Hi guys,
I just acquired a used generation Bb, which I love, but for one thing. The Eb in the second octave is fairly rough, but it’s the only note that is at all. The rest are lovely and clear. This seems odd to me, and I’m wondering if it can be related to a fairly large dent in the side of the thing down between the last two holes. Can something like that disrupt the airflow enough to ruin just one note? I can’t figure out how to get the dent out without destroying the roundness of the tube, but if it’s causing this problem it might be worth trying.
Before attacking the dent, I would spend quite a lot of time playing the whistle. I find they sound quite a lot better after a time.
But to deal with the dent - a length of wooden dowel, just small enough in diameter to push up the barrel, might at least reduce the dentiness of the dent…?
Constrictions in the bore can have an effect on tuning and strength. I’ve not experimented with constrictions at that particular area on a tube. So I can’t say for sure if it would only effect the second octave Eb. But there is some sense in postulating that it might effect that note since that is vented first by BH2 (bottom hand, second hole) but may also be supported by the bore slightly below the hole. How close is the dent to BH2?
Sackbut has the right advice for a repair. It’s best to use a hard wood dowel not something softer, nylon or delrin would be a better choice. One with a tapered or rounded end works best. Aluminum knitting needles have been discussed as a dent repair mandrels here as well. Finding the right size for the Bb whistle might be a challenge.
If you are friendly with a brass instrument repair technician, they can do the job nicely but I fear a repair would cost more than a new Bb whistle. Here’s how they might go about fixing a dent.
I guess this depends on what would qualify as a “fairly large” dent.
A dent between the bottom two toneholes is standard on a significant percentage of Generations because of the way they’re packed in the box. They come in boxes of ten, two layers of five, alternating which direction the whistlehead end is placed. That places the sharp ridge of the adjacent whistlehead against the bottom of the tube, between the bottom two notes, of the next whistle, and that ridge can make a dent. I’ve never found that dent to make any difference in the whistle.
You might try filling under the windway to see if that clears up the ragged note. That note, and the notes below it in the second register, tend to clear up when some tweaking is done. It’s one of the things I check to determine if I have everything working the way I want before sending a tweaked whistle out to a customer.
