I just received a new whistle in the mail today. I bought it from the original purchaser, who said he bought it from Nick Metcalf’s website around 2013. I’m still recuperating from oral surgery and was told not to play for a week. I played a tiny little bit, but I’m really trying to be restrained. But from what I can tell, it has a nice tone. Not as froggy as the Howard low D that I have (my playing, not the instrument). It has offset holes, which I think will be helpful, because my hands are not large.
It has a brass mouthpiece, and aluminum body. I don’t think it has an adjustable tuning slide. I can’t get it to move anyway. I know that aluminum tends to seize up. I will reach out to the seller and ask him if that ever moved or if it was built as one piece. I’ve got to say it’s awfully pretty.
ETA. Spoke with the original owner owner, who said that this was not tunable, that at the time this was being made, Nick was not making them with the tuning slide in them. The seam inside is visible, but I’m certainly not gonna go wrestling with it.
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It is a nice-looking whistle! (Though not as nice as the cat!)
I would suspect that it is tuneable, simply because there isn’t much reason to have a brass mid-piece like that without it being a tuning slide. Also, the joins between the brass and aluminium look like they have a gap where it might be able to pull apart. However, definitely contact the seller to confirm before trying anything drastic! Also, maybe reach out to Nick and see what he can tell you?
What I would do in the meantime is shine a flashlight down the bore, and see if you can see a seam on the inside where it looks like it might separate. If it turns out that it is supposed to be tuneable, and that the slide is just stuck, the first thing I would try is trying to twist the two halves apart. If that fails, I’m sure others will be along with better advice on how to separate frozen aluminium & brass.
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Thank you for the reply. I would agree with you about the cat. We’re so lucky to share our world with all the critters.
I sent a message to the seller asking about the tuning slide, and will keep an eye out for nickthepiper–I’ve seen him around here, and I expect this will be my best route for reaching him.
I’ve tried moving it by hand, and it’s not budging, so I’m not going to try anything I might regret.
Looked inside. It has some kind of a seam in there. (Also needs a cleaning–a little bit of what looks like corrosion in there.)
It may be that the original purchaser didn’t access the tuning slide. If so, after 13 years, it may not be something I want to push. Step at a time.
