I am currently a very happy man. I have been looking for a good D whistle for awhile now, but haven’t found one I’m happy with. I own a Waltons brass, a Little Black D (which I sent to someone who needed it more than I did), and a Sweetone. I avoided a Generation because of all the flack they’ve gotten on the board.
Then, in a conversation with Bloomfield, I found out about the Feadog brass in D. I ordered one. My friends, that is the sweetest little whistle! I love it. It’s not too sharp sounding like the Waltons, and it doesn’t squeak like the Sweetones. This is my favorite so far. … so much so, in fact, that I’m considering buying a whistle bag just to protect it.
I couldn’t keep my joy to myself and thought that this post might help the newbies. Kudos to you, Bloomfield. Thank you!!
I have to say though that a green topped Feadog brass in D was the worst whistle I have ever tried. Even worse than a really bad Gen’. Totally unplayable.
It possibly may have been the worst whistle in the Universe.
Congrats mate. The mark 3:s seem’s nice. But I’m a bit surpriced about your opinions on the sweetunes, (Squeaks??), oh well. I just tried out an Alba tunable D by the way, unfortunately it’s not mine, but that must be the sweetest whistle I’ve ever tried. They’ve managed to put the sweet sound of the Shaws, the low air demands of the Oaks and the strenghts of the Susato WB, all in one package.
Oooo! Well I hope to try an Alba in the near future. This Feadog was that sweet just out of the box. Now, don’t pay much mind to my opinion of Sweetones. That’s still a great whistle. I’m sure the squeaking has everything to do with how hard I blow on it.
You’re right! I totally forgot about my Clarke Original! It got flattened by my son. I loved that whistle. I’ll definitely get another one. Thanks for the memory jog!!
I found that the Shawn is like a “Clarke Deluxe”: same shape, wooden plug, better metal. I’ve heard many people complain about them being out of tune, but i actually like mine a lot. It’s reasonably loud too. I’m primarily a flute player, so i’m by nature a blow-hard too. I think these whistles are just different enough from most other whistles that people have a hard time with them.
Have to agree with ya on the Shaw`s glauber. I realy like the sound of my D. It was tweeked by Jerry so I have realy never played one out of the box but it is a dandy whistle. By the way is that you playing a weasel over there in the slow airs section of clips and snips? The tune is: Bruach na Carraige Baine. Realy nice job, for a dog-) Now I want everyone to hop over there and check it out.
FWIW, I think the Feadog can be one of the best of the Generation-type whistles. (I’ve got one like that. ) It can also be one of the worst. (I’ve had ones like that too.)
The Feadogs of the past were frequently lemons, but the last few bunches I’ve bought have been very good. And when tweaked, they are excellent. I take a Feadog everywhere I go. It’s quieter than my Gen, so the higher notes don’t hurt my ears the way the Gen does.
I started out playing out on a Feadog Mark II and i thought it was the best whistle in world world, untill I bought a second better whistle. Feadogs are very nice whistles, the Mark II wasnt any good but the Mark III is excellent. I dont own a mark III but played a couple and really like them. I recently bought a Mark I of ebay because everyone said that they were the best so hope to update you on its quality when i recieve it.
-Andrew Cassidy
I’ve just received a Feadog D which I bought on Ebay and shock horror it’s really good. Even tunable, well the head came off easy enough in my hand without hot water or fire etc.
How do you tell if it’s a a Marki, II, or III though?
Scuse my ignorance! What’s tweaking?
Sarah[/quote]
It’s any combination of “mechanical” fixes to different parts of a whistle to improve its’ playability/sound.
Dr. Jerry, and Bloomfield can give you more specifics.
~Larry[/quote]
OK then, Dr. Jerry and Bloomfriend er.. field ( !) - why should I need to fiddle around and do things to my whistles - yes I have quite a few generations in various keys (blue and red mouthpieces), a set of susato’s, 2 clarke’s originals and a shaw. I got them all this year and have only played them a bit coz I spend more time on my flute(s) - fingering is quite similar to my simple system flute so its not too hard to play although of course I don’t play well yet - but I am now starting to do some ITM with my fiddle playing friend - so am I going to need to tweak? And if I do how do I do it?
My Feadóg has the most firmly affixed head of any whistle ever! Repeated hot water and heaving has not shifted the blasted thing one iota. Any other thoughts..? I am dying to try a Gendóg and am not happy with a whistle unless I can yank it about and FrankenMutate it. [Note: I will mitigate this urge when my untwiddleable Serpents arrive. Heh!] My Feadóg is very good in its own right, though, it doesn’t need tweaking … but … you know how it is.
Cariad, tweaking hints may be found here or tuning tweaks here. There are a few threads about it if you search through the C&F message boards, though not as many as I’d expected when I looked a while back.
No, when you like the sound of your whistles as they are, you don’t. Only your ears and taste can tell you if a whistle might need improvement, not people on an internet discussion board.
, you might want to try a Shawn or Clarke Original.
) It can also be one of the worst. (I’ve had ones like that too.)
!) - why should I need to fiddle around and do things to my whistles - yes I have quite a few generations in various keys (blue and red mouthpieces), a set of susato’s, 2 clarke’s originals and a shaw. I got them all this year and have only played them a bit coz I spend more time on my flute(s) - fingering is quite similar to my simple system flute so its not too hard to play although of course I don’t play well yet - but I am now starting to do some ITM with my fiddle playing friend - so am I going to need to tweak? And if I do how do I do it? 
