i bought a C oak whistle and its really too sharp, like by about almost a semitone, so i;m thinking of doing the hot water thing and pulling the head out, but once that’s done, will it move around a lot while playing? cause i just want to correct the overall pitch, and fix the head permanently after its done.. do i need to reglue the mouthpiece or will that ruin it?
It shouldn’t. But if it’s loose, you can add a wrapping of standard teflon plumber’s tape. It’s a common item to have on hand if your’re going to play flutes and whistles.
It should be tight when you put it back. No glue necessary.
However, you may find it difficult to take off. Oaks, different from (current) Generations, Feadogs, etc. use a plastic that can distort when heated and stressed. Sometimes the beak of the whistlehead can be permanently twisted if the water is too hot when you remove the whistlehead. I would recommend chilling the whistle overnight in the freezer first so you don’t have to use water that’s too close to boiling.
Best wishes,
Jerry
I was able to remove the fipple from a B flat generation whistle using acetone. The fipple did not crack. I repeat did not crack. I was very relieved. I filled in the sub-windway cavity with fun tack from party city. It still sounds rather quiet though. Are Gen B flats on the quiet side?
I managed to remove the head off my Generation Bb with just hot water.
I removed the fipple of an older D Oak last week w/ hot water (not too hot). Just soaked it for a minute or two, doesn’t take long. Put it back on after the tweak (poster putty), and it tightened right up. Had to do it again a couple days later when I realized it was sounding a little flat and was too tight to move by twisting.
Ditto. I cleaned out the remaining glue out of the head and off the tube by just wiping it while hot then put a swipe of cork grease on the inside and haven’t had any trouble adjusting the head since. And it stays put while playing.
I found some stuff called Tacky Wax that’s a candle wax adhesive. I’ve used it on a couple of whistles and it’s given me a nice tight seal. I have an Oak C that I’ve had trouble with. I replaced the head with a Hoover whitecap and it sounds nice. I need to work on the tuning, though. The whitecap was actually fitted to a mellow D, but it fits pretty well on the Oak C.
The fipple on my Oak came right off without using any water. It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t a real difficulty either. The fipple was just on firmly. There was no glue on the fipple or whistle body.
I have found the Oaks to be sometimes very hard to behead. I do the freezer/ hot water thing, and I tightly wrap 3 or 4 rubber bands on the barrel and a couple on the head for better grip and a little better torque. This helps a lot.
When I had a Hoover Whitecap made for an Oak, Mack had me send him the barrel because the end of the tube flares ever so slightly and makes it harder to fit the head on. He lathed it for me and then fit the whitecap onto it for a perfect fit. If you find your tube has a flare you can maybe find a way to smooth it down a teence.