I received my brand new Merlin Low D whistle in the mail today and whow was that a disappointment. Obviously they are not tested before leaving the whistlemaker as this one was more or less unplayable.
The problem is that it is WAY too breathy and when looking through the windway the reason is quite obvious as the surfaces of the fipple are rough and not very well aligned with the bore. I guess I could make a new fipple and fix the problem provided I can get the old one out. It could be that I just got a bad one but the finish in general wasnât that impressive with burrs in some of the holes and an almost home made look of the quality of the workmanship.
Does anyone else have similar experiences with the Merlin Low Dâs? For now I guess Iâll have to stick to my Tony Dixon Aluminum Low D which is at the other end of the spectrum; -The tone of the Alu Dixon is a bit too ârawâ for my taste thoughâŚ
Iâve never heard of this maker before. Especially for that money (ÂŁ65) - for any money, really - youâre entitled to satisfaction with the instrument, or a replacement or refund. The whistle sound samples on the makerâs site do sound breathy to my ear, though.
I bought a used Merlin a few weeks agoâŚitâs my first and only low D at this point, so Iâm not much of an expert. Mine is breathy, but not unacceptably so. I had a look at the fipple, and it seems fairly consistent and about what I would expect. The workmanship is okayâŚI will be buying a brass or aluminum one at some point, beause I just cannot get excited about polymers.
Iâm at the point now, considering it is my first low whistle, that I can get something out of itâŚI find it a bit breathy, and not very loud, but the sound is quite nice. My big issue is, I canât seem to get a second octave E that sounds rightâŚit always sounds flat to my ear. My wee electronic tuner usually tells me itâs pretty good, but my ear tells me something is off, and I havenât figure out how to blow it into ârightâ. I know weâre suposed to be able to do that, but Iâm fairly new at this, and havenât figured it out yet. Everything else sounds ok, itâs just that second octave E.
Anyway, my experience with it is itâs an okay whistle, not top of the line but playable. Iâll never be a composite whistle lover, but itâs gotten me a start on low whistles, and it didnât cost me a whole lot of money.
Iâd talk to the maker, first off. Some whistles are breathier than others, by design; the Shaw rolled tin whistles are all intentionally breathy, for instance.
As well, many instruments of any kind refuse to give up their secrets until they know you, and you know them. SomeoneâTerry?âposted a tale perhaps here on the board of meeting Flute player Cathal McConnell years ago and asking to try his flute, which was an antique of a provenance I donât recall. McConnell handed it over with a chuckle âYou wonât get a sound out of it!â he forecast, accurately.
So what you might think is a horrible voicing may well resolve into something much more valuable to you once youâre more familiar with it.
Or, it might be a dud. Communicating with the maker is going to be your fastest way to determine whatâs what.
