At different times I’d heard good things about Gary Humphrey’s replacement fipples but never had call to buy one. A few weeks ago Gary posted a topic in this forum showing some very nice pictures of his finished product whistles and gave a link to the website:http://webpages.charter.net/raindog1970/. I visited the website and was impressed enough to put a narrow bore D on order. Gary was very nice and got back to me immediately.
The whistle arrived on the second week and I wasted no time running it through the paces. It was quite obvious on the initial inspection that serious attention to detail was used in the construction of this whistle. This whistle looks like an aerospace grade Generation! The fipple’s constuction is ultra precise on all counts and one of the nicest, cleanest looking fipples on any of my whistles. The black acetal fipple has a nice sharp, defined window and a very thin blade that hardly feels as though it’s parting your lips. The tube is a standard brass very similar to the Generation’s. The holes in the tube are very cleanly drilled and filed with no visual tooling marks.
Now on to the important stuff. The whistle requires the least amount of air of any whistle I’ve played. The logic standing, it is of moderate volume and easily plays and holds strong in the second octave with hardly any back pressure. A pro or con depending on what you like. The sound has the amazing ability to have both a beautiful clarity and pureness with that crucial amount of chiff. Generally, you accept a level of breathiness to aquire a degree of chiff. Not with this whistle, it’s maintains the earthiness without the wind!
I’m very impressed with this whistle as a whole. I’ve already ordered the extra E and Eb tube to accompany the D head. They should arrive this week. I’m very curious to try the wide bore D and see the comparison between the two.
I’ve tried to come up with a list of drawbacks to this whistle which has proved to be a challenge. Anyway, here they are. The F# and G holes are fairly close together and could prove tight for someone with large hands. The volume is moderate and almost identical to my Jerry Tweaked Generation which might be a little soft for a full session. The fipple windway is small and may clog easily. I personally have had no clogging issues. And last but not least, the beautiful whistle didn’t come with a case. (I told you I was having trouble coming up with negatives!).
The bottom line: The Humphrey Narrow Bore D Whistle is a fantastic whistle for a fantastic price ($ 85 + shipping). I have and would put this whistle up against many very high priced and highly respected whistles any day of the week for tone, playability, and general niftyness.
I received mine ten days ago and was plannign a review once the Willie Clancy week is over. Now I’ve been beaten to it, all I can say is I’d take this one over any high end whistle, bar none. It suits me down to the ground and may just match that perfect generation whistle everybody is looking for. It’s perfectly consistent through the range, easy to play and has a beautifully clean octave.
A bunch of wellknown whistlers tried mine last week, once I develop the film I’ll post a picture of a VERY famous one playing it. He loved it so much he wanted one. An endorsement no other whistlemaker has received. Fair play to Gary.
Mine is a narrow bore d in just intonation by the way.
Wow. I got one back a few weeks ago and love the thing. I wondered what other people with more experience would say about it. I definitly intend on adding more Humphreys to my collection. Anyone tried any besides the narrow bore D? I’m thinking a wide bore D would really kick ass if it comes out as good as the narrow.
Over the last month I’ve received two of Gary’s whistles, a C and a narrow bore D. First came the C and I was blown away by its excellence. It sounds just like you always expect a whistle should sound but so often doesn’t. The craftsmanship is obvious in every aspect. It’s a nice looking whistle and also sounds great. After a couple of days of playing it nonstop, I couldn’t stand it any more and ordered the narrow bore D. It turned out to be just as good as the C was. Now I’m saving for a Bb and an A. Keep up the good work, Gary. 
Could everyone please stop ordering Gary’s whistles until I can get a few more on order. 
hmm contact details would be nice I think 
berti
See… I ask you to not order and you want information on ordering! Are you one of my kids in disguise!!! Try this link Ms. Berti: http://webpages.charter.net/raindog1970/
I, too, have been wanting to write something about Gary’s whistles.
I think you mean the mouthpiece as opposed to the blade. The blade is the sound mechanism that cuts the air below the window.
The tube is a standard brass very similar to the Generation’s.
Actually, it is thinner-walled than all the others, which gives is a nicer, more palatable sound and feel. Gary gets the tubing andd makes the whistle bodies himself.
The holes in the tube are very cleanly drilled and filed with no visual tooling marks.
Amen! And they are sanded so as to be smooth for bending and sliding notes.
Ok…the thing that nobody is saying here is that Gary’s whistle head looks almost exactly like a Sindt. I find four (mostly cosmetic) differences. The mouthpiece tube is made of all acetal (no metal, except the pin), the mouth end of the windway is not flattened…it remains curved on the bottom, whereas the Sindt windway (at the mouth end) is flat on the botttom (but curved on the top, anyway), the curve of the mouthpiece is longer on Gary’s whistle, and finally, the blade is smooth rather than having a bunch of machining grooves. Other than this, it is pretty much the same. It should play the same. But it doesn’t quite.
While it is light and sings effortlessly in both octaves (like a Sindt), Gary’s whistle has a tone qulaity that Sindt whistles lack. I have said that I think a Sindt whistle is so pure as to be almost un-musical. It is almost nasal in its purity, and it requires special care in blowing to be played musically. Well, Gary’s whistle does not have that nasal quality. Its sound is pure, but musical. The all acetal head is lighter in weight than the Sindt head, and because of this it is all the more comfortable to hold and play. Also, the thinner-tubing makes it more calm in tone.
in my opinion, Gary’s whistle is a notable improvement on the Sindt and I recommend it wholeheartedly, even to those who want only one whistle.
Jessie, did you mean the fipple is made of all acetal? Because the tube is brass.
My wording was unclear and I have edited it. The mouthpiece tube is all acetal. On a Sindt, the mouthpiece tube is brass, and that’s heavy.
Ah, that makes sense.
Thank God! I could manage to stand this reasonable temptation because I chose off set hole placement on my tube! 
in the thread where Gary announces his revised website I said about the fresh arrival:
it was said so, though not here and I didn’t wantto repeat myself too much.
I will post a bit more tomorrow, there’s jsut a bit of aftermath of the WIllie week to deal with, recording session wit ha pair of US ethnomusicologists today and stuff like that but I have developed the first of the WIllie Clancy films and I will post photograph of Gary whistle being played. Played well and liked well.
Yes, Peter, now I remember. I am glad that you mentioned it.
I don’t agree that it’s an easier blower than the Sindt. In fact, if anything, I find it slightly more forgiving. I do like it (Gary’s) more (than a Sindt).
So do I although the Sindt has it’s uses. I think it should be emphasised that the whistle is a relatively delicate blower (though I think not overly fussy if you have a basic breathcontrol) and people not able to handle a Generation or Oak for that reason won’t get an easy fix here. it’s whistleplayer’s whistle.
I disagree. I don’t find it to be that way. I think anyone with some (not necessarily a lot of) breath control could play it. It is much more forgiving than a Generation type whistle
Please don’t jump me for asking as stupid question But here it goes…
I have a o’Briain tweaked Feadog and a rather good Generation. Although the Generation can be raspy sometimes I way prefer it over the Feadog. Actually what the problem is, is that the Feadog requires soo little air, that I have to hold back my normal breath to get a good tone out of it. The Generation is much easier to play, even though it doens’t have a lot of backpressure. With the Generation I can just play without blowing too hard, but I don’t have to hold back.
Peter mentioned that Gary’s new whistles require little air. Is this the same amount of air that is used playing a Generation? If so … this could be the whistle I’m looking for.
The improved Feadog by O’Briain used to be my favorite whistle. After a few months of playing it I could no longer get a decent bell note out of it under any circumstances. If I put it to my lips and even thought about blowing, it would jump to the high octave. So I switched to Generation and have been very happy ever since. The wind requirement of the Humphrey narrow bore D is very similar to the Generation, in my very humble opinion.
I love the O’Briain, but still haven’t met a decent Generation. I’m considering buying one of the Raindog whistles not because of the breath, but because of the possibility of getting it in just intonation or possibly something even more bizarre. 
For time I have been trying to find the ideal whistle, like everybody else. My image of the whistle and how it should sound is grounded in the music I listened to from the early 1970s onward and the whistle players I have known since that time, Micho Russell, Sean Potts, Mary Bergin, traditional whistle playing on cheap whistles.
Essentially the whistle I was looking for was a good generation but without the scratches and screeches. Over the past few years I have been playing a Sindt when playing out but have found the sound of the whistle somewhat lacking for playing on my own.
Over time I have looked at the options but never quite found what I was looking for. I had looked at Gary Humphrey’s retrofit heads in the past but was somehow not attracted to a whistlemaker who didn’t make the entire whistle. Recently Gary started doing the whole bit. Last month I decided to give take the plunge.
I sent Gary a list of things I wanted out of a whistle, the whats and whatnots and asked him if he thought his would fit the bill. He was very good answering my queries (although without ever saying his whistle was this or that or claiming perfection like some do, which I liked and helped deciding putting in the order). Once I decided to go for the narrow bore D Gary suggested , probably aware of preferences stated on this forum, he could do me a just intonation one. I wasn’t sure a full on just intonation one would be the answer (I think a tune somewhere in between equal temperament and just intonation is probably more suitable) but thinking I already had the equal tempered Sindt it would be a good thing to try and gave the go ahead on that.
There was no wait and the whistle was to be ready in a week. It was and consequently got stuck in customs for over two weeks.
The whistle on it’s eventual arrival was everything described in other reviews above, I won’t go into this any further . It’s a very clean well finished brass tube and a neatly machined black acetal head with a brass pin. The exterior design of the head is very similar to that of the John Sindt’s but the acetal is much (and pleasantly so) lighter than the brass head Sindt employs.
Playing the whistle it struck me immediately Gary had managed to capture the balance between higher and lower notes that I value so much in one of my old generation whistles. The whistle plays as easy as anything, it is highly responsive and has a beautifully clean second octave. The overall sound is extremely consistent through the range. It is a very easy blower and seems not one for the player lacking in breath control, mind you I have no problem with Genrations that others find unplayable so I am mostly guessing in this respect. Jessie may be right it’s more forgiving.
The just intonation worked out fine, the whistle has that added sweetness perfectly suited for the use I make of it i.e. playing Irish traditional music (it will not suit everybody’s use, some of you may be better off with an equal tempered one).
I’ll leave the closer description to the other reviewers but for those seeking the perfect generation, I think this is as close as it gets. An opinion confirmed by the most respected of generation players.
As the whistle arrived two days before the Willie Clancy week there was ample opportunity to give it a good breaking in. I played the whistle in a variety of settings and in a wild array of combinations. I found that although the whistle struck me as a not particularly loud one, I could hear myself play surprisingly well, the whistle blended nicely with other instruments without drowning in the overall sound.
The Willie Clancy week always brings loads of whistle players to town so I took the opportunity to show off the whistle to a few of the whistle players I know. Invariably they were impressed. Getting a ‘Where can I get one, tell him I want one’ from certain players as this whistle did, is as an endorsement as good as they come. I can tell you that much.
