I needed a high E for a specific recording and so made one from an old Generation Eb. I know people have made them saying cut off between 10 - 14mm from top end and some even from bottom, but this throws the scale out, the intonation is really poor when blown straight as a friend has one all cut from the top. I found an old book in Edinburgh Music Library advising the gaps required for different keys of whistle. For a great E whistle from a Generation Eb, I worked out that you require to take 6mm off the top and 8mm off the bottom. I tested blindly against a tuner so I wouldn’t bend into pitch myself as I wanted an accurate scale over 1.5 octaves. Every note bar the low F# is solid and that low F# is only very fractionally out and that’s because the bottom hole could be only 0.5mm smaller to be perfect. Note: I had a few Ebs from my teaching classes in olden days and took the worst original one and after the conversion, it’s actually a much better playing and sounding whistle. Hope this helps someone as an E in a session could be great for some tunes and the first one I’ve made is relatively warm and not overly shrill even at the top.
I haven’t done the High E thing, but I’ve made a C# out of a Generation C and a B natural out of a Generation Bb.
I didn’t use measurements but did it by ear. The important thing is to chop and carve in the right sequence:
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chop the top so the upper-hand notes, the notes emitting from holes 1, 2, 3, and 4, are in tune to the new key.
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chop the bottom so “bottom D” and “middle D” are in tune to the new key.
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carve out hole 6 to bring “E” up to pitch.
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carve out hole 5 to bring “F#” up to pitch.
In making my Generation B natural and Generation C# only hole 6 and hole 5 needed to be carved, the other holes being good.
I also made a stretched Generation A (long before the Freeman was available) by soldering on a slightly larger tube and cutting all the holes.
All these whistles play perfectly in tune.
