The Walton “Mellow D”:
I’ve found a whistle that seems to be a good compromise between an alto and a low “D” whistle. I’m surprised that I haven’t seen any mention of such an instrument on the message board. It has become my latest favorite!
Anyone have experience with the “Mellow D”?
Tim.
The Walton’s Mellow D is mellowER than other suprano D whistles, but it’s still a suprano…
I like these whistles, but they really suck the air right outta yer lungs. 
-brett
This is my favourite outdoor whistle.I’ve converted mine to a big holer for better tone and intonation.They are fairly inconsistant off the shelf and I feel the finger holes are poorly positioned and tuned, but they are definately one of the best inexpensive whistles as far as tone goes which gets even better after the varnish is removed with aceton.Peace, Mike
Mike,
what exactly did you do to improve sound and intonation of your whistle? I feel I would like my Mellow D much better if the intonation wasn’t as bad as it is right now.
Christian
Hi Chris,
for me,whistle tweaking has developed into an artform equal to whistle playing itself.The real fascination with inexpensive whistles is the potential to improve them and I cant think of any other musical instrument that yields to transformation better than a whistle.Someone recently compared a whistle to a `Kit´and I agree…A musical model airplane!Brass is softer than nickel and therefore easier to work with and you could check the C&F links on whistle making/tweaking as a good starting point…all thats required is a good pair of ears,a set of needle files,an alchemist’s heart and a jewellers eye.
Peace, Mike
I have a Mellow D (what a horrible pun, btw) and I like it a lot. Funny, I do play it outdoors alot, too, and also when stumbling through new tunes because it is quite forgiving and doesn’t scold me constantly like my thin-bore cheapies.
I really wish Walton’s would stop putting that silly plasticky stuff all over their whistles…
[ This Message was edited by: Bloomfield on 2001-10-16 09:22 ]
Every Walton’s whistle of the five or six I’ve owned or played had an insufferably sharp bell note. How do you fix THAT with tweaking?
Raymond,
Did you try pulling back the fipple a little to tune it.
Joe
Ray,
If your bell note is still sharp after adjusting the head,a light tinning of electrical solder inside the rim at the end of the tube can help to stabilise the tuning although its a good idea to remove the shelac first as this also has an influence on intonation.Mellow D definately wins the golden turkey award for most out of tune whistle…the bell on mine was Eb and the head was glued on in the wrong position,but what the heck,I love `em anyway! Cheers, Mike 
Ray,
If your bell note is still sharp after adjusting the head,a light tinning of electrical solder inside the rim at the end of the tube can help to stabilise the tuning although its a good idea to remove the shelac first as this also has an influence on intonation.Mellow D definately wins the golden turkey award for most out of tune whistle…the bell on mine was Eb and the head was glued on in the wrong position,but what the heck,I love `em anyway! Cheers, Mike
I ordered a Walton D from Hobgoblin on the net, and got a Mellow D - I didn’t know there was a difference until I saw one in a shop. In fact the first was so badly lacquered (dribbles like on a candle) that they sent me a replacement when I complained (the only time I’ve had a problem with Hobgoblin).
Anyway, I really like the tone, and for my money the best whistle you can get for under £3.50/$5.00; I have both a Nickel & a Brass D.
Was Mellow D supposed to be a pun for melody, or was it just me?
On 2001-10-22 11:02, Martin Milner wrote:
Was Mellow D supposed to be a pun for melody, or was it just me?
It wasn’t just you. Cringe. :roll:
On 2001-10-16 10:25, Raymond wrote:
Every Walton’s whistle of the five or six I’ve owned or played had an insufferably sharp bell note. How do you fix THAT with tweaking?
Had the same problem with my Little Black whistle. Last weekend i ran a few whistles past my tuner, and the LBW was the on most horribly out of tune.
I moved the mouthpiece out until the bell note was in tune, and then had to sharpen all the other notes by filing out the toneholes. Some of them are HUGE now!
But it’s very easy to do with the soft aluminium, and it plays well now, and in tune (though it looks a bit odd with the uneven holes…)
Jeroen
I found it’s easier to just use a Feadog body.