In reading the tutorial thingy on this site, it said that generations are favored the most and are really popular, but have a few problems with sound and tuning and such. and about clares, it said they always come near the top of every poll. so which would you say is superior.
I have one Clare (a D) and two Generations (both Ebs). The Gens both get played regularly…the Clare not at all. I wouldn’t say the Clare is horrible…I just find the sound unappealing (lots of extra “wind” noise).
Now, granted, both my Gens are older instruments (the brass dates from around 1975 and the nickel from around 1985), and the quality control issues seem to be more with the newer instruments, so mine may not be good comparisons.
Redwolf
Listen Pogue; Take a 10 daller bill go to the music store and buy a whistle. Any whistle. Ya got ta play one before your gona know what ya want. No body can play it for ya. Just go buy one. OK…
Tom
Better yet just send my your mailing address.
Tom
I agree–you start with whatever whistle appeals to you for any reason at all: reputation, name, color of the fipple, etc.
Then you buy another, and then another, and another…let’s see, one more wouldn’t hurt…if I sneak it in with the bread my wife’ll never know… uh, sorry, got distracted there for a second. 
To address the original question, I have a two piece Clare and it’s a wonderful whistle. I have about 6 Generatin D’s of various makes, 2 are horrible (or were before tweaking, anyway), 3 are just fine, 1 is truly magnificent. I have an Oak I would cry to have to part with, and an Acorn almost that good. For playing in public and in sessions the Susato D and the VSB D and the Dixon are indespensible…
I’m sure you get the idea.
By the way, I think a really good whistle to start from scratch with is the Acorn. Just my $.02.
Best wishes,
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
First time I’ve seen anyone endorse the Acorn as a starting whistle…
Maybe I’ll get mine out later today and give it a little workout - in between my 20 minute stints with my new Busman!
~Larry
well, I finally got my first whistle!(about 15 minutes ago) I just went down to the local music store and, I got a Green Acorn D, with a black mouthpice. It’s a little under 1 foot long, and I think it sounds awesome. (but what do I know) maybe some Acorn owners can fill me in a little. Its a little hard for me to keep all the holes covered and not having it squeak, but other than that, so far it looks like I will pick it up relatively easily (I hope) I also have 2 more whistles that are in the mail right now, but when I become the best whistle player on earth, it can go down that my very first whistle was an Acorn. 
[ This Message was edited by: Pogue_Mahone on 2003-01-16 16:34 ]
My first whistle also was a green Acorn. It took a couple of days to learn how to keep it from squeaking too much.
I don’t have an Acorn, but the way that I keep my whistle from squeaking is to stop playing it-
“A Whistler Pre-Beginner”
edited because of not working smiley and because I can’t type
[ This Message was edited by: TomB on 2003-01-16 16:47 ]
[ This Message was edited by: TomB on 2003-01-16 16:48 ]
Acorn owners can fill me in a little. Its a little hard for me to keep all the holes covered and not having it squeak, but other than that, so far it looks like I will pick it up relatively easily (I hope) I also have 2 more whistles that are in the mail right now, but when I become the best whistle player on earth, it can go down that my very first whistle was an Acorn. >
Pogue-
Welcome to WHoA! Heh…what part of Arizona do you hail from?
Aodhan
Good choice (to get a whistle NOW).
I was going to suggest, as others have, that you get a few whistles. There’s plenty of time for that. In terms of the way they play, I find the Oak (Acorn’s brother – same mouthpiece, heavier shaft) and the Feadog the extremes, with the Gen leaning toward Acorn and Clare leaning toward Feadog. The Acorn takes very little air and has a pretty pure sound, occasionally with a slight buzz. The Feadog takes a lot of air, and has the consequent breathy sound. If you have a little trouble with the Acorn, you might try a Feadog or Clare next. If you love it, try a Gen.
Also, be sure to look at the tweaking section of the main C&F page. If you find a little buzzing, impure octaves, or other things that seem out of place, try the tweaks described there.
Hi Pogue,Congratulations for making the leap into whistledom -There’s no hope for you now! Now get those Pogues albums out and start playing along -and WATCH OUT SPIDER!!
[ This Message was edited by: kevin m. on 2003-01-16 17:21 ]
On 2003-01-16 01:11, Pogue_Mahone wrote:
In reading the tutorial thingy on this site, it said that generations are favored the most and are really popular, but have a few problems with sound and tuning and such. and about clares, it said they always come near the top of every poll. so which would you say is superior.
Actually Gens and Clares are both good and both cheap. Get both.
You’ll probably want more than one whistle anyhow (and you know you will) so just grab both, and a clarke meg (it’s 3 bucks dude, and they usually sound decent, you can’t beat it) while you’re at it.
A note about the generations: if it sounds raspy (which a lot of them do) or is hard to control the octave jump, try taking extra-fine sandpaper and gently sweeping it across the edge of the blade at an angle. Do this once or twice, test it, then if it’s still icky, do it again. Don’t overdo it or you’ll have to do the whole guitar-pick blade replacement thing which sounds like a pain from the description I’ve seen…
Pogue-
Welcome to WHoA! Heh…what part of Arizona do you hail from?
Aodhan
I hail from Tucson, Arizona. 
hehe..
I’m pretty sure i’m not ready to play along with all my poges cd’s yet, but I have been studying spider a lot lately from his SNL performance. and I do plan on buying a few more whistles not counting the ones already in the mail. sheesh, even though the acorn I just bought only cost me 8.95, i’m probably going to be broke after i’m done with all my whistle shopping!
Both are good; a good generation
beats a good Clare, I think,
but good clares are more common.
The big problem for generations
is quality control–easy to
get one that’s hard to play;
occasionally one is splendid.
well, I am starting to get the hang of it, I even figured out a pogues song, turkish song of the damned (well, figured it out at best, I still butcher it when I play it, but at least its recognizable) but the one thing, on the tutorial on this site, it says to avoid acorns with a certain mouth piece, and I think mine has the mouthpiece that I am supposed to avoid 
but I could be wrong
golly,
some history: I started with a feadog and couldn’t get anything in the second octave w/out squeaks and nightmare caterwauling. Bought a Clarke and fell in love, plus suddenly I could play. Then a few Sweettones. Then a susato or two. Later found was able to play feadog, but still a difficult member of me harem. Sis got me an acorn for christmas (plus me sweetie bought me L.E. McCullough 121 session tunes tutor!!! Now if she would just learn to stomach my incessant practice, eh?), just impatiently bought a Walton, even though I have a shipment coming from whistleshop with a few different waltons (waiting for little black)and an Oak. But for now, me money’s with the Acorn. My favorite for the time being. Don’t know how good for beginner, but you sound happy with it, so go. Welcome to the happy world of WAD. Go try a Clarke now. I would recommend getting thewhistleshop.com on your favorites list now. It will be eventually…
I hail from Tucson, Arizona.
Well, we won’t hold that against you.
Actually, one of the violin players from our group is in school at UofA.
Are you planning to come out to the Renaissance Faire this year? Our group has 4 shows a day, and you could get a chance to talk to Tyler (The fiddler) about sessions, etc. in Tucson (I know there is one, just not sure when/where…azirishmusic.com lists two, but don’t know if they still go or not… http://www.azirishmusic.com/seisiun_tucson.htm )
Welcome to the world of whistling, and hope to meet you soon!
Aodhan
Well, we won’t hold that against you. >
Actually, one of the violin players from our group is in school at UofA.
Are you planning to come out to the Renaissance Faire this year? Our group has 4 shows a day, and you could get a chance to talk to Tyler (The fiddler) about sessions, etc. in Tucson (I know there is one, just not sure when/where…azirishmusic.com lists two, but don’t know if they still go or not… > http://www.azirishmusic.com/seisiun_tucson.htm > )
Welcome to the world of whistling, and hope to meet you soon!
Aodhan
hmm when and where is the renaissance fair? thats something I would definately go to