Greetings fellow tube tooters,
I am the proud owner of a Jerry Freeman tweaked Generation D whistle. I would like to be able to tune it. So is it possible to heat the fipple up in hot water without ruining such a fine instrument?
I humbly thank you, Tin
I would have thought Jerry would have done that for you already?!?!!
Mick
As a rule, when you buy a whistle that has been customized, you shouldn’t try to make alterations yourself - you should contact the person who made or customized it with your concerns. This is especially true with a ‘tweaked’ whistle as it may have already been altered in ways that you don’t quite understand or aren’t familiar with. Jerry Freeman is a really great guy to deal with, and I have little doubt he will contact you as soon as he sees this thread, to find out what your concerns are.
added I was about to log off and I thought perhaps I misunderstood what you are asking. If you are asking “can I soften the plastic to alter the shape of it” then I would say the answer is NO. If you are asking about simply being able to pull the head out slightly to bring it into tune with another instrument or whatever, then you should already be able to do that without heating it. Jerry’s tweak involves removing the head so as Mick said, he’s already done that. If it doesn’t seem to want to go, then try holding just the head in your hand for for a few minutes to warm it slightly then give it a slight, gentle twisting motion as you pull. I’ve been able to remove the head on every mass-produced whistle I’ve had using this technique, without the need for any additional heat or damage to the whistle.
For heaven’s sake … Moving the head on a tunable whistle is not an alteration.
As a rule, Jerry’s Gen heads are not glued on, and the collars are lightly sanded to make them easily movable. If the head seems stuck, use a pair of latex gloves or similar for extra grip, then gently twist the head to move it.
The hot water trick is for melting glue. It should not be necessary in this case (no glue), and runs the risk of damaging the head if done improperly.
please se my edit, I wasn’t sure that was what he meant.
Hmmm, yeah?.. Have you tried this on the Oak whistle?
I have five of 'em and i did try to remove the heads, but it just didn’t work. One of 'em had its head melted a bit and still didn’t came off. Oak’s a bit expensive than the other cheapies so i really don’t wanna push it. And so far, it’s the only mass produced whistle i haven’t beheaded.
Hello fellow celtic aeolian engineers,
I used nitrile gloves and a textured rubber jar opening disk and the fipple of the Freeman Tweaked Gen D came off. Thank you so much for the suggestions. Mr. Freeman answered a personal email I had sent him and he gave me some great suggestions. He seems like a really great guy and I like his work. The little inexpensive whistles are kind of like chunks of clay just waiting to be sculpted into something truly wonderful.
Thanks for all of your help. I have an off the shelf Oak D whistle. I’ll see if I can loosen this puppy.
Tin
That’s interesting. I got one from Whistle & Drum in Jan. or Feb., and its head was not even glued on.
I wonder if they might have changed their gluing policy. My sense of it is that more manufacturers are omitting the glue these days – cost cutting, or have they learned that we’re tweakers?
For the record gentle folks, neither my Gen D Tweak or Oak were glued on. Don’t worry. The Oak whistle package said it was tuneable. In a past job that I had as a prototype technician, my boss at the time told me that things cold weld sometimes that is they get stuck together. He was a material scientist so I think that I experience with my whistles what he was talking about.
Take care, Tin