I have Generation whistles in all the keys. Here is how they checked out on an electronic tuner:
Bb - blue head - dead-on
C - red head - sharp
D - red head - sharp
Eb - blue head - dead-on
F - red head - dead-on
G - red head - dead-on
So my questions are this - are the blue-heads more likely to be in tune? Do the other keys tend to be better than C and D? Or is it a complete crap-shoot and I scored 2 out of 3? What are some good heads to use if I change heads on the C and D?
“crap-shoot” I believe. Some people claim to get slightly better results with the nickel gens, but I don’t know how much truth there is to that notion. You can use hot water to loosen the glue and move the top to a more suitable position if the tuning is too far off for your liking.
If the whole thing is sharp (but the scale is in line with itself than it just needs to be tuned by moving the head. If the notes are all goofy in relation to each other, than it’s the tube. Gen’s are pretty much in tune with themselves, usually a little hot water is enough to fix the problem.
Plus, you picked two of the most consistently good whistles with the blue heads, Eb and Bb. These are the two that I have found to always be made well and in tune with themselves,
Funny that…those are the only two Gens I’ve kept and play, and as I don’t play them with the band I’ve never checked the tuning. The Eb nickel is wonderful - swapped heads with the brass Eb my now 2yo daughter mauled, so it’s now a red-head nickel.
I agree with Sam and Brad. I have 2 redhead Ds, 2 bluehead Ds, and greenhead D. All five needed the heads moved up about 1cm by loosening the glue. I have one of each in Bb, and both were fine, no retune needed. I have a redhead Eb, but I never play is so I have no idea on the tuning of that one.
Just thought I’d insert two cents here. I just received a whole set of brass generations in the mail yesterday, (I just love that photo of Martha Stewart in the garden with her “red tipped tooter” that lurks somewhere on the pages of C&F) anyway, I too have found the Eb and Bb to be pretty well in tune with themselves. I had to give them the heat treatment though and pulled them out appx. 1 centimeter also.
The Eb plays great! The Bb plays pretty good. but is a little strange in the second octave, it seems to want to jump up to the next partial, it also takes lots of air. I also have a nickel Bb (Blue head) with lots of tweaking done to it, even so it plays pretty much like the brass, but the brass may sound a little “lighter” tone wise.
The C is out of tune with itself, as is the D, the D is probably a little better though. The F sounds decent and may have some possibilities. I can’t really play the G, the holes are too close together, or maybe my fingers are too fat, I may just give this one to Martin, (see nude tinwhistler thread)
So for $27.95 or thereabouts I get two decent whistles, the Bb and F, and one really good one, The Eb. the rest of the stuff wil probably go into a box and await the time when I come after them for tweaking experiments, Oh except for the G, which just might have another use
Well I just dont know what to say. I too have a set plus a few of Gens and every one of them is a gem. I dont have a G so if anyone wants to get rid of one just send it my way. Yes they do take a little tweeking and fiddeling around with but it is all part of the fun of Gens. My D is killer, my Eb is killer my F is killer all three of my Bbs are killer and my C is finally killer after more tweeking then I have had to do to the whole set combined. I just dont think there is a better cheap whistle on the market then the Gen. The nickel plated Eb is my favorite although I lost it while on my horse, fell out of my pocket when Molly got a little rambunctious. I have checked them all with my tuning program and they are close enough for my taste anyway. So I guess what Im trying to say is I LIKE GENS!!!-)
