Hey, I got a question for all you players that have been playing for years and years. Do your whistles pretty much last forever? I’ve been playing mine like crazy ever since I bought it and it’s my first one. It’s a Feadog in D, and I seem to be wearing out the finish on the Copper (I guess it’s copper) tubeing. I hope it does not start to rust or anything. It still sounds as wonderful as the day I bought it (actually, better because I know how to play a good tune now) and it’s very hard to find another tin whistle around here just like it. More or less, the whistle just doesn’t look as pretty as it used to look, but I hope that’s the only side-effect of playing it constantly.
Any suggestions? Or is it even possible to re-finish it? I’m new lol.
A whistle will last pretty much forever sound-wise.
Don’t mind the apperance becoming a bit shabby after a while. That’s what I like to call mojo. A cheapy like Feadog is not really meant to look pretty anyway. I like my whistles to look like they have been played. For a nice vintage apperance, have a look at Paddy Molloney’s, Mary Bergin’s or pretty much any other pro out there who like to play cheapies.
And I believe Feadogs are made of brass.
I actually a whistle to look beat up, it adds to the folk look of it. And the cover of Paddy Maloney and Sean Potts’ album has that classic beat up cheapie look.
Now my question is how the heck do you pronounce Feadog? I’ve about given up on Gaelic pronunciations.
You could refinish it, but it would only come off again. Actually, I sometimes go the opposite route and take the finish off to let the whole thing tarnish naturally. Makes you look like you’ve been playing for years and years instead of a newbie with a too-shiny new whistle
To me the patination and wear-patterns that occur to used-every-day objects imparts their soul. I can’t hardly stand the soulessness of brand new stuff.
I particularly like cheap stuff that has been painted or coated in some glizzy goop that rubs away after the warranty expires. Sometimes I even hasten the process a bit with some “character testing” against the kerb or with some solvent To me the sign of a well engineered cheap doodad is the patination that proves it’s usefullness has lasted beyond making a buck for the leach-pit - i.e. Value.
Most other junk finds its way into landfill long before it gets a soul. I like to have stuff that has earned it’s stripe and redeams its character - close friends rather than things, doodads that I get to know, who remind me of a shared history. Creatures that die with honour and are buried in the trash can with a note of sadness and respect - you know, brush the flies off before you close the lid. [/rant}
King Friday
I think from memory Feadog is pronounced something like Fa- dog with the emphasis on the first syllable and the d and g are quite soft. Correct me if I’m wrong anyone who really knows some Irish.
I loved my old beat up brass generations D and Bb, they had a great sound. But I lost them both, the Bb just 2 weeks ago. See the current thread “Perfection in Bb”.
I have a blue-top Generation that I bought about twenty five years ago. The chrome plating has worn away around the finger holes exposing the brass tube underneath. It has teeth marks on the fipple where a grandson played with it. This is a great sounding whistle and I really like the “vintage” look.
Thanks for the info. If you think the whistle looking worn out is best is good, than that’s cool. As long as the sound stays the same. You keep calling a Fadog a “Cheapy” whistle. Dang. I paid 30 bucks for it! Was I taken for a ride? It sounds wonderful and I don’t regret what I paid for it at all. Maybe I just got lucky? I don’t know. Do the really expensive ones sound better? I can’t really imagine anything sounding better than what my whistle is already generating.
Hi WriterBryan, 30 bucks is OK so long as it comes with a book and CD and depending - was that 30 US bucks?
Or maybe it’s an old collectable one?
Post a pic
As for are expensive ones better? Well that’s a contentious question - many of the great whistle recordings have been done on cheapies, but then, you will find just as many done on expensive ones. This is all part of the holy grail of whistledom.
I’ve only seen one whistle that was “worn out”…made it for a kid who chewed on the fipple as he played. I made two replacement heads for him and then gave up before he destroyed his dentition using my whistles. Figured he’d be better off playing Sweetones at $6 a pop.
Dave
In fact, the sweetest whistle I ever heard was being played by a busker in the next village. He had a gen red-top with the head chewed-down to Susato dimensions - maybe a tweak someone could try out?
WriterBryan, the subject of expensive vs. cheap whistles has been discussed since the dawning of time. Have a look at the main page, expensive and inexpensive whistle guides for some info.
All whistles are different and all tastes are different. Better is impossible to say. Why pay $200 for a fine hand-made whistle? Well, because it’s better quality, it’s more stable, has a different sound, if it’s a better sound or not is debateable. Expensive hand-made whistles can usually be customized to fit your needs as a player as well.
Some expensive whistles sound pretty much like good cheapies as well. What you pay for is really the time put down by the maker to make sure that everything about the whistle is top-notch.
Of course, expensive versus inexpensive is a little bit simplified, whistle prices range from $6 to $700 with everything in between.
Why does Yngwie Malmsteen play a custom-shop Fender Stratocaster made specifically for him when there are Affinity Squier Stratocasters that are totally workable for less than a tenth the price. (okay, that was a really bad example, first of all this is about whistles, not guitars, and second, Yngwie Malmsteen doesn’t pay for his guitars, but maybe you get the point.)
He pretty much wore out his beloved blue topped generation D I think and had to retire it (and it looks close to being worn out on his instructional video-- but it still sounded great).
This question has come up quite a bit recently and hopefully this explaination will help:
Feadóg has many pronunciations in the big bad world!! Officially Feadóg is pronounced Fah (“doh, re, me, fah, so, etc”), Doh (dough or “Doh!!” as in Homer Simpson), G (G-irl): “Fah-doh-g” and it is the Irish for “whistle”.
I will post this on our site, www.feadog.ie, shortly. If you have any other questions regarding the Feadóg, please feel free to e-mail at whistles@feadog.ie and I will try my best to help!
As most folks have already said - you’ve nothing really to worry about. If it’s just the lacquer/clear finish that’s wearing off of the tube, you can do what I do.
In fact, it’s the first thing I do when I buy a Generations or other whistle with that type of coating - I soak the head in hot water to loosen it, then when I can I remove the head - I scrub all that clear coat off of the barrel with some 0000 steel wool.
The whistle’ll patina-up real nice after that, or you can polish the barrel back to a nice shine if you like.
To me the sign of a well engineered cheap doodad is the patination that proves it’s usefullness has lasted beyond making a buck for the leach-pit - i.e. Value.
I made two replacement heads for him and then gave up before he destroyed his dentition using my whistles. Figured he’d be better off playing Sweetones at $6 a pop.