I have a fedog D which i keep in my bag for emergency whisteling, it must have been been with me about 5 yeas or more, as such, the glue round the head-joint has died making it vaguley tuneable. However, the mouth piece is now too loose on the tube and any tuning corrctions made tend to slide one way or another during playing.
any suggestions on how to thicken the tube or thin the mouthpiece to make it a more snug fit?
A wrapping or two of standard PTFE / Teflon plumber’s tape would do the trick.
ill guve that a go but i have a feeling its too thick
With the point of an Exacto knife, inscribe a spiral incision/groove into the inside of the socket. Reassemble the whistlehead on the tube. It will fit tightly because the knife point will raise the plastic along the groove (if still too loose, inscribe a second spiral). Remove the whistlehead again and remove any loose bits of plastic that have been dislodged. Reassemble the whistle, and you’re ready to go.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Thanks, Jerry!. I had forgotten this old trick (which I think I first heard from you anyway). Will be very useful on an old Gen I just inherited.
PTFE tape is just a very thin film only a few mils micrometers thick, and it compresses to fit the joint. It also has a lubricating effect. And many people have it in their household kit. I’m sure Jerry’s spiral will work. But the tape is non-invasive and easily removable, if you might ever move that whistle head to a different tube. I use it on quite a few of my Feadóg-type whistles. And, of course, Goldie/Overton tunable whistles use PTFE tape by design.
ok thanks guys, two good options here.
its only a fedog, it has sentimental value… if very low, so ill try this tape first then the ingenious plastic spirial trick.
Well …
I’m, sure Guru’s method will work, but it’s unsightly and doesn’t last.
If you expect to swap the whistlehead back and forth between tubes of different diameters, then by all means, use Teflon tape. Otherwise, I can’t buy into the idea that Teflon tape is superior because it’s “noninvasive.” Personally, I hate Teflon tape.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Ah, well there you go, Jerry. A tape hater. I just knew it.
As for unsightly, I find that Teflon-wrapped whistles match my face very nicely …
I do use plumber’s tape (Teflon tape) some of the time, but in this case I was afraid that the cheap plastic in a Generation head might crack from the extra pressure. (Probably unfounded since I know a lot of people do it.)
Anyway, I always have a pen knife and I don’t always have tape. A good trick to know.
Sorry. I wasn’t brought up right. Some things you never get over.
Best wishes,
Jerry
There’s a theory that the smarter a folk band look, the worse they sound. I think the same applies to their instruments, so go the whole way; teflon tape on the inside with just a hint showing and overwrap that cracked head with some electrical insulation tape. And if there’s a power failure or pipe burst at the gig, you’ll find that you can probably fix that too.
Yoink?! How could you? Feadogs are splendid whistles. Feadog nickel D and C are my favourite whistles. They’re amongst the best value there is.
Now go and apologise to your Feadog. 
As for MTG and Jerry’s techniques for securing heads in place… I wouldn’t dare argue with either of 'em, so you might have to go buy another Feadog just so you can use both methods. 
I’ve used the tape for a long time. It doesn’t need to be unsightly as you don’t have to have it sticking out below the head for it to work. The other nice thing about the tape is that; if you find it too thick, you can stretch it on there nice and tight to thin the tape out a bit. Conversely, you can build it up with multiple layers if you have an extremely loose head (dont’ we all!).