Here is a link to some PVC whistles made by Jubilee. Are they decent, or are they toys?
the link:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/kadima/whis-pvc.htm#
Thanks,
I can’t say they’re ‘toys’ but I’m not real certain what they are. They’re a six-hole flute, and also a six-hole fipple flute, but they seem to have adopted some sort of odd rim-blown fipple, like those goofy “dawg-bone” whistles, so they’d be played hanging down lik a sax. It looks from their site like the only way to get a traditional pennywhistle configuration is to cut down their tube and add a Dixon headjoint. I can’t see why they would do that, since a traditional fipple isn’t that hard to make, so one would tend to assume it’s more for purposes of being different than for musical reasons.
Also, the keys sound interesting at first glance, but on reflection, brass keys on a white PVC whistle really sounds sorta nerdy.
Maybe someone else can answer this one - is this the same outfit that was making copper whistles out of their home workshop a couple of years ago? The only report I recall on those was that they were heavy and iffy on tuning.
I´ve ordered some of the plastic ones, a low C and a low F body. I´ll post my impressions when I receive the instruments.
Until then I´ll keep blowing my new Goldie low D XD
Cheers,
Manuel
I haven’t had the privilege of trying them, but the maker is an active member of this forum. I have heard that the Jubilee whistles have been improving. I am certain he would be willing to address any specific questions regarding these whistles.
I have some of the PVC bodies, adapted to fit a Dixon mouthpiece, as well as a number of the copper bodies, with one of the Delrin headpieces. I like the copper ones for their flute-like quality, but wasn’t as fond of the PVC ones.
Daniel is a nice guy to work with. When I’ve had intonation issues or other questions, he’s always responded well. His instruments are a work in progress, and continue to improve.
I also have low C and Bb copper bodies with keys on the 3rd and 6th holes. The sound is very nice, although I’m still working with them to learn their strengths and weaknesses.
For the price, the metal whistles are worth taking a look at, to see if they work with your own playing.
but they seem to have adopted some sort of odd rim-blown fipple
Huh?
I am the maker of Jubilee Whistles. The fipples on my whistles are similar to most whistles. I don’t know what this ‘rim-blown’ comment is about. Here are the details:
Metal Whistles:
The fipples are made from copper or brass with a delrin block and the windway is ‘D’ shaped at the inlet and become a curved windway when it reaches the window. The closest comparison would be similar to Susato except I don’t think their windway tapers (not sure - haven’t seen one up close).
The DE series is my best of the simple whistles.
PVC Whistles:
They are similar to the metal whistles except the outer cover is made from a PVC coupler that has had some turning work performed on the lathe.
They’re not toys, they are moderately priced whistles in a great range of keys(Low-Low A,Low-Low Bb,Low-Low B, Low C, Low-D, Low-Eb, Low-E…On and on.
I also make the whistle in unique scales such as harmonic minor.
Also a new product, the “Chromatic Whistle” has just been around for a few weeks.
I’ve taken the “Rudall-Rose” stype pattern applied to flutes of the 1800’s and made it in a metal tonebody and given it interchangeble heads for playing as a whistle or a flute.
I’ve been building whistles sincs 1998, started in garage and I currently have a small shop in an old cartridge factory building in Kings Mills Ohio.
I’ll answer any other questions you might have, I’m going to limit it to this particular discussion. I don’t make too many comments on this board to be fair to other whistle builders.
I would be tooting my own whistle. 
I think I see the confusion. The photos on the site are either directly from the “top” or “end-on”, which makes it very difficult to see the tapered profile of the fipple. I myself thought some of the shots made the fipple end look completely round.
I would highly suggest new photos.
If the whistle were on a table in front of you horizontally, with the fipple to the right, the best angle would probably be 20 degrees above and 30 degrees to the right of the end of the fipple looking directly at the end of the fipple. This shows the profile of the mouthpiece, the size of the airway, the fipple plug, and the profile of the blade all in one shot.
Good lighting helps too.
I just visited Daniel’s site–hadn’t been there in a long time and was impressed with all the changes and additions. I was very interested in that low d practice whistle in the less than flattering picture because of the short fipple. Daniel mentions that it does not clog very easily and I think this makes very good sense. I was also very pleased to see the alternate tunings, suitable for klezmer and middle eastern music. The only harmonic minor whistle I knew about before was a Swedish model with more than six tone holes.
Daniel, I happily suffer from incurable Whoa and some of your whistles are now on my Whish list!
Lisa
By the way I noticed there was a mouth piece of the rim blown design like a ney available…but that wasn’t in the picture in question…
[ This Message was edited by: ysgwd on 2002-08-01 10:17 ]
[ This Message was edited by: ysgwd on 2002-08-01 10:18 ]
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[ This Message was edited by: ysgwd on 2002-08-01 10:20 ]
Yes, I do have a Rim mouthpiece and a Quena style mouthpiece that are attachments in place of the regular whistle and flute mouthpieces. It’s amazing how much sound change occurs in the same tonebody by the various mouthpieces.
A painted black version of the chromatic whistle with brass keys (coated with polyurethane clear) is newly posted.
I’ll your suggestions about making new photos. I need to invest in a better camera.
Speaking of toys, I am reworking the PVC clarinet and I may attempt to contact a local toy manufacturer on it.