With all this talk of tweaking and comparisons of Clarkes and Shaws, e.g., I decided to pull out my collection of “cheapies” which have been sitting mostly untouched (but for the Waltons Golden Tone C) in glass vases in my display case. The highenders I play every day are out laying on a shelf. Quite a rediscovery. In all 35 neglected yet beloved old whistles. A list follows with some notes. It should be noted however that after years of playing, most of the differences have evaporated and much gets evened out with the same player playing them.
Shaw - 1 D - What a beautiful tone; yes it’s breathy, takes high air and is relatively hard to sustain, but great tone! Definitely worthy of a good tweaking.
Clarke - 1 original D that plays beautifully; 2 original Cs that are very nice; 2 Sweetones, D (tinny in the upper end) and C (ok); 1 Celtic D (ok).
Oak - 2 D, brass and nickel; still don’t much care for these.
Generation - 1 nickel high F that is surprisingly good; 4 D (3 brass, inickel, ok); 2 C (brass ok); 2 Bflat, 1 nickel and 1 brass, both very good.
Waltons - 3 D, one is Mellow D and all are very nice; 7 C, including 1 nickel and 2 Golden Tone - these are all very good, but esp. the Golden Tones. Also 1 Guiness black D, which is a bit weak in tone and volume, but very cool looking.
Feadog - 2 Ds that are decidedly different in mouthpiece design. The one with the green stripes at the bottom of the tube and no bump on the window area of the mouthpiece is great, almost as good as my O’Briain Improved Feadog; the other is not very good at all.
Doolin - 1 D, ok.
Clare - 1 two-piece D, ok.
Perri - (obviously named after my daughter) - 2 Ds, ok.
I guess generally it’s the consistency and the upper end that separates these from the highenders. I still love the Clarke originals, loved the tone of the Shaw more than I remembered (because now it’s much easier for me to play it after all these years), still love the Walton Golden Tone C, and was amazed at the difference between two different model Feadogs.
Hail the Cheapies; long may they live…
Regards,
PhilO