On a whim I just popped my high D Mellow Dog whistle head on an old Generation C tube I had kicking around. Perfect fit, as could be expected. Nice combo if you’ve got the parts I urge you to try it out. ![]()
Hi Latticino
Did the same thing with a Clare head and a Generation body and vice versa (both C whistles). Works really well and gives a nice tone to both.
Ian
Frankengen!
I did the same thing. I actually didn’t care for the sound or playing characteristics of the mellow dog so I did some filing on the blade until I was happy with it, popped it onto a nickel Gen C tube and it has become my go-to C whistle.
Took a Mellowdog D head and popped it onto a Generation Eb body (with some binding and plumbers tape to make it actually fit)
Wouldn’t trade it for any other Eb in the world .
Now look what you’ve done.
Oh, well. Down to the shop to try this. No promises, folks.
Best wishes,
Jerry
As an incorrigible fan of Frankenwhistles (as Jerry knows), I’ve tried larger heads on smaller whistles, and I’ve never been overly pleased with the results. The smaller tube always seems to “choke” the larger head, and the combination is prone to exacerbating the flatness of the 2nd octave.
Part of the genius of the Mellow Dog is in providing a larger D tube to match a C-sized head, avoiding the above problems.
That said … Frankenexperimentation costs nothing, so why not. In this case, as expected, my MDog head + Gen Eb tube produces a blander, more restrained tone than the stock Gen Eb, with more fundamental and less bite. Also the expected intonation problems, which need to be compensated with careful breath control (underblow 1st octave, overblow 2nd). If all that suits your fancy, then go for it.
Thanks, MT. You’ve saved me some work.
It’s got me thinking, a Mellow Dog whistlehead would probably work with a wide bore Eb tonebody. However, to design a new tonebody is several days’ full time work, and I don’t have the bandwidth at present. Eventually, though, I’ll have to try it.
Best wishes,
Jerry
I have an old Hoover whitecap that I’ve tried on various D tubes, (Gen, Clare, maybe others). Nice and OK, but not my favorite.
I popped it onto an unlabeled brass Eb tube I somehow ended up with, and it’s one of my all-time favorite whistles.
I call it Lennon-McCartney syndrome — some are just better than the sum of their parts.
I found much the same thing. My whitecap that was originally on a Hoover D tube now lives on a Gen Eb tube. It’s so good that I have never been tempted to go with anything else.