Wierd side-blown whistle

[sbfluter]

Someone gave me this side-blown whistle. It's a vile thing. It tastes like chewing on aluminum foil and it's in the key of somewhere between B and C. It says Western Flute Company S.F. Cal near the top. Has anyone seen anything like this?

[Jayhawk]

Looks like a fife, maybe high pitch, with a cheater on it. Flutes in the past sometimes had those added on. Can you remove the cheater and play it like a fife or is it buily onto the body?

Eric

[Steve Bliven]

Fairly common item. Search here and Google for "Melody Flute" for information on another company's version. They were instruments provided to school music programs for basic learning instruments—analogous to Tonettes or Flutophones . Not known for great musical potential or intonation, but offered a starter experience. They come up on eBay with some regularity.

Best wishes.

Steve

[an seanduine]

I would caution you to test the cheater with one of those household lead-paint testing kits. Those cheaters are often lead or base metals with high lead content.

Bob

[Jayhawk]

But the OP said the cheater tasted terrible...not sweet like those lovely lead paint chips we all snacked on as children.

[sbfluter]

Definitely aluminum and brass. The thing you blow on doesn't come off. I didn't think it was any kind of rare item. I just had never seen anything like it before. It actually sounds kinda sweet.