I enjoyed my visit to your page and I too share your fondness for

Soodlum whistles. Having owned and/or played extensively all of the

whistles so far mentioned on your page, I have come full circle to

playing an ancient brass Soodlum almost exclusively. I have had about

ten of these and I always clean off the tarnish resistant coating with

fingernail polish remover before use. I like the feel of the brass, it

doesn't seem to slip in my hands like the plated version. The

propensity to squeak comes from them doing a lousy job of controlling

the flashing during the molding process on the head. If you clean it up

with an exacto knife or fingernail file, the instrument becomes very

dependable. The internal tuning is often a little off and seems to vary

from whistle to whistle, but some work with a dremmel tool and a tuner

can again correct to problem. I do have one that lives in my care,

however, that is hopelessly sharp on the low D and I just can't salvage

it. Walton's Music has always distributed the Soodlum whistle which was

introduced into this country around '86 or '87. The original had

"Soodlum" and the key painted directly down the barrel just below the

head piece. This was replaced with a paper sticker after about a year.

I am sure it was too costly and time consuming to print each whistle

All the best,

Kevin Alewine