Today I received a couple more D Generations from The Whistle Shop - a blue top and a green top. I don’t know whether quality control has improved (or maybe Thom checks them out before shipping), but these are both excellent and need no tweaking other than tuning. (They were fairly sharp, and the mouthpieces needed to be pulled out about 5 mm, which is a good thing, because it enables them to be tuned both up and down from standard pitch.) The only practical difference between them is that the green top has a slightly sweeter tone.
Over the last few months I’ve ordered at least seven, of all color fipples, and about half needed tweaking, but there wasn’t a real lemon in the bunch.
Agreed. I recently got a full set of Gens from Thom. I immediatly mentioned on this site how good they seemed to be, but after posting I wondered if I was perhaps in a honeymoon period. It’s been several weeks, and I feel the same way. In future when newbies ask me for a recommneded whistle it’ll be a toss up between the Clarke Original and Generation Folk.
Yes, I got a few inexpensive whistles (from the Whistle Shop) recently, and the two Generations I ordered were among the best. If their quality control in improving, it will greatly diminish the Generation mystique, I fear. (Or perhaps the Whistle Shop weeds out the bad Gens?)
On the subject of recommended inexpensive whistles, I agree with E = Fb. I’d add the Sweetone and the Clare to that list. Between those 4, one has a nice range of sounds, and they all play very nicely and have good quality control.
Micah
typo edit
[ This Message was edited by: Micah on 2002-11-21 19:34 ]
(Or perhaps the Whistle Shop weeds out the bad Gens?)
I got curious and wrote Thom to ask him if he did that and he said he never does, as it would be unfair to his other customers, the ones who would get stuck with the lemons. He just picks one out of the bunch and puts it in the order and sends it out (or seven, in my case). I think the quality control has just taken a huge leap forward. FWIW, the last five Feadogs I’ve ordered have been excellent, also.
This is excellent news. I don’t think this ruins any mystique at all. It’s good to know that if we want to we can stick with the old standards, without worrying about whether we’ll ever find a decent example of one. Hooray for the traditional whistle!
Several months ago, I bought 3 Gen D’s, a redtop, greentop, and bluetop.
All 3 play perfectly well with no tweaking at all, although, as you point out, the shipping position of the fipple makes them quite sharp to A=440.
The bluetop is very chiffy, the redtop is very pure and has that aching, lonely quality I love so much. The greentop is brighter and has some of the elements of both the others. Also on the greentop the cross-fingered C-natural is well in tune, making me wonder if the tube on the greentop isn’t slightly different.
At the same time I got an Oak and an Acorn, both very pleasant surprises. The Oak in particular is just about the nicest inexpensive whistle I’ve ever found.
Best,
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
I have been buying Generations for years, often in two-dozen batches for workshop students. I have rarely found any duds. Most are fine, a few are very good. I have much more difficulty finding Sweetones that don’t play sharp in the upper register, or eventually rust inside, and Waltons that don’t sound full of cotton wool.
I recommend Generations to all my students but also recommend they try before they buy.
As they are so cheap, if you have to buy by mail without having an opportunity to try first - order 3 or 4 and compare.(Not much more than an imported Irish CD) Keep your favourite and give away the others - Xmas is coming!
I dare hardly suggest that the perceived quality improvement of Generations might actually be because some of you guys are becoming better players, better able to handle the whistle’s idiosyncrasies… 
Yeah, I know, I have never really subscribed to the “9 out of 10 Generations are unplayable” theory.
On 2002-11-21 18:12, Micah wrote:
If their quality control in improving, it will greatly diminish the Generation mystique, I fear.
Interesting take! If Generation cranks out better whistles, no need for the search for the elusive good Gen.
Someone had a theory that the green cap “Folk Whistles” were Generation’s attempt at a whistle of more consistent quality.
I’ve never had an unplayable Generation. I’ve never seen a greetop one either.
Why are you good folks buying so many Generation whistles at a time? Are they for classes, giveaways, or do you just like to hoard?
On 2002-11-22 04:55, Martin Milner wrote:
I’ve never had an unplayable Generation. I’ve never seen a greetop one either.Why are you good folks buying so many Generation whistles at a time? Are they for classes, giveaways, or do you just like to hoard?
I like to experiment with tweaking, and it usually involves several whistles at once. Some I ruin, and some really turn out well, and in that case I don’t want to mess with success so I put it aside and grab the next one.
Generation heads of the same colour all exhibit a certain uniqueness as do heads of differing colours.A red fipple sounds different then a blue or green but it also sounds different from another identical red one.The tubes are another matter.The nickel plated brass tubing mostly feature a blue fipple and the thinly laquered brass tubing feature a red or green fipple…the tubes do sound and feel different.Hole placement is more or less identical and slight variations in the brass itself are inevitable but is fairly consistent and slight discrepencys in tube length occur.Anyone claiming to possess a perfectly in tune generation right off the conveyor belt is either a liar,cloth -eared or both..this involves hand tuning which is non existent here.All whistles share a randomness factor and its most likely the sheer volume in numbers of production as the reason why the occasional Gen stands out above the rest and has little to do with fipple colour. Mike