Help Wanted: The Chiff & Fipple Universe of Tweakology

Whistle
1

I want to begin work on a semi-comprehensive listing of commercially available tweaked whistles. I need help in putting together the listing Once it is up-to-date, I’ll run it in the newsletter and simultaneously put it up as a section of the website. As you reply to this thread, help me remember all the available tweaks. To qualify, the tweaked whistle ought to be regularly available from the tweaker and or other vendors.

Ok.

Jerry Freeman
Shaws
Generations
Cillian O’Briain
Feadog
Thom Larson
Clarke

What else?

I’m going to go ahead and put up a beta/under-contruction webpage at http://www.chiffandfipple.com/tweakedwhistles.html .

Thanks for your help.

By the way, tweakers should feel free to post here. It won’t count as your monthly commercial post.

Thanks!

Dale

2

Jerry also tweaks Sweetones.

3

And Walton Mellow Ds and Feadogs.

How about replacement mouthpieces like from Mack Hoover and Gary Humphrey? Isn’t that a kind of (extreme) tweaking?

4

About a month ago Jerry listed all available tweaked whisltes in a commercial post. He has since gone off tweaking the Walton’s [they were a bit croaky I found], now using the tubes of the Walton with [as far as I remember] a feadog C head.

5

Which should lead to a new chapter beside Tweakology:
Boriskarlofflogy :devil: aka Lore of Frankenwhistles.
Or should one say GM-W ?

6

Jerry is going to give me an updated list this weekend.

I’ve emailed Ralph Sweet because I was thinking he does some.

SOMEBODY, redrills Susato holes.

7

Now, who was it that tweaked flutinas?

8

Speaking of Boris Karloff, Cillian O Briain tweaks both Genration and Feadogs. Mostly they are sold as such but I have seen a batch for sale in which all Feadog D’s and Generation E flats had their heads exchanged. Which worked well but makes them harder to classify I suppose.

9

I don’t think anyone’s mentioned this. I have a Jerry-tweaked Waltons C.

10

I know that Cillian will not be making whistles any longer, but I do not know if he will be tweaking any more though.

11

Just to clarify …

I sell through some of the same retailers as Cillian. Talking shop with two of them who are in close contact with him, I’ve been told that Cillian is stopping production of his low whistles, but he intends to continue production of the Improved Generation/Feadog whistles.

The Jerry tweaked Mellow D’s are something of a puzzle to categorize. I did the first run of them using the stock head on the Mellow D’s, which is a key of C Waltons head on a tube that’s been set up for the key of D to create a wide bore D whistle.

The first run of those whistles, I was happy with, but then as I ordered more, I found that there’s a small casting defect that made too many of the whistleheads unsuitable for the tweak. I’ve since gone to using a Feadog C whistlehead, reconfigured for the voicing I’ve worked out for this whistle.

Eventually, however, I’ll scrap the Waltons tube entirely and have tubes made specifically for that whistle. For now, I’m still calling them “Jerry Freeman Tweaked Mellow D,” since they still have a Mellow D label. However, I’ll have to figure out what to call them after I’ve changed to a different tube. Probably “Jerry Freeman Tweaked Wide D.”

Best wishes,
Jerry

P.S. I’ll post more information about all the whistles soon. Hopefully before the weekend’s up.