Hi all
Having a scrummage through my ‘rejects’ draw this morning I came across a wide bore ‘Irish Made’ whistle. The head shows many characteristics of the newer (?) Waltons alongside it although with a much longer beak. The brass tube is heavily lacquered making it a bit unpleasant to hold. However, on playing it for a while and getting to know the breath requirements of the second octave I found I was enjoying myself. It’s now been removed from the rejects draw so I can spend a bit more time with it.
Is it just a cheap copy? It seems odd that if it is, why the larger bore, shorter tube, different hole placement etc? Any comments appreciated
Thanks
Ah,I did wonder Moof. I’ve heard of them obviously but never actually come across one even though I’ve got a few Waltons in my ‘rejects’ draw. So if it is one of these did Waltons re-badge for other companies do we know? Purely out of interest.
Waltons whistles were originally produced/owned by Soodlums, another publishing company. I have an identical whistle acquired way back when I think it was still a Soodlums product.
So, yes, this is the same as the Waltons “Mellow D” whistle. The reason for the different head is that they use the same bore tube as their C whistle, so this is a C whistle plastic head.
Sorry I’m a bit late Andrew, but I really appreciate this info. I did hope that somebody else might have one of these. Yes, it’s certainly better for airs than jigs🙂.
I have one of these as well (second one in the picture). No name was on it when I won it on Ebay, but I figured out that it was most likely a Walton. It has a lot of wear, so it must have seen a lot of playing time before I got it. I added the putty to the empty space below the windway, and that made an improvement in the tone (to my ears). I like this whistle a lot, and I have quite a few more expensive whistles. Good to see it properly identified.