Hello there. Today, i opened up my mail box and was pleasantly surprised to behold my Burke AL Low D. I am brand new to the whistle so I made sure to get an inexpensive high D to practice with. I know my heart lies with the lower whistles though so I thought I would jump the gun and get one, so I could become comfortable with it as a progress with my regular D whistle.
The reason I am posting is because I am a bit confused about Burke’s instructions regarding cleaning and maintenance. Burke is very clear and precise in his explanations and even has pictures of the instrument to further explain. However, I am still a little confused. Are you suppose to remove the very bottom portion of the whistle (sixth finger hole) and lube it up every once and a while, or is that the upper part. Do you disassemble your instrument at the end of every practice? How often do you clean your mouth piece. Thanks for your help Just a little confused!
-Cameron
I’ve played a Burke Pro Viper (aluminum) pretty much every day for the last three years and all I’ve done was to remove both the headjoint and the body from the “barrel joint” (the fat part lined with nylon that has the O-rings in it) and clean everything and relubricate the O-rings. I like having everything slide smoothly. I would do that whenever the slides didn’t slide smoothly any more, maybe about once every couple months.
I’ve never had any gunk build up in the windway.
I polish the thing a couple times a year when it gets dull from all the handling.
About that bottom ring that has the lowest tonehole on it, mine worked TOO smoothly and I would accidentally turn it from time to time. So I took it off and put a little piece of Scotch tape on the tenon so that it stays put unless I give it a purposeful turn.
thank you for the comment!
Can’t speak to the low d, but my Burke hi-d definately likes a cleaning of the headjoint using the soapy solution Michael recommends. about 1x every 2 weeks (assuming daily playing)
ciao,
Deisman
Hi everyone.
Just saw this thread and wanted to clarify the instructions on this point. The rotating bottom joint is lubricated and may not need anything else. It has a no-seize compound in there and if you don’t immerse it in water (please do not do that!), it might not ever need lubrication. This joint is for adjusting the angle for easiest play.
Most people will set it once and leave it alone, so you need not think of it much.
The bottom joint on the slide can be lubricated once in a while, but just a little grease there.
Lube the upper joint (slide joint) of the slide unit once a month to keep the slide moving easily.
The newest models with Delrin lined slides are very easy to take care of and will not seize up. The older aluminum inside slides must be kept lubricated and the joint shifted once in a while- once a month is adequate, or it could stick and after a year, good luck on that…
Also, please feel free to email me with these kinds of questions . The others here have offered good and helpful advice, but I don’t want anyone to think that I don’t wish to answer any questions myself. 
I will look at adding a note to eliminate this confusion on my instructions very soon, also. Not all whistles have this rotating bottom joint, so I initially left out any comment so it would not confuse anyone, since we use the same sheet for all the top slide metal whistles, but this gives me a heads up on this issue. Sorry for any confusion.
All the best
Mike