Hi. I recently was asked by the people that make Feadogs to try out their product, which, now includes a “Pro” model in D. As part of trying to help them evaluate their product, I want to ask people what experience they’ve had in playing any recently purchased Feadog whistles. Say, in the last 6 months. Post your comments here if you have any.
Take care,
Dale
What’s a feadog? Do you mean feadóg? 
right now my Feadóg is the only whistle i regularly play… this is after spending hundreds of dollars on whistles in the past six months or so, including some high-enders. i bought it within the last two months.
i love the tone, i did the blu-tack tweak but not really anything else, and i suspect that wasn’t even necessary. maybe it’s just the one Feadóg i play, but every other whistle i’ve tried really has the high B pop out at you and it seems like i’m able to control the Feadóg better than any of the rest. it also plays well loud or soft, and i did i say i love the reedy tone? at first i thought it was a bit too raspy but that has largely disappeared as i’ve learned its particular idiosyncracies.
it does seem to need me to vent the second octave d to get a good tone on that note, so i need to back up and re-work some tunes, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
so, i really like mine 
While I have an older Feadog that is one of my favorites, as well as an O Briain “improved” Feadog that is wonderful, the ones I’ve purchased in recent years have been disappointing. They have a gravelly, airy sound that I find unpleasant. I think the last time I purchased one was about a year ago, however, so I’m open to the possibility that they might have improved.
Redwolf
Have they changed them in the last 6 months?
Sorry I can’t help. I bought mine a year ago. It was horrid–very raspy and squawky. Self-tweaking didn’t quite bring it up to par, but a Hoover Whitecap made it great, so the tube is good. (As with most half-inch tubes, the 0XXOOO C-nat is a bit off, but OXXXOX is fine.)
The major problem with mine seems to have been the large hollow space at the base of the windway. I understand that might be required to avoid shrinkage problems with molded mouthpieces. Did they change that in the “Pro”?
Who’s stocking the new pro models? My best favorite cheap whistle is a feadog, but I think it’s over six months old.
It’s brass, too. So I guess it aint the pro.
mine is brass too. the head is green and less bulky than any Gen or Walton’s i have. i bought it recently but who knows how long it’d been sitting in stock (i got it from the Whistle Shop).
That sounds like the M3.
Only thing I can find about the pro is at Shanna Quay, and no picture. Hate to order stuff from overseas. One little eight dollar whistle can cost near three times that after monetary convertion and shipping and such.
Only thing they say about it is that it is double nickle with a black head. I got a C with a black head. Just another feadog as far as I could tell.
I have the older brass model. My only complaint is the fipple split right down the center of the windway. I super glued it back and it plays fine. I would love to try the Pro model though.
Ron
I’ll second the “What’s Changed?”
I bought mine a couple of years back, in the Cork airport shop - hardly a music specialist. But I may have been lucky - they are in-tune, and easy to play across their full range. Never even felt the need to tweak them.
They do have a bit of rasp to their voice, but - unless you’re playing mostly slow airs - that may be an asset. When I first started playing, I didn’t really like the sound, but they’ve grown on me. Probably my favorite cheap D whistles (I think Sweetones are better for beginners, but I’ll take a Feadog, thanks).
So - except for the Pro model, what are they doing differently these days?
I was sent some Feadog’s to review recently:
http://www.tinwhistler.com/music/reviews/feadog/index.htm
I did the review May, 2004. A little over 6 months ago, but not by much.
According to the guy I talked to, they are on the Mark III version of the whistle, and have been since 2001. I don’t know if they’re on a ‘mark 4’ but I don’t think so. It’s my understanding that the “Pro” version is a heavier-feeling nickel plated feadog with a black mouthpiece. In was very nearly identical in playing characteristics to the normal feadog.
I thougth they were quite nice if you like that traditional generation-type-whistle sound.
I would say the Feadog is my second favorite low ender next to a Sweetone but I really don’t like it that much also after I got my Alba it was like wow this is the best whistle I have ever played although it takes a lot of air and the high b pops out. I would be interested in this Pro Model.
I thought the Feadog nickel pro was almost identical to the Oak nickel. I’d love to see a Feadog brass pro! The tone of the Feadog is very reedy and not very pleasant to listen to, I think because of the mouthpiece and the narrow windway! The old model Feadog from years ago has a much more mellow tone.
I use my Feadog more than any other D (had it for 3 years), even though I own lots of high enders. I fail to understand the Feadog company’s question here…if they have a new version, why not either just market it, and we’ll all be interested in trying the new one, or send some of us the new version, like they did for Wanderer, and let us try the new one. But in any case, they should mark them as being distinct from earlier versions, to avoid confusion.
The second whistle i ever bought was a feadog black D
since then i have bought some 30 other assorted whistles,
yet for session play or gig i still almost always go back to my feadog,
its an easy player, i felt it did need the cleanup and blutack tweak for my liking however,
within a mix of other instruments it stands out, it is not overly pure perhaps a little rough around the edges in sound, but i like it,
and over the years the better i get as a musician the better the feadog responds,
go figure huh
i could have saved a small fortune from the beginning,
feadog’s rock
recent purchases have been just as good,
i honestly believe its a matter of knowing a whistle and its limitations then adapting your playing to suit
for what its worth
regards
David
Well, they did come out with the M1, M2, and M3. Doesn’t sound like they are too adverse to trying a new mold now and then. My favorite cheap whistle by far has been an M3 feadog I tweaked a few months back. I’d be more than happy to pay four times what they are asking now if they’d all come out of the factory that way. It’s got to be at least half way possible. It IS plastic. We put men on the moon, like, 35 years or so ago?
Look at a Coke can! Every one perfect! No smudges! No smears! For 50 cents a can! Look at disposible lighters! Big Macs! Condoms! All cheap! With an almost 100 percent perfection rate!
But none of them sound all that good.
I still think it has to do with the limitations of the molding process. In particular, you can’t have a big thick chunk of plastic, due to shrinkage problems, so they’ve made the outside the shape you’d expect, but they’ve left the part “behind” the window hollow–and we have to fill it with blue tac.
Wonder if I can do some ASCII art. (It looks a little flaky, but maybe it’s worth a shot.)
Instead of having a nice curve on the outside and a hollow spot on the inside, like this,
^
| ___________|
| __/
| __/
| __/
|___________________/
maybe they could make the hollow spot on the outside, so that the inside would be more like this.
^
| |
| |
| |
| |
||
(The ^ marks the edge of the window opposite the blade.)
There could be a couple of sloping walls going up on either side of the bottom, just to make it look all streamlined, I suppose.
Does this make any sense at all?
If the casting process is just naturally messy, cleaning up hanging chads and such may be more of an economic problem. I don’t know anything about that.
Other manufacturers manage to have more consistency than Feadog, though. You don’t hear a lot of complaints about Oaks (sound-wise, anyway) or Sweetones. And you may love Waltons or hate them, but they don’t seem to have the consistency problems Feadog has had.
Redwolf
Except from me, apparently. Mine was no better than my Feadog, but was also saved by a Hoover Whitecap.
So far, I haven’t had much luck with the real cheapies. That’s why I’m convinced that spending a little more is definitely worth it–especially for a beginner who might get discouraged, not knowing that a lot of the problem is actually with the whistle. There are some excellent medium-priced whistles out there, in the $35-$95 range. I love my Jerry-tweaked Generation, the Hoovers, and the Syn aluminum, and from what I’ve read here, I’m confident that the Humphreys and Albas are also great. (Of course, I love the more expensive ones, too, but you can do mighty well for under $100.)
For me, one of the other advantage of whistles from individual makers is that they’ve all been such a pleasure to deal with–at least so far. 
i’ve gotta say, though, that the last couple of whistles i purchased really made me take a step back and think about this whole high-end (or even medium-end) whistle thing.
i got two Feadógs and an Acorn. the Feadógs i already mentioned, but it occurred to me one night while playing the Acorn that it reminded me a lot of the Burke narrow bore that i’d spent $130 on.
now there’s no disputing that the Burke is a nicer whistle than the Acorn – professionally hand-made, better looking, stronger bottom end, etc – but is it 15 times nicer than the Acorn? i gotta think long and hard about that one.
around the same time, i bought a used Overton soprano D, because of the raves on the board, Bloomfield and everybody… and i hear Brian Finnegan playing one and it sounds great. so i got the whistle, and it does indeed sound great… and loud – really loud – as in “when am i really going to need to play a whistle this loud?” loud…
it was at that moment i decided that my quest for high-end whistles had come to an end. as Peter has mentioned before numerous times, most of the best players in Ireland play cheap whistles off the shelf… when i got the Feadógs, i could hear their potential and i also heard the raspiness… as i played them more, the raspiness went away, or rather i learned to control it.
to paraphrase Johnny Rotten, i had problems, the problem was me. now all i really play is the Feadóg, except for the Q1 (which i bought used) as a change of pace.
not criticizing or casting aspersions on anyone, just telling my own story.