I recently bought a few cheap whistles from Thom at the Whistle Shop to try switching the heads and bodies around. By far the best combination was an Oak fipple on a nickle Generation body. I filled in the gap in the mouthpiece with sticky tack and this thing plays wonderfully. It also seems to be reasonably in tune.
Please give me some feedback if anyone else can try this out. Let me know how it works for you or if my little experiment is just a fluke.
Thanks,
Don
That’s interesting because one of my best whistles has turned out to be a Feadog/Oak (fipple/mouthpiece) hybrid.
Regardless of some of the problems reported with Feadogs I accidentally did something to the fipple while tweaking (with the usual cavity filling & blade sharpening) that made it exceptionally good. I then added an Oak body that gave it the full, almost flute-like, sound I wanted. This whistle is so good (clear tone with no buzz on the bell note) that I would even venture to say that it is an inexpensive imitation of some of the higher end whistles. Its only drawback is that the Feadog mouthpiece makes it less “goof proof” (to borrow Loren’s expression) than some of the other cheap whistles. However, it has succesfully cured my WhOa (for D whistles 
).
Don, let me know if you have any success with other hybrids. I have a couple of heads and bodies that I’m willing to experiment with 
Stonewall
[ This Message was edited by: Stonewall on 2002-03-22 13:20 ]
Don, let me know if you have any success with other hybrids. I have a couple of heads and bodies that I’m willing to experiment with
I tried switching my son’s and daughter’s heads awhile back. Questionable success. I don’t recommend it. My wife still hassles me about it and the kids won’t talk to me. (I’ve switched feadog and Generation parts with interesting results. I notice a difference in tone between brass and nickle tubes using the same fipple.)
Tony
Regardless of some of the problems reported with Feadogs I accidentally did something to the fipple while tweaking (with the usual cavity filling & blade sharpening) that made it exceptionally good.
Can you elaborate on the exact nature of this accident?
Regardless of some of the problems reported with Feadogs I accidentally did something to the fipple while tweaking (with the usual cavity filling & blade sharpening) that made it exceptionally good.
Can you elaborate on the exact nature of this accident?
It happened about a year ago on a dark rainy night… No seriously I first tweaked the Feadog (apparently its a MkII fipple) by filling the cavity with orthodontic wax. I then carefully sanded above and below the blade while checking the tone (specifically for a strong bell note with no buzz) every now and then. If I remember correctly I was sanding around the windway exit when I noticed that the buzz was gone. So I just left it there not wanting to push my luck (I had already ruined a Clare mouthpiece earlier).
I called it an accident because I have not been able to duplicate the results yet (mainly because I just havn’t taken the time). However, with Don’s succesful transplant I may just try it again.
I tried switching my son’s and daughter’s heads awhile back. Questionable success. I don’t recommend it. My wife still hassles me about it and the kids won’t talk to me.
I guess its good that I don’t have any kids of my own yet.
Stonewall
[ This Message was edited by: Stonewall on 2002-03-22 18:49 ]