Well, my order came in today from The Whistle Shop. I got a black Sweetone and a brass Feadog - both in D.
I got a chance to play around on a friend’s Generation C and Generation F. The F is too high, and the C seems pretty squeeky-squawky. It’s also kind of hard to get into the second octave. Admittedly I’m brand new.
I like both of these better than the Generations though.
The Sweetone has a nice full, mellow tone. it plays in both octaves pretty easily. I like it quite a bit. My hands are about average/medium and it feels a little small at the tapered end, but not too bad.
The Feadog has a noticeably brighter tone. It sounds more open and “Irish” I guess I’d say. It’s just about as easy to play as the Sweetone though.
These are my first whistles, and I’ve only spent about an hour on my friend’s, so I’m very new to this. I think these two will work well for me for the time being, and they do make for a nice contrast as they sound pretty different. Thanks for the recommendations.
I must say that I’ve always thought that whistles and flutes would be harder to play. But I’m finding that I’m picking up tunes pretty easily. Nothing too complicated, and for some reason Christmas carols just come right out.
Oh, and I love my feadog. It’s one of the few cheap whistles that I play regularly, along with my Clare 2-piece. I never took to my meg (similar to a sweetone, I think) at all. The intonation wasn’t up to par on mine.
Funny - my initial order from the Whistle Shop arrived on Friday, and it also included (among other things) the Sweetone and Feadog in D. I share your impressions of both whistles, but my particular Feadog is not as easy to play as some of my other whistles. It’s much more prone to “breaking”, even in the low octave, and chokes up sometimes - I find I need to be much more careful about breath control with that whistle than a bunch of others. But when it’s on, it’s really nice - very loud, raucous sounding. Lots of fun. The Sweetone is very easy to play, but has a more genteel sound overall.
I’m not ready to give up on Generations yet. I have a Generation C that I bought in Ireland 26 years ago, and it must have been one of the good ones (maybe they were all good back then) - it’s still a joy to play. I got a high G at the same time, and it also plays with no problems.
After having them both for a little while, and since I’ve started actually trying to play some tunes, I’ve noticed that the Feadog is harder to keep from “breaking” as you say.
I still like the sound, and it’s still not too difficult to play - but the Sweetone is noticeably easier all around. I like the tone of them both, and they make a nice contrast to each other.
If you dip the head of the Feadog in very hot tap water (not boiling) for a minute it will soften the glue and expand the plastic a bit so you can twist-pull the head off. This makes the whistle tunable over a small range by pushing or pulling the tube into or out of the head.
If you look into the end of the head that the tube goes into, or into the little ‘window’ on the top of the head, you’ll probably see that there is a little void or hollow under the beak part that goes in your mouth. If you fill that void with a piece of blu-tac or putty about the size of a small pea, and then press it flush and flat with the end of a pen or similar, you should find that it makes the sound a fraction sweeter and slightly reduces the tendency of the sound to break or squawk. With that and the improved breath control that comes with practice, the Feadog becomes unbeatable at its price, and some way above it. Great whistles.
BTW, I think your summing up of the two whistles is spot on.
My Feadog is one of my favorite whistles. It is one of the best of the inexpensive whistles. It does take a while to get used to the proper breath control. Once I learned a little breath control I stopped playing the Sweetone. The Feadog has a sound that is more like what I like. Others may like the Sweetone but personal preference is what it is all about. I have a Generation brass C that is completely untweaked that has a great sound.
Find what you like, learn to play it, and enjoy playing.
I don’t know enough about whistles to recommend any particular type, but I’m glad you’re pleased. 