I’ve decided that I’m not a huge fan of high end whistles. I’ve owned several, but I always end up longing for the traditional whistle sound I grew up listening to.
It’s been years since I owned either (as in mid-90s), but I think I want a generation or a feadog. I see they now have a feadog pro, too, which I’ve never seen nor played.
So…anyone care to comment on the merits of a generation (I like brass FWIW), the standard feadog and the newer feadog pro?
Thanks,
Eric
Feadog pro has a heavyier barrel but I think it is the same head. Maybe the tone is a tad brighter.
Yes, the tube walls of the pro version is thicker. I haven’t noticed any difference between my Feadog pro and the ordinary ones I own. FWIW, I own a nickel Oak in D and it’s absolutely identical to the Feadog pro, with the same thick walls, but it’s cheaper…
I haven’t been lucky with Feadogs in D until now, and had a hard time finding one good sounding Gen in D ( I had to buy 6 before ). In the key of D, my best sounding cheap whistle is a Walton top whose tube I replaced with a Feadog one, which is much better. As for the other keys, i’ve been lucky with C Feadogs ( have 4 of them, all good sounding and loud ), and am partial on Bb Gens ( own 3 ).
If you’re interested in a trad sounding whistle you might also try a Dixon trad which is unexpensive and sounds like the trad, with less chiff though. You can hear samples of these whistles on my soundcloud :
https://soundcloud.com/christophe17
I could also recommend a Hoover white cap on a Feadog body. The price is 30$ for the head.
http://praisewhistlers.org/mackhooverwhistles/
I haven’t tried a Dixon but the price seems reasonable.
My go-to high D right now is a Gen head on a Feadóg pro tube. The Feadóg tube wins hands down, IMO. Much better tuning than the Gen. The Feadóg head that came with the tube had a raspy, harsh tone that I didn’t care for, so I swapped it for the Gen head.
I haven’t tried an Oak D, but I expect I’d like it very much. I love the tone and response of my Oak C head, and the Oak D tube looks like it has identical hole placement to the Feadóg tube.
Can’t comment on the Feadóg pro versus the original, but I doubt a blindfolded listener would tell them apart.
Hi Christophe! I had an oak in the past, and the tuning was great but I just don’t like those nickel bodies…they’re slippery in hot weather compared to a nice, tarnished brass body.
Is the standard feadog brass? I can’t recall. I could go with a Cillian O’Briain tweaked feadog…had one once which I still regret selling.
I also had a Dixon trad, which was a really good whistle, too.
Eric
OK…I went crazy and just bought a brass original feadog and a brass gen via Whistle and Drum. Hard to go wrong when the total, with shipping, is about $25.
Viva la generic whistles! 
Eric
Oak and Feadóg tubes are not identical. Close enough but not identical. They’re both based on the Generation tube with the same hole placement but each of the three has a very slight difference in the bottom two holes.
I don’t feel the Gen tube is inferior to the Feadóg design. I have two Feadóg heads on Gen tubes and they’re nicer for it. Other configurations work well too.
Stanton, Oak C and Oak D are different animals : my Oak C sounds great, and my Oak D sounds raspy, exactly like my Feadog Cs and Ds.
MrG, I still can’t tele anydifference between my feadogs and my Oaks.
In fact, I assume that the Oak whistles ( C and D ) I have are rebranded Feadogs, which doesn’t mean it has always been the case.
Here’s a pic of them all :
http://www.petit-fichier.fr/2013/11/02/tubes
The holes seem similar in size and spacing on both Feadogs and on the Oak, don’t they ?
Similar, yes. As I said:
each of the three has a very slight difference in the bottom two holes.
L to R:
Feadóg, Oak, Generation
Bottom hole on the F is smallest, Oak largest and Gen in between. Second hole on the Gen smallest, Oak in between, Feadóg largest.
MrG, it’s clear that we don’t have the same model of Oak D, for I can absolutely see no difference at all, even " with the eyes of faith " as we say here, between my Ok and my Feadogs, whereas I can clearly see one in yours. Mine is branded Oak Classic, maybe it’s a different design than yours ?
Anyway I still assume mine is a Feadog pro rebranded. In addition to the similarity in tubes, I removed both tops, and am unable to tell now which top was on which tube …
BTW, I can’t make my pics appear directly in the text as you do. Maybe they’re being blocked by the NSA .
Another trial …
petit fichier tubes.jpg
Amen, Brother!
To me there’s nothing like the tone and performance of a really good old Generation or Feadog. When I started playing, actually, the only D whistle that seemed to exist was the Generation, and that’s what everybody played. “Want to play whistle? Well, friend, you need to start searching for the best Generation D you can find!” And it’s a quest that never ends, because you know deep inside that somewhere out there there’s one better than the one you’re playing.
For whatever reason back around 1980 I picked up a Feadog D that’s simply superb, and I’ve yet to play its equal. (Feadogs were only made in D at that time.)
Now the Generation C I got around the same time is a bit better, in fact the best whistle in any key I’ve ever tried, but I’ve never found a Generation D that’s better than that Feadog D.
It’s a bummer though because I’ve tried other people’s Generation D’s and Generation Bb’s that were spectacular but I’ve never come across one… TO HAVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgFfY7ko1ME
About tonehole size/placement, all of my Generations and Feadogs have been carved, so who knows?
MrG, it’s clear that we don’t have the same model of Oak D, for I can absolutely see no difference at all, even " with the eyes of faith " as we say here, between my Ok and my Feadogs, whereas I can clearly see one in yours. Mine is branded Oak Classic, maybe it’s a different design than yours ?
Possibly, I do remember someone suggesting here the Oaks had gone into a licensing deal with Feadóg teo. Mine probably IS a classic Oak from before that time, I bought it maybe 14 or 15 years ago. The Generation is an old (1970s) one too but I don’t think either Generation or Feadóg have changed their tube layout.
I have a nice Gen C, never found a Gen D anywhere near it though. I have a Feadog MK1 that is really nice, it has an Eb Gen tube on it.
My late 70’s Gen in C is also my sweetest sounding whistle, very quiet though. Certainly due to me chewing the tip and thus narrowing the windway, as a young teen…
I am looking at a Mk1 Feadog and a brass Generation tube from sometime in the 1980’s (I think, it doesn’t have the mould-join mark on the head that my older ones do, but the Feadog head was on it for a long time so it may have got switched)
The bottom hole on the Feadog tube is markedly bigger than on the Generation, more like the Oak in Mr Gumby’s photo. Next hole up much as in the photo.
OK, now have a Feadog (just the standard version not the PRO) and a Generation, both in D.
The Gen required shaving off flashing from the molding process that made it totally unplayable and raspy. The Feadog has either a better mold or better quality control, but no flashing needed to be removed.
Both were glued on, so the hot water trick took care of that and they’re set to go. I now have two fine whistles as is, untweaked, with that lovely old school whistle sound.
I’m not sure I’m even going to do the poster putty in the cavity trick…but maybe I eventually will since I can pull that back out.
I couldn’t be happier - both are fine whistles, in tune across the octaves, and each has it’s own unique sound.
Just thought I’d share.
Eric
Just to muddy the waters: I’ve an older Oak that is so badly out of tune (at least when I play it) that I have stuck it in a drawer and conveniently forgotten it is there. I do wonder a bit about consistency with Oak and I suspect other “cheap” brands may have that problem too. Seems to me that one of the advantages of a Freeman tweaked whistle is that you will get a consistent product. I agree that you don’t have to have a “dollar whistle” for any reason (though I play my Copelands most of the time), but I do think that there are issues with getting the Feadog and Gens of a quality; particularly in locations where you may not have much choice.
That said I don’t particularly care for the Feadog Pro I have, but I like my tweaked Gen very well…