I was so pleased with the recent acquisition of two used Mack Hoover whistles and Mack’s willingness to receive them by mail, tune them up and mail them back to me at no cost, I decided (what the heck?) I would like to try out his well regarded ‘White Cap’ Whistle in ‘D’. And, since there is not what I would call a glut in the marketplace of decent ‘mid range’ E-Flats whistles, I placed an order for one of his D/E-Flat White Cap combos–one head, two bodies.
They arrived Saturday and are exceedingly fine whistles for the price–or for any price, at that. In addition, they fall neatly into Jim Mc.'s somewhat arbitrary (but not unreasonable) ‘mid-range’ price ceiling of approximately $35.00 each. (Of course, this means I will have to turn the ‘D’ over to him for his supposedly ongoing ‘research’ project.)
I will not take up any more space here doing a review of them, as others are better at that than I am. I will say they are wonderful whistles and let it go at that. I played one in class tonight and it was well received–the limitation of the player not withstanding.
So, why is this post called “A Tale of Three Hoovers”?
Because Mack, in the spirit of generosity that I have come to associate with him and the service he provides to us humble players, threw in at no cost a narrow bore C body as well, thereby enabling me to score the rare whistle acquisition ‘hat trick’–three for the price of two. What was my first conscious act after playing these babies? Naturally, I ordered a second head. No doubt, a third will be ordered down the line. For now, at least, the acquisition thirst has been slaked to a fare thee well.
I only heard the D, but it sounded really, really good. I was shocked at how good it sounded. It’s especially well suited to Tom’s bird-like style, but another player gave it a whirl and it sounded just as good in his hands. I liked the Whitecap. And you guys know I love to dislike things. I might even shell out for one of my own.
You two are killing me. Tom, how is Tuesday the 17th? I need to try all these whistles. Jim can come, too, if he promises not to drool so much this time… I’ll supply the Overtons.
Monday the 16th of June would be better. Jim is scheduled to be in BKLYN that evening. We can do a traditional Celtic Pizza from Fascati’s or I might whip up victuals. Get back to me at your convenience.
JIM: How about Tuesday if B cannot make it on Monday?
The bad first: Jim_mcc didn’t make it last night and instead of the Three Busking Scofflaws, there were the Two Stooges, Tommy D and Bloo MFD.
The good news: Tom had been making mysterious noises about a surprise he’d have ready for us, and I thought it would be… well, you can imagine what I thought. But in reality it was even better: Two whitecaps, sent by Mack Hoover, with a lovely note saying that they were for Jim and me. Wow! I don’t think I did anything to deserve such a cool present. Tom of course was jumping up and down with glee like one Jerry Freedman’s elves, because he got to hand over the gift.
It was like getting a cab in midtown during rush-hour in the rain: totally unexpected, warm, wonderful and exciting. I stuck my new whitecap onto a Gen Eb body and tooted. Very very nice. Now I know what all the Whitecappers out there have been talking about. When Tom and I descended to his secret whistle range to play, it was hard to put down my whitecap-Eb. Then I tried it on a D body… Ah. I had come hoping to try Tom’s Hoovers and Whitecaps, and to get my very own… Well, it’s special.
Thank you, Mack! Thank you for this wonderful and unexpected gift. And Jim, you better stop by Tom’s soon…