bet.

Can't say I'm crazy about the boxwood though but that's probably just my inclination to dislike blonde woods. Don't much care for maple-bodied guitars either (although I did lust after a Kelday Terz made of yew some years ago but that's the one exception). Not sure why. I suspect it goes back to some childhood trauma that I've long since repressed. Maybe it was the nuns whacking kids around with those maple rulers. Why couldn't they make rulers out of foam?

[GordonH]

You don't need a tuneable whistle if the other instruments tune to your pitch.
Also there is the issue of absolute pitch (length of tube) vs intonation (affected by the player).
There is quite a lot of leeway.
A lot of what I detect as tuning problems are not the overall pitch of the instrument but certain notes.

I have a few tuneable whistles and I can honestly say I rarely move the slides from where they were set after purchase.
Thats not to say that a tuneable whistle is unecessary, but I do think the need for tuneability is overstated.
If you think back in time there were lots of professional whistle players in groups before tuneable whistles were made.
Tommy Makenm did most of his classic recordings with the Clancy Brothers on a Clarke C (not tuneable).

[GordonH]

Example: 3 non tuneable whistles playing together:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12_3YHFUZ1c