I just got a nickle-plated Generation D. It looks lovely, but the upper octave is basically unplayable. The best I can manage are shrill squawks that vaguely resemble the note in question. I’m not very experienced, but I don’t have any problem with my other whistles (5 others, WOAD strikes!), so I’m pretty sure it’s an issue with this whistle.
Does anyone have any suggestions for tweaking my Generation to make it at least somewhat usable? It’s not really worth the trouble to return, and I hate to have it just wasted.
Especially removing the plastic waste from the windway and filling the cavity can make very much difference; I once had a Generation where this didn’t really help though. Then you have to tamper with the labium. I’ve tweaked quite a few whistles to death this way, but I think I just wanted to much then. Experimenting is fun. Or you just follow the instructions of the C&F tweaking guide, that’s safer.
I’m not very experienced, but I don’t have any problem with my other whistles (5 others, WOAD strikes!), so I’m pretty sure it’s an issue with this whistle.
I have yet to meet a Generation that only produces squeaks. They may have ugly, raspy etc octaves, but what you describe may well have it’s cause in gross overblowing.
Impossible to say anything sensible about it without having the whistle at hand though.
My money’s on casting/moulding imperfections. Came across a few gross whistles in the late 90’s that had to be cleaned up and trimmed with an Xacto knife before being playable to any extent.
Right, it’s almost impossible to diagnose these things remotely without examining the whistle and/or seeing and hearing your playing (or at least a good clip).
But here are a few other thoughts, apart from tweaking.
You don’t say what your other whistles are, but are any of them Genoids? (And yes, I just made that up.) That is, if you play a stock Feadóg, Clare, Oak, Waltons etc., do you experience the same problems? If so, then maybe the issue is your ability to handle a standard traditionally voiced whistle, and not the Generation per se.
Have you unglued the Gen whistle head and repositioned it to proper tuning? That’s usually the first step after acquiring a Gen. Whistles can be very sensitive to proper head placement, and even a millimeter or so can make the difference between a sweet and responsive tone and raspiness.
When you say the upper octave is unplayable, do you mean the entire upper octave? If you play, say, an E or G, are those a problem? Or only the upper top-hand notes, A and B and above?
I also have a Feadog, Walton, Walton Little Black, and a Susato Oriole. I can play the D and G scales on these without difficulty.
On my Generation, it sounds fine from lower D through upper D. Then upper E has a small window that sounds kind of OK. Upper F has a tiny window that sounds bad. Upper G has no window I’ve been able to find and sounds terrible.
I haven’t yet tried to break the fipple seal and tune it. I don’t have a great ear for tone, so I’ve been hesitant to try (my Walton still isn’t quite the same after I tried on that one).
Definitely look through the windway and see if there aren’t any extra bits of plastic in there. These would most likely be at the far end of the wind way. Also, check the edge of the ramp for nicks or other irregularities.
Fair enough! By all means then … Check for plastic flashing, adjust the head position, and maybe try the putty tweak, and let us know. Generations are worth the effort.
Well, the Waltons heads are not glued, though they may be tight. So there should be no problem experimenting to find the optimum combination of head position, breath pressure, and tuning for you.
Thanks for all the tips! I’ll get the fipple off and check for problems and generally play around with the various tweaks you all have provided. Hopefully some combination of them will do the trick.
