Over the weekend, at the St. Louis Tionol, I had the pleasure of meetings Lauri Buchna from the Whistle Shop. We were talking about whistles and the Whistle Shop when I mention that I’m starting to prefer the sound of nickle whistles over any other material type. Lauri gives a smile, and tells me that she has a nickle whistle for sale. So, she pulls out this absolutely beautiful whistle from her bag and offers to let me try it out. I look it over, noticing the Copeland engraving (though not truely realizing what I was holding), thinking that this is probably a bit higher-end than I had been looking for (after all Mr. Burke was going to be there the next day, and I was sure I could buy a fine whistle from him), but throwing caution to the wind I step out into the hall to give this beauty a try.
There’s no words that can express the beautiful sound that flowed easily from this whistle. It was like a host of angles had possessed it, and, in spite of my clumsy fingering, caused a wonderful melody to echo forth. And after playing it I had no doubt that fate had smiled on me by brining this fine intrument into my life. To not buy it at that point, no matter what the price, would have been a sin against nature herself! So I went back to Lauri and asked her to name her price and then paid it (one does not haggle when fate blesses you like this).
Now, you might be asking why on earth would Lauri part with such a thing, but as her heartbreaking story turns out she can not play it because of an allery she has to the brass in the nickle alloy mix. So, with much gratitude to Lauri for letting it go, I am now the (very) proud owner of a Copeland Nickle D whistle. This whislte, like a good woman, has the voice of an angle, and is very forgiving of my mistakes.
That’s my story, just wanted to share with the C&F crew. =)
How do you clean and polish yours? Copeland’s website says to use fine steel
wool (?!?!?) if you want a polished satin look, which sounds great to me, but it
seems like something that could go wrong at any moment if I tried it. How do you
do it?
Congrats Jason; I too have a nickle Copeland soprano D, and it is one of my 3 favorite whistles. I have always used steel wool on all my metal whistles and people faint away at the thought of it. Just remember to use ultra fine, that is 0000, steel wool, and you can rub it down as you please ( I use strokes in one direction the length of the whistle). I then finish with a jeweler’s cloth wipe. Never had a problem and the finish is beautiful, unless you prefer a natural patina. Take care.
I suspect Lauri has a copper allergy, although nickel allergies are not unheard of. I can’t wear sterling silver earrings because of the copper, but have never had problems with my Copeland nickel D. The earrings don’t bother me for a day or so, and the Copeland leaves me so out of breath that I can’t play it for more than half an hour or so at a time, so I suspect I have a mild allergy.
The Copeland D is a fine whistle, not really to my taste though. Now, the low-D, it’s both a fine whistle AND to my taste.
Hey Phil, thanks for the info. Your description makes it sound less destructive than one would think =). Now I just have to find a place to buy the steel wool and jeweler’s cloth.
Clean? Polish? I occasionally wipe down the outside with my flute swab, and I shake out the condensation on the inside. That’s pretty much it! One of these days I do intend to use soap & water on the windway, to help keep clogging to a minimum.
Chas wrote . . .“I suspect Lauri has a copper allergy, although nickel allergies are not unheard of. I can’t wear sterling silver earrings because of the copper, but have never had problems with my Copeland nickel D. The earrings don’t bother me for a day or so, and the Copeland leaves me so out of breath that I can’t play it for more than half an hour or so at a time, so I suspect I have a mild allergy.”
If it’s any interest to you . . .my mom’s allergic to most earring posts and backs because of the combination of alloys, and that includes silver. But a saleslady at a native american store informed her that the silver they use to make the jewlery(out on the reservations) isn’t cut with those allergy-causing alloys, it’s pure silver. Mexican silver has nickel in it. My mom’s worn the native american earrings and has good results with it. Try a pair from a shop, make sure they’re american made. The salespeople should know.
I tried playing harmonica, but kept breaking out with coldsores. Maybe it’s the same kind of allergy.
I have an allergy to nickel. I have to be careful when buying eyeglasses, as the cheaper ones have nickel, and cause me to break out in a rash where it contacts my skin.
I also get it from belt buckles if the finish gets worn/scratched off. Usually what I do is paint them with clear nail polish, but I don’t know how well that would work/look with a nickel whistle.
Mamakash, thanks for the tips. I stick pretty much to gold earrings these days.
Aodhan, I wonder what happens when people who have nickel allergies have surgery. So-called surgical steel is generally 18-8 chromium-nickel stainless. Maybe it’s just a name and not used in surgery at all, but most types of stainless have a significant amount of Ni. Maybe momentary contact isn’t at all harmful, and maybe allergies to stainless are the reason that artificial hips and knees are made from titanium.
I don’t know how well a solid gold whistle would work – whistle walls are thin, and gold is soft. It would probably work with a heavy design like the Copeland (It wouldn’t surprise me if Mike and Jim have experimented). It would also probably work with a lower-purity (like 10k) alloy designed for hardness, but then it might not really sound like gold. I suspect there might be some gold-plate whistles out there. Fred Rose uses gold-plated fittings for his whistles, which are some of the most aesthetically pleasing out there.
