I notice that many people who are looking for a high end whistle specify one that sounds like a good Gen. If I have a good Gen that has that classic sound and is in tune why buy a high end whistle? What do you get with a high end whistle that you don’t get with the good Gen? (Other than to satisfy WhOA)
Ron
Nothing…unless the individually crafted nature of the high-enders is something that’s meaningful to you.
How many Gens do you have to order to find a good one? Or if you just order a Jerry-tweaked one does that take care of it?
I’ve tried/borrowed three different high-end whistles–Sindt, Burke aluminum, and Burke brass, the first two of which are not for me. But one thing I noticed about all of them as opposed to my cheapies is that you can “lean into” them a little and make them “sing” without altering the tone or making them squeak or buzz. Is that true of a good Gen too?
Good Gen. They only take 5 minutes to make and sound great.
Having played the Burkes now for a while, I can honestly say that I don’t like putting plastic in my mouth for one thing. I know, delrin block and all, but the cheapos feel kinda cheap after cruisin on the Burke.
What I DO like about my OBrian Feadog (thanks, D!), is that with a smaller barrel and thinner body, I believe rolls come easier under the fingers for TRAINING yourself, even if the hole is the same size as the Burke. There is also a directness about the way you blow the fipple that truly feels different than the innovative models.
Tuning slides are also rather nice to have if you want to attempt to play with other people.
Gen have the limited choice of keys,in-line hole placement,vaguely sharing the same intonation. These are no problem as long as you want to obey their tradition. But when you feel something by traditionalists undone and being just ‘customary’, you need to get what you cant get with even good Gen. I am personally seeking the way to create something new and beneficial,getting along with ITM(because I am only a Japanese who has a bit different tradition and I dont find it rewarding to mimic their tradition).
Well, at any rate, anything ok as long as I have choices. 
I like the idea of a good Gen, but really have found that they are horribly out of tune. You can take a file to a couple of the holes and improve the intonation somewhat, I have done that, and the improvement was quite noticeable 
.
I also replaced the cheap plastic head with a mid priced “Raindog” head, plays much much better than any Gen head I’ve ever had, the Gen head being either tweaked or untweaked.
Now all I have to do is replace the Gen tube with a Feadog tube (for better intonation yet) and I’ll be through improving my Gen! 
Gen types of whistles (since I prefer Oaks) are tunable with the hot water treatment to the head. If you have a good one, I like their chiffy sound…I couldn’t imagine ever buying a high-ender even after having played a few. Truly, this is an individual choice.
Eric
This seems kind of silly to say, but I have MANY high end whistles (that I wouldn’t part with) and the Jerry Tweaked Gen is the one I pick up most often (next to my Laughing Whistle, I guess)
I agree, it isn’t as in tune as I’d like, with the CD’s I play along with.
But it has that sound I like.
I love my other whistles, too, but I don’t know, I just happen to pick up those particular two the most.
If you like your money, you can save a lot ~ it’s up to you (I have a Whoa habit that’s hard to break 
)
Mary
you’re only a Japanese, and I’m only a boring American of Scot-Anglo descent, but we share an interest in blending old traditions with new ideas…dynamism.
I fully appreciate the joy of owning a hand crafted work of art. I really coveted the Busman Birds Eye Maple D that was offered in the raffle. I accept that as a valid reason for owning a high end whistle.
I can look at a few Gens and pick one out that will play very well. I also like the sound of the Feadog. In fact last night I noticed that my Feadog that I loved had a crack down the center of the ramp. I will try some super glue. Right now it has LBW head on it. I also have an Oak tube that will get a white cap as soon as possible.
My question arose from my observation that many on the board have expressed the opinion that there “good” (tweaked) low ender was as good as any high end whistle that they had played. I have also noted that there are those who have bought high enders and then gotten rid of them because they didn’t live up to their expectations.
A further question is, “Can you play traditional music on a high end whistle?” I notice that many professional players of traditional music play low end whistles and many who play high end whistles stray from traditional.
Ron
Not all of us are after that Gen-type sound. But even if I were, there are several things hand-crafted whistles offer that injection-molded whistles don’t. First is, I like wood. Each wooden whistle has its own personality, its own look, its own feel and some even have they’re own smell (which I like more than the smell of brass). Second, they’re all playable out of the box, which I haven’t found with many inexpensive whistles. Third, they’re available in many more keys. Fourth, there’s a wide variety of different sounds/voices available. Last off the top of my head, they’re available in a variety of volumes.
I’m not knocking mass-produced whistles; I keep a few in my car and play them every day. I don’t play any cheapies in the house, though.
Ron, I think playing ITRAD on a high end whistke is quite common. Many traditional pros play high end whistles. Mary Bergin plays both a Sindt and a Gen as far as I’ve heard. Besides ITRAD is ITRAD on whatever whistle, isn’t it?
Jon
Sure!
For example,I feel as though I listened to the issues of Japanese religion live today without reactionism while I listen to the issues of Celtic religion before Christianity.
Thinner pocketbooks and WhOA? 
I started on a whisle called Fedoga, lost it, switched to a James Galaway, lost that too, to a Generation (got about a half dozen of these lying around to a Clarke original black.
I also have some Burkes, and I played lots of other big name whistles owned by my friends.
The ones that get played most are
High Ron.
I use an altered Generation head on a Polystyrene body that I made myself, and I’m very happy with the results.
I’ve managed to correct the intonation problems and I like the sound.
John S
Ron, the whistle that seems to have been developed specifically to sound like a good Gen is the Sindt. It is the only high-end whistle that I would regard as sounding at all similar.
I’ve never found a Sindt I would regard as anything but good, although reliable witnesses have spotted what they regard as duds. They are solid and durable, which I like, well in tune, and nicely responsive. They don’t need any kind of tweaking. Whether you like them more than, just as well as, or less well than good gens, tweaked and untweaked, is very much your call. Try one and see. I have nearly a full set of Sindts and love them. But I have more than a full set of Gens and love them too.
I play a lot of music other than ITM on whistle and often I want something quite unlike the Gen sound. So I’m really pleased to have a wide range to choose from, even though, in D, I have many more whistles than I really need.
The only way I can get a decent sounding C natural on a Sindt is by half holing. I can’t find any good sounding cross fingering with any combinitation of cross fingering.
C flat or C nat? C flat is B and that sounds just fine.
This is a problem with the Sindt D whistle but not with any of the other keys I use. I myself usually prefer half holing anyway so it isn’t a big problem and It forces me to practice hitting C right on pitch which is good. Unlike some people who prefer half holing, I do cross finger sometimes so I do have to reach for another whistle when I want to do that.
Certainly I should have mentioned this feature as one of the potential drawbacks. But I do think that every choice of whistle involves trade offs and we can’t really guess how others will make them.