Hey everyone, I was asked by a friend if it was possible to hack up Bb and Eb Generations and make them B and E whistles. Does anyone know how much to take off to accomplish this?
Thanks
demon_piper
Well, there’s no set amount.. each whistle manufacturer most likely uses slightly different material from another, so there is no set way to tell you as far as I know.
Changing only a half note doesn’t take much at all. I would just use a sander and take a little bit off at a time until it tunes out right.
Also, you might want to see if you can get the mouthpiece to come off and do it from the top. It probably wont be too noticeable if at all since you’re only changing half a note, but if you shave off the bottom of the whistle, you are affecting the whistle in such a way that it can cause fluctuations between all of the notes.
Like I say, either way should be fine since it’s a smaller adjustment you are making, and not trying to turn and Eb into say… an E# 
Have fun with it
John
It may not work… I would agree that shortening the top of the tube would be the way to go, but taking off enough to raise the lowest note the required amount will probably make other notes out of tune. Still, a Gen is cheap enough that it may just be worth the experiment.
This will not work with standard drill sizes, cutting out a little material with a dremel might work. I would also suggest cutting a little from all of the holes until it comes in tune. If you work one hole at a time, the lowers may start going out as the upper ones are adjusted.
Does anyone know:
Deirdre Havlin plays a B natural whistle on the Hare set on the second Deanta album. I’m pretty sure it’s not a Burke or Overton; it sounds a lot like my Gen Bb. Is it a modified Gen?