I’ve read the C&F article on this and just want some clarification - and any other tips that may not be there.
I like the Feadog pretty well, but it often seems to sound different. Sometimes it plays easily in the second octave, but I often get squeeks and/or the lower octave leaks into the upper. Granted, I’m still new and learning.
In addition, I wouldn’t mind losing a little of the raspiness. I like the characteristic, but a little less would be good.
So, I need to get some Blu-Tak, putty stuff or whatever from Wal-Mart by the crayons.
I put the mouthpiece in hot water and remove it from the barrel. Next I pull off a pea-sized piece of the putty and put it in the barrel-end, stuffing it under the windway. I need to fill in the entire space directly under the windway exit, and flatten it out - so it looks like there’s a flat putty wall flush with the windway exit.
Am I understanding this correctly?
The putty doesn’t need any kind of adhesive to stay there? Does it ever come loose?
Do I need to do anything else to the ramp or any other part?
To reattach the whistle head, do I just slide it on all the way?
Anything else? I’m not 100% I’m going to do this yet, but considering it.
While you have the head off, check it for any burrs or loose bits of plastic - remove those and (if needed) smooth the area down before putting the head back on.
I normally use the eraser end of a pencil to tamp the blue tack in. If you press it firmly in place, it shouldn’t come out unless you deliberately dig it out again.
This tweak may not remove all the upper-octave rasp from the tone, but it generally reduces it some. And I’ve never seen it make a whistle less playable.
A little cork grease (or just plain chap-stick, which seems to work just as well) on the barrel of the whistle makes it easier to replace or adjust the head.
Feadogs are about my favorite cheap D whistle, BTW - a slightly rough upper octave is characteristic, but with with proper breath control you can vary that quite a bit.
The raspiness will become less if you change the geometry of the soundblade edge even slightly. I don’t understand what’s going on there, something to do with the angle of the bevel on the end of the soundblade, perhaps. You can experiment with gently dulling the soundblade edge using very fine sandpaper (like 300 grit or finer).
And definitely fill under the windway. That helps clean up some of the squawkiness and overall raggedness.
When it has been playing just fine, that is just the way you like it, and then gets a little harsh clean the inside of the tube. It doesn’t like to have anything in the tube. The smallest droplet of water will give it an off sound.
Incidently, I had a Clare here that was giving me a bit of a warbling sound. The bluetack tweak got rid of the warble.
Here is something to try. It is probably a variation on what some others have done with things like a guitar picks. But it is essentially creating a new softer cleaner edge.
Hopefully your Feadog came in a clear vinyl plastic box. If it didn’t you will need to find some clear PVC type vinyl about .010 - .012 inches thick ( 10 –1 2 thousandths on an inch … your standard vinyl box).
This type of vinyl is great because it will hold the crease that you will need to make.
Cut a strip about 1 1/14 inches long and as wide as you need to fit into the fipple widow. It should fit as tight as you can make it without being so tight that it would deform across the width… In other words just snug enough to get it in and out of the windway. At about two thirds of the length make a fold so that you now have some thing that looks like an L or a V.
Fold it tight to make a good grease. Once you have your crease, cut away most of one side to give you just enough to hook the PVC over the blade of the windway. Now press that piece of vinyl into position to form your new blade edge and give it a test. Hopefully, you should find that the sound will be softer and that the second octave less squeaky- squawky.
The nice thing here is that you can experiment until you get something you like. When you are happy with the sound of the whistle and would like to make it a permanent fix, you can apply a little two part (5 minute) Epoxy glue to on the ramp below the blade (not too close to the lip) and then set your new blade into position. You have 5 minutes to test and make any final adjustment. After the glue has set, using an exacto knife, you can cut away any excess that sticks out beyond the ramp of the fipple.
You can experiment by leaving a longer edge on the hook side. I have found that you then also play with the angle of that part that is essentially into the barrel of the whistle. The nice thing is that it is not permanent until you glue down the piece only when you are happy with it.
I have even been able to salvage an over tweaked Feadog where I had sanded too much off the windway. I thought that it was beyond hope and that is when I started experimenting with the hooked vinyl. That one is probably my favorite… not quite a Sindt but still very enjoyable and sweet.
I use the guitar pick way. Just take a thin guitar pick cut it to width and stick it in the windway. The lenght and width can be experimented to create different tones. Try the other things first as this is not easy to do.
Has anyone tried filling the void at the back of the fipple so that it actually extends into the whistle? I mean, instead of making a flat surface, a straight but slanted one that is a little extended at the floor of the fipple.
I have been thinking of going this as an experiment to see if it has a significant effect on the sound. Anyone tried it?
I’m a big Feadog fan, but I’ve not tried that yet. I will do though! I always putty-tweak my Dogs, but after trying a couple of ramp mods I decided that I prefer the character that you get just with the putty. Every time I messed with the sound blade I found I wasn’t so impressed with the ‘tradness’ of the sound (is that a word? etc).
Jason, you asked about replacing the head. Yep just slide it back on there. If you have any Susato slide grease or similar you can put a little on the tube first. Now you have the glue out of the way your whistle is tunable over a limited range by adjusting how far into the head the tube is pushed.
Oh, editing to add: If you find your whistle doesn’t always sound the same… a) if your a newish player it is likely that it is your control and technique that are a little inconsistent, rather than the whistle, and b) try warming the whistle up before playing. The way I do it is to wrap my hands around the tube closing all the holes, then put the whole fipple/head in my mouth and breathe into the whistle until I feel that the tube is warmed through.
Get yourself a Freeman tweaked Feadog, got mine today and it really sings!!! A pure joy to play. Then take of the head and see what he’s done.
What I could see was some Blu-Tak and something that looked like superglue in the windway
I have tried it on some of my LBWs before. Adds breath, takes away volume that is pretty much what it does it also has a slight effect on back pressure.
Well, I haven’t gotten any Blu-Tak yet, but I did try the ramp tweak.
I used .05 mil laminating plastic (don’t know the real name). I also was going to try .10 mil, but it seemed a little too thick to try to get a good crease in. The .05 worked fine.
I had mixed results. From my newbie/inexperienced observations, it seemed that with the added plastic, it was easier to play in the upper register, but harder in the lower register. It was easier to accidentally bump up into the second octave while trying to play the lower.
With the ramp left stock, the lower register was easier to stay in, but I had a harder time holding notes in the second octave without the lower leaking in.
So, I just left the ramp stock. I may get some Blu-Tak this weekend and try that tweak.
BTW, I really noticed a difference after using my hands to warm the whistle up a little before playing.
Congratulations on tweaking your first whistle. I think you’ll be happiest with your blu-tak tweak, but it’s fun trying different things, too.
For Feadog, experience counts a lot! If you don’t appreciate how it plays when you’re a beginner, pick it up again a year or so later, once you have a bit more playing time under your belt. I think Feadog has a few characteristics that make it less beginner friendly than some others out there.
I could not find blu-tac. I did find what looks to be the same thing but it is white. Plasti-tac is sold at hobby lobby and fills the under windway cavity very well.
I tried the new ramp tweak with the box material that my Feadog came with. I hadn’t glued in the new ramp yet as I was trying to decide if my whistle was better with or without the ramp. After playing for a while I decided that my Feadog sounded much better than it did two years ago when I first bought it and that I would definitely glue in the new ramp.
I looked at the whistle window to find out that the ramp had fallen out and the amazing new tweaked whistle I was playing was actually a stock Feadog.
Anyways, the new sound blade that Denis described made the Feadog much more pure and soft sounding and it even seemed to be more sensitive to how I handled it. It worked great but I decided not to glue it in. I like the rough sound of the Feadog now. I have a Burke if I want something pure sounding.
Well, I was able to get the poster putty today and do the tweak.
Basically, it was pretty easy and I’m a happy camper.
It took me three times to get the right size ball of putty, but I did - and got it packed in tight. It’s fairly flat and smooth, and is flush with the end of the windway.
As for play, it’s slightly less raspy (my wife noticed, too), and noticeably easier to play in both the lower and upper registers. I thought it was odd that it would be that noticeable, but it was - unless I just instantly got better. It really seemed almost as easy as my Sweetone to play both octaves.
)
