The other day I was at the music shop and they had just one Sweetone left. Now I’ve got a really nice Sindt D, so why I felt compelled to purchase a $6.00 whistle is beyond me. I guess I wanted to see what it was like since so many people here recommend it.
When I got outside, I removed the wrapper and played. And played. I was on the interstate still playing. I picked up my GF and had her drive so I could play some more.
The Sweetone amazed me! It’s not the greatest whistle I’ve ever played, but for $6.00 it’s a treasure!
Just one question…I notice the inside is bare metal. I also remember seeing here that some people’s whistles rust on the inside. Is the Sweetone one of those whistle that can rust and if so, what can I do to prevent it? I want to keep this little gem around a long time.
And I wouldn’t even try to tweak this…it’s really nice just the way it is.
If you’ve found a particularly good-playing Sweetone, I wouldn’t worry about the tube rusting. If it does eventually rust, I would just get another Sweetone (maybe a painted one) and if it doesn’t play as well as the one you just got, put the head from this one on the painted tube.
I belive the painted ones are only painted on the outside Jerry. My Celtic whistle is anyway. If you want to avoid rust “air”, just shake the moisture out after playing it. That should do it. And it’s a good idea not to tweak it. Copeland designed the fipple, he did a good job, and Clarke has not been known to have the Gen. syndrome
Henke, you are correct. The painted ones are only painted on the outside (I have 18 of them here). However, unpainted Sweetones can start to rust around the fingerholes, so a painted one is still an advantage for that reason.
As to whether it’s a good idea not to tweak it, I would agree up to a point.
The sticky tack tweak to fill the cavity under the windway is reversable, and in my experience only improves a whistle. If the bottom two notes are strong and stable, there would be no reason to adjust the blade sharpness. The other tweak I use on Sweetones is too specialized for most people to attempt, so I would leave it at just filling the cavity under the windway.
Yes, Michael Copeland designed a really excellent whistlehead for Sweetones, but there’s still room on most of them for at least modest, and sometimes very definite improvement, in my experience. These are very well made, mass-produced whistleheads – designed, but not individually voiced by Mr. Copeland. I’ve tweaked over 100 of them.
Ah, but you haven’t played one of Jerry’s tweaked Sweetones, or JerryTones, as I like to call them. They are just as good, only better. If you know what I mean.
All but one of the tweaked Sweetones I’ve sold have been the natural tinplate finish, and I’ve been wondering if my customers would begin reporting rust.
Thom at The Whistle Shop says they sell mostly painted ones, and black is the most popular color among adults. Kids like the brightly colored ones. My supplier is temporarily out of the natural tinplate D Sweetones, so I’ve got a batch of black ones for the time being.
I would also mention that there’s some variation from shipment to shipment. The previous 24 I got were consistently better right out of the box than the 50 or so I received before them. And I agree, even untweaked, Sweetones tend to be among the most, if not the most, consistent and playable of the inexpensive whistles.
Best wishes,
Jerry
P.S. Thom tells me he’s almost finished prototyping a production system of tweaks for Generation whistles. He says he’s got it to where the results are consistent enough that he’ll be ready to market them before long. That would be a breakthrough, in my opinion, and something of a coup for Thom. I’ve been able to come up with some really good Generation-type tweaked whistles, but I’ve never been able to get the magic to work predictably enough to make it into a commercial product.
