Help! In early August I finally replaced my trusty Clarke whistle that I’d had for about 8 years with a brand-spanking new one with fresh paint and everything. My old one was sounding a bit fuzzy and out of tune. The new one was incredible. Such a pure, sweet, clean tone. Now all of a sudden it is starting to sound fuzzy and out of tune in the second octave. I’ve looked over the chiff and fipple and all seems to appear well. What’s going on? Can I fix it?
The wood block will sometimes swell up on the Clarkes. You may wish to try and find a smayy piece of fine sand paper and sand it down just a little to smooth it out again. They perhaps, a light coat of some sort of wood sealant to help keep it from happening so quickly again in future.
B~
You could try cooking oil on the block(outside only,not in the windway)too minimise swelling and you should also check that the bell note is in tune…my shaw required about 1mm shortening(credit card thickness) at the end of the whistle to raise the bell note to the correct pitch which effectively improved overall intonation, just be careful not to file off too much.Mike
[ This Message was edited by: mike.r on 2001-09-13 03:43 ]
I assume that by “bell note” you are referring to the root tone. In other words, it’s a D whistle, so I should check the low and high D to see if they’re in tune? Thanks to all for assistance with this.
Hey, I think you guys were right. The edge of the block was about a sixteenth of an inch beyond the angled metal edge of the mouthpiece. I sanded it down and it seemed to be all tuned up again, so I put polyurethane on it. Thanks again for you help. To be on the safe side I order a Clarke Celtic Whistle (Sweetone) online from The Whistle Shop. You can never have too many whistles, right? 
Be careful with polyurethane as it may well be toxic…cooking oil will yield a good result and its ioo% safe and the block retains its original appearance.All the best, Mike
The story goes that old Traditional players used heated hacksaw blades to scorch, blacken, harden and seal their Clarke’s wooden fipple plugs inside the windway.
Pretty colourful, eh?
Vinny
Nah, I checked the container. It’s 5% safe and only 95% toxic. 
Well,thats a relief…maybe I should cook with this instead! Mike