Hi ! I mostly play the Bb gen when at home, and have 4 of them, both pre and post - 80. They all sound well but I’ve heard better sounding exemples. Being a huge fan of this model, I’m consering buying a Freeman modified one.
I already have a Mellowdog I’m not totally satisfied with : although the second octave sounds good and blows easily, I find the bottom notes to be weak. So I ended sticking an unmodified Feadog C top on the Mellowdog tube, which gives back a strong and loud first octave. I know it sounds stupid to buy a tweaked whistle and change the top for an untweaked one, but oddly I prefer it this way ( Freeman’s tube being a good quality one ). Maybe i had a defective Mellowdog ?
So I was wondering how the lower notes of a modified Bb would compare with a stock one ? Of course I saw this vid of John Skelton playing one : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7-IbDBioxY but something tells me this guy would get a good sound out of a hosepipe.
So for those who own both stock and Freeman’ed Bb, how do they compare ? Thanks for replying.
I cant compare exactly, but I got a Feadog C in the mail yesterday for my wife and me to be able to play together, { I already have a Blackbird in C} , and there is a big difference favoring the Freeman BB,
I hear people say here that so & so played a untweaked gen, feadog etc, and Im sure its true, but was it thru a mic, where things could be “softened” / rounded??
Or in a big jam session the “bite” may be what is needed to cut thru. IDK. Maybe Im totally wrong , but it kinda semms like a cheap untweaked {by yourself or expert} is like playing a cheap guitar without getting it set up.
Ive tried some of the tweakings, and Im not Mr Freeman, but the sound can be Improved{to my ears} without much work.
due to WAS I bought a little black whistle last wknd, unhappy with the sound, I tweaked it into a whistle that sound to me better.
ymmv
get a Freeman 
Maybe Im totally wrong
You got that bit right anyway.
ok I have no problem being wrong, but I like proof , not to be a jerk, but to understand, I see very few whistle recordings here , that are live and in person, The Guru has his , and Im sure his aren’t "prettied up w/ reverb etc. and of course they rock, but…
I just want to see & hear it, no offense meant, Im open to learn, and want to , yes I have heard a few guys on YT that can play a Clarke Orig, and it is wonderful, and a Dixon, but not many with the other cheapo"untweaked" plastic fippled models.
Steve
Agreed with Mr.G, totally wrong.
I play untweaked whistles exclusively. Feadog and Generation D, Generations in Eb, C, B, and Bb (I don’t consider the B “tweaking” because I haven’t touched the head, just the body. They play as well as the Bbs they once were). I’ve played tweaked Bb Generations, and they’re not any better than the stock ones. A little different, but not better. Maybe I lucked out with all three Bbs that I’ve bought, but I doubt it.
I play them in sessions big and small, gigs, and at home. There’s always a whistle laying around to be picked up and played, generally a generation, never one that’s tweaked.
I just want to see & hear it,
I put a clip on your $124 Feadóg thread last week (now deleted by the way). That was a joke but probably made the point as well at the same time. Plenty of CDs have been made using untweaked whistles. Concerts are being played on untweaked whistles.
This is a discussion gone over so many times on this forum. Ad Nauseum even. I have gone out to shops several times to buy Generations and Feadógs only to be met with reactions that ‘a microphone rounded the sound’. ‘if you can play like that you will make anything sound good’ and rubbish like that. So as far as I am concerned, that ground has been covered enough times. I don’t see the problem or the need for disbelief.
Nico I listed to the "Be thou my vision " on another page, sounded good , was that the Bb?
Mr Gumby, I am just thinking out loud here, not anything else , I nave no agenda but to learn and absorb.
but, without harm, I still" from my super limited experience", that my freeman tweaked Mellow dog , and my BB sound better and play better than the stock models, I am simply judging that by playing a waltons C out of the box, next to the Blackbird C.
Steve
btw , I didn’t delete the 124 feadog,
I didn’t delete the 124 feadog,
No, I deleted the clip. Did you hear it when it was up?
Did you think the whistle was sounding OK enough ?
man, what do you want me to say?? I am not here to be negative, honestly, but to me it sounded kinda harsh, not trying to be hurtful, or get in a peeing contest, I have NO doubt that you are a MUCH better whistler than I , but I bet your talents would shine brighter on a different whistle,
again, no harm intended, Im answering as diplomatic as I can.
I was away from this forum for a few yrs, and I promised myself , that coming back I would be kind , stay away from the faith topics etc,… I desire to be at peace with all of you, as much as possible.
but I hope that doesn’t mean I have to have to opinion, or ask questions, where else is there to ask and learn??
Steve
man, what do you want me to say??
Just to give your opinion, to get an impression of where you’re coming from, will do fine.
If there is a clip up of me playing that, I’d be surprised… and if there is, it’s very old. I have no idea what whistle I used, sorry.
Well, seeing I bought mine specifically to compare…
Stock is cleaner-sounding, easier-blowing and goes further into the third octave.
Tweaked sounds grainier/dirtier and louder, offers more breath resistance but doesn’t go quite so high (though still plenty high enough). Tweaked tube is also slightly shortened at the bell end to correct a perceived flatness to the bell note.
So quite surprisingly different beasts, but afraid I’m now so completely unconvinced that either’s better than the other that I’m haunted by my two-year-old eBay comment stating ‘clearly better than the standard Generation’. It’s not.
I probably should have kept silent as I don’t have a Freeman or a Tweaked Bb, my exp, being only with the Mellow Dog D and the Blackbird. I also like “some” chiff. but probably gravitate to a flutey ier tone, coming from NA flute world
Pax
Steve
For what it’s worth, I have a “vintage” (with the dimple) Gen Bb, a Freeman Tweaked Bb and a Mack Hoover grey top on a Gen Bb tube. I find I like them all for various tunes. The vintage goes most easily through the upper register, the Hoover is most likable to my ear in the lower register, and the Freeman straddles both registers (I have conscientious objections about third register playing) very nicely… None of them are frightfully expensive, suggest trying them to see which fits your ears best. (Waiting for photoshopped image of a Gen-in-the-ear.)
Best wishes.
Steve
True enough, but with unknown levels of both EQ and compression. Not to mention the microphone. Take a look at the frequency response curves of the most popular microphones. None are flat and most vary with distance and direction. Unless you have two different whistle recorded through the same signal chain you can’t really draw conclusions from a commercial recording.
I don’t have time to do it today, but I’ve been planning on making a set of recordings to demonstrate differences in recording technique makes.
Agreed that in some situations the mic / recording studio matters more than the instrument.
Nonetheless, plenty of whistlers use untweaked whistles in these situations, which contradicts the idea that not tweaking is like not setting up the bridge on a string instrument.
Nonetheless, plenty of whistlers use untweaked whistles in these situations, which contradicts the idea that not tweaking is like not setting up the bridge on a string instrument.
And that was exactly the point.
allegorical hyperbole was intended. like what you like , Ill like what Ill like, cool beans