The Clarkes original curved blade flat airway set-up got me thinking how this would sound in reverse on a Susato… so I filed the curved blade of my susato Dublin flat(I know,I’m a maniac)and did my guitar plectrum tweak using a yellow Jim Dunlop Tortex pick.The result?Its THE most dramatic improvement of an existing whistle by tweaking I have ever experienced.Does anyone know of any existing whistles that feature this design? 
Mike
Hi Mike, I don’t know if other whistle designs have this, but I do. I did a tweak on a Susato high D VSB. I just trimmed back the blade and put in a little piece of flat plastic to do the job. It’s now one of my favorite quieter whistles. Let me be delicate about this…I wasn’t fond of this whisle avant-tweak. This improved the tone, while keeping that famous Susato in-tune-with-itself thing.
THE most dramatic improvement of an existing whistle by tweaking
That’s a lovely sentence!
Why don’t you buy a bunch, tweak them, then sell them for a $25 profit? There are probably plenty of people on the board who are curious enough to fork over the dough. (Of course, I’d get mine for free for the suggestion. )
JP
Mike,
Would you mind elaborating a little on what you used to file down the blade and how you went about doing this? It sounds like a promising tweak…I’ve had some recent success with some silly putty on my Susato; something more permanent would be nice.
Micah
Mike, does the tweak make the whistle quieter? Any effect on chiff or breathiness?
Thanks John…its a good idea and definately worth some thought
Micah,I used a small flat mill file to do this.Ater filing it should resemble the Alba whistle style blade..just trim the edge with a hobby knife to reveal the curvature.The overlay positioning will require some experimentation to locate the optimum depth and angle..I used blue tack for this,a very small amount is enough to hold the new blade in position and when you are satisfied a few drops of superglue will hold it in position.Good luck and good tweaking.
Ridsheard,the tone is very sweet and complex,has good satisfying chiff and exhibits a great 2nd oct with less volume and shrillness.The new tone is so diferent from its former sound,comparisons to quality whistles with flat narrow airways are no exageration. mike
[ This Message was edited by: mike.r on 2002-11-06 11:41 ]
Mike,
This sounds very interesting. Is there any chance you could post a few pictures of the final results and a sound file?
Thanks!
On 2002-11-05 23:48, JohnPalmer wrote:
THE most dramatic improvement of an existing whistle by tweaking
That’s a lovely sentence!
Why don’t you buy a bunch, tweak them, then sell them for a $25 profit? There are probably plenty of people on the board who are curious enough to fork over the dough. (Of course, I’d get mine for free for the suggestion. >
JP
\
Seriously. I know I would consider buying something like this, if the price were not TOO dear.
Redwolf
I have an update on this tweak.I figured out a way to attach the replacement blade(now in black) without the use of any sort of adhesive..it simply “clips” in for easy removal to allow fine adjustment and positioning over a few days if needed before committing to a more permanent seating.I now have three improved susatos,two D’s and a C and they all sound magnificent.I’ll try and organize some way to post some photos..I’m sorry,I’m just not set up to do this at this time.Redwolf if you , or indeed anyone else,are interested in aquiring one of these please contact me via private message box with your Email adress and we’ll sort something out. Mike
[ This Message was edited by: mike.r on 2002-11-09 15:17 ]
Mike, in the absence of a photo (I understand that), could you elaborate a bit on the size and shape of the clip-in replacement blade. Is it just slightly wide and held in by simple friction on the ‘sides’ of the original ramp?
I gave my Susato C the treatment described above, and, as described by Mike, the effect was pretty radical…nice sound! I tried it first with a piece of a business card, and that sounded incredible–better than the medium guitar pick I finally used, so perhaps thinner is better. Paper, of course, isn’t quite durable enough, but maybe a really thin quitar pick might work well.
Micah
On 2002-11-12 19:44, CDon wrote:
Mike, in the absence of a photo (I understand that), could you elaborate a bit on the size and shape of the clip-in replacement blade. Is it just slightly wide and held in by simple friction on the ‘sides’ of the original ramp?
CDon,this is correct..begin with a slightly oversized clip-in blade and reduce it until a precise fit is achieved without forcing it.This is not as easy as it sounds and it took some time to get it exactly right.After a few days when you are satisfied with the positioning, simply pivote the back of the blade slightly upward and insert a drop of superglue and press back into position.Size and positioning should be a little more than 50% of the window area but making it longer helps in handleing, positioning and beveling the blade edge(critical!)…I do this on the underside as well as the top and experimentation and care is the key here for that killer tone.The surplus can be cut away later on. Good tweaking! :)Mike
Hehehe. I can’t wait to take a file to my Susatos. (Haven’t I often stolen glances at the hacksaw when playing them?)
Do you think the type of plectrum is critical? I am no expert there. Thanks for this tip, Mike.
On 2002-11-14 09:43, Micah wrote:
I gave my Susato C the treatment described above, and, as described by Mike, the effect was pretty radical…nice sound! I tried it first with a piece of a business card, and that sounded incredible–better than the medium guitar pick I finally used, so perhaps thinner is better. Paper, of course, isn’t quite durable enough, but maybe a really thin quitar pick might work well.
Micah
Congratulations !I like the “Tortex” picks because of the extremely thin rigidity they offer… .73mm is about right for me. Mike
[ This Message was edited by: mike.r on 2002-11-14 11:32 ]
Reviving an old thread, here.
I picked up a bunch of the thinnest tortex picks (red) the other day. Now that the GenSindt is up, I can feel my Susatos quaking in their drawer…
But where the Proust do I get a really small flat file? Are they the ones called jeweller’s files?
[edited to take out the reflection on YOU.]
/bloomfield
[ This Message was edited by: Bloomfield on 2003-01-16 17:53 ]
Hi, Mike and E = Fb.
I wonder if I could ask for clarification on a couple of elements of the geometry?
- Mike said, “I filed the curved blade of my susato Dublin flat … . After filing it should resemble the Alba whistle style blade… just trim the edge with a hobby knife to reveal the curvature. The overlay positioning will require some experimentation … .”
E = Fb said, “I just trimmed back the blade … .”
I don’t know what an Alba whistle looks like, and I have no idea what Mike means about trimming it with a knife to reveal the curvature. I would appreciate any further description you can offer.
What I’m wondering is how much to file to begin with. Where does the end of the blade rest with respect to the height of the airway? On non-curved airway/blade combos, I believe the edge of the blade is usually just slightly above the centerline of the airway. Can you give some idea of how the end result of your tweak is aligned with the airway?
- Mike, you say, “and positioning should be a little more than 50% of the window area … .” Do you mean that the new blade fills up a little more than 50% of the area that was open before, making it smaller? EDIT: I assume that “window” refers to the opening you see when you view the fipple from the top. END OF EDIT Or, if you mean something else, please clarify.
Thanks!
Jerry
P.S. This string is especially intriguing in light of the fact that I’m in the process of choosing a quiet, well in-tune, preferably not too expensive, easy to play whistle.
The Susato VSB was one of the finalists, but I’m not crazy about the sound. However, it’s not an expensive whistle so I could afford to experiment. I’m thinking that with this tweak, it might be exactly what I’m looking for at a fraction of the price of a Silkstone PVC or Water Weasel. Cool!
“This (manifest world) is full, and that (unmanifest source from whence it springs) is also full. Fullness comes out of fullness. Taking fullness from fullness, all that remains is fullness.”
[ This Message was edited by: Jerry Freeman on 2003-01-16 19:31 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Jerry Freeman on 2003-01-16 19:34 ]
On 2002-11-05 15:21, mike.r wrote:
The Clarkes original curved blade flat airway set-up got me thinking how this would sound in reverse on a Susato… so I filed the curved blade of my susato Dublin flat(I know,I’m a maniac)and did my guitar plectrum tweak using a yellow Jim Dunlop Tortex pick.The result?Its THE most dramatic improvement of an existing whistle by tweaking I have ever experienced.Does anyone know of any existing whistles that feature this design? >
Mike-
Is there any way that you could do this process and take pictures along the way of each step? (Preferably digital, but I can scan if necessary).
Part of the website I am working on I would like to have instructions, etc. for “whistle tweaks”. If possible, I’d like to do this as one of them. PM if you think we can work something out for this.
Aodhan
I haven’t done the tweak to my VSB because I’m concerned that I might mess up its responsiveness. As it is, it plays like certain high-end whistles, notably the verious Burkes and the Silkstone alloy. (Too bad it doesn’t have the rich tone of my brass Burke.)
On 2003-01-17 13:15, Aodhan wrote:
Mike-
Is there any way that you could do this process and take pictures along the way of each step? (Preferably digital, but I can scan if necessary).
Part of the website I am working on I would like to have instructions, etc. for “whistle tweaks”. If possible, I’d like to do this as one of them. PM if you think we can work something out for this.
Aodhan
Definitely let us know if you can work something out with pics. I can offer to take & post pictures if Mike will send me the tweaked whistle (hehehehe). Ok, I’ll send it back, too.
I gathered up my courage and took the exacto knife to my Susato SB D over the weekend. I wasn’t playing it, anyway. I did not have a file small enough, not even a nail file worked. I don’t know if I did it the way Mike did it, but I am very pleased with the results.
Here is a brief description of what I did:
First, using the exacto knife I marked on both sides of the window where the blade ended, to use as reference in voicing later. The plastic of the Susatos is pretty soft and I just cut back the curved blade about an eight of an inch, perhaps a littel more. Then, holding the exacto knife sideways, I tried to flatten the stump of the blade, which worked somewhat. (I took a picture of this, but the cut-back blade did not show clearly.)
Next I took a very small amount of blue tack and, using the flat of the pointy knife blade, I spread the blue tack around, trying to get an even, flat support for the blade.
Then I cut a Tortex .50 mm (red) to size, about 1/4 inch wide, 1/2 long. I tried to get the pick to fit as snugly as possible in to the Susato’s window. I used the nail file to bevel and smooth the blade edge of the plectrum (It’s not easy bevelling something that is only .5 mm thick…). All this took some trying and I was only satisfied on the third try.
I stuck the blade in the wind way on to the blue tack. I could adjust position and angle of the new blade. I got a beautiful and satisfying sound almost right away, and spend some fun time voicing the whistle. Chiff, breathiness and purity, volume and timbre all depend to a fair degree on the angle and position of the blade, as I found out. Very small movements can make a big difference.
I played around with it until I was happy, took the blade out again and cut off the excess length that had been useful in voicing. (I wish I could have cut it without taking it aout.) Then I put it back the way I wanted it; a few more tries and I glued it in place (epoxy. I was out of super glue).
If there is interest, I’ll try to get some sound clips up.