I was told in a shop in Dublin that Oak whistles are going out of production. Is this true?
All the best…
I think they’re just moving the production to a different factory. But, I’ve never even so much as seen an Oak whistle, so I don’t know.
I was going to ask Paul Busman to make me an oak whistle.
serpent
This would not surprise me. The Oak is one of those love-em-or-hate-em whistles. I also suspect that the company that makes them has not done very well with the Acorn, although I could be wrong.
Dale
Dale, I find this avatar even more disturbing than the skull one.
I have a D and a C, and I like both of them.
If this is the company that makes whistles that makes yer lips tingle, I think it would be very wise to “re-tool” and “re-name.” Which brings me to a commercial I saw last night.
The weirdly-named toilet paper brand, MD, is changing its name to Angel Soft. They have a commerical on to re-assure you that it will be okay, same product different name… But I never did get that MD bit. I always thought, well, maybe its supposed to give you an image of sterilized or hygiene or something. But I never did see a Doctor holding up a roll in a commerical tho…
Maybe the whistle will come back as ELM or HICKORY or something…I always thought it was a marketing deal to tie in with Oak Publishing Company, who did a lot of folkie instruction-type songbooks in the 70s and beyond. Hey, how about DELRIN whistles??? Naw…
I see no Earthly reason for the Acorn to exist. I didn’t like mine at all-and I like the Oak.
Here’s my 2 cents…
I think Oaks are one the best whistles on the market. They’re not concert whistles in tone, like the Burke or O’Riordan. But Pat O’Riordan once told me that he could not do better than an Oak. I know that Oaks do not have the tone of the O’Riordan. So what does he mean? I think it’s that Oaks have more chiff. They are capable of a nice tone, if you get a nice one. And they play in tune. What more could one ask? And I don’t believe what others say about them being too easily overblown. I have always been able to blow through them with a good amount of air. And I find that they do not squeek, unlike many of my Burkes, which can squeek when I least suspect. Oaks can also play well up into the third octave, and can be tweeked and tuned. And they don’t cost much.
JP
Hi, I was also told in a shop in Dublin that the Oak whistles are going out of production - I presume you went to MacNeill’s too? I was there a few weeks ago & they had some left still. You should snap a few up before they’re all gone!
I think they’re being “replaced” by the Feadóg whistle - a nickel whistle with a black mouthpiece, which is made out of much thicker nickel than the ordinary cheap whistles & coloured Feadógs. You can get these in McCullough Pigotts & also a music shop on Wicklow Street. They cost about 7 Euros.
I bought one of these & the sound can best be described as “grainy”. It’s certainly not as pure in sound as the Oak whistle, but better than a Generation.
Hope this helps,
Dublingirl
I hope the Oak stays…the Oak D is the best inexpensive whistle I have. Playing characteristics and volume are similar to the Burke Al-Pro D only the breath requirements are more exacting.
–James
Sorry. It is my Halloween tribute to the great Tor Johnson. I’ll take it down after All Saints.
Dale
Thank you for clarifying that, Dale.
I thought it was a new picture of Serpent.
Best wishes,
Jerry
I love my Oak D. Heck, until I got my Elfsong, it was my favorite, I still occasionally pull it out and play it. FYI - the numblips thing goes away after about a week if you pull it out of the package and let it sit somewhere to air out, or at least it did with mine.
Plus the numblips issue was solved in production.
During the whole lip numbing (Poison Oak) issue we had a number of months ago, I was working with a rep frm Music Sales Inc who handles Oaks in the U.S. I just emailed her and she said that she was not aware of Oak stopping production.
Hear, hear!!
I, too, have an Oak C and D, and find no problem at all with either whistle.
~Larry
I concur – Oaks are easy to play and sound great (and Acorns are sad little mediocre things). But tuneable???
How the heck do you make an Oak tuneable? I tried the candle thing and melted the mouthpiece – and it still didn’t come loose!
My first whistle ever was a raspy and horrible Oak. It’s a wonder I stuck with the whistle.
Apparently, Tor Johnson got his greatest fame and money not from wrestling or being a movie star, but from the Halloween masks that are his likeness.
I can’t speak for anyone else - but I have fairly recent examples of both the C and D and they are (IMHO) about the best of the cheapies.
It took me a while to adjust to the careful breath control needed for the D, but once I did it became one of my favorites - responsive, easy 2nd octave, good 3rd (not that I play much beyond 3rd octave D without earplugs!), quite pure tone. The C has a less pure tone, but still sounds nice - and is much more tolerant of breath control variations.
Not as good (IMHO) as my Dixons or Serpents, but out of the box the only cheapie I’ve seen of comparable quality is the Walton’s C.