Old whistle

Whistle
1

I have an old whistle with the name on it quoted below. I do not know anything about it.

REGd DESIGN 848139
VICEROY
R.M. & CO LTD LONDON

This whistle was in my father family home where he comes from in Co Kerry.

The plastic Whistle Head is cracked and I would like a new one but where can I get new Whistle Head.

It is a wide bore silver grey colour with blue head part and keyed in between C sharp to D major.

2

can yu put a pic on?

3

Mack Hoover is very adept at making whistle heads, you ought to contact him.

4

It’s very unlikely you’ll be able to find another whistlehead like the original.

What part of the whistlehead is cracked? I may be able to repair it for you. Does it play well? If it plays well enough to justify making the repair, I would be willing to do it without charge, just to satisfy my interest in seeing the whistle.

Best wishes,
Jerry

5

I have two ‘Viceroy’ whistles,purchased, for a couple of quid each,via E-Bay.
They are Blue metallic painted soprano ‘D’ whistles with (somewhat chewed!-for a possible reason see below)) red plastic heads.
Apparently these were very commonly used in Irish Schools.
BUT,the most interesting feature of these whistles is the back (octave?) hole!

6

Fergus, if your whistle looks anything like this one then don’t bother with it. It is a way out of tune toy that won’t even play two octaves.

BTW, no hole on the back of this P.O.C.
Fortunately I didn’t pay much for it.

Cheers,
David

7

I bought my two whistles as a lot on E-Bay U.K.,after Dubhlinn identified them as the type of whistles that were used in Irish schools about thirty years ago.
I didn’t expect them to be great players-I was more interested in their ‘Historical’ value ('Irish school type ‘Flutophone/Tonette’?).
I paid about a fiver for both of em.

8

This is the photo of the old tin whistle that I was talking about 4 years ago when I posted it last. The whistle head and body is a lighter colour as the photo shows it a wee bit darker colour.

The original plastic Whistle Head is still cracked and I have not replaced it jet.

The whistle plays well in the both octaves between the pitch of D and C#. (Flat of D and Sharp of C#)

I had the whistle tuned very near to C sharp with the original plastic Whistle Head further out wrapped with plumbers tape/dental foss and then covered with black insulating tape.

What I want is a new longer head that can go further into the whistle body.

All the best

Ferg

9

That head looks very similar but not quite identical to the heads on my 80s era generations; the nickel finish gens came with exactly that shade of blue.

On the gen, the downwhistle end of the fipple protrudes a bit more above the body, and what is a ridge all round the whistle on yours is higher at the fipple and lower everywhere else on a gen. I’d suspect that the bore is standard, however, and the heads are interchangeable.

10

I’m no maker and certainly no expert, but to me that looks like the head is too small for the body.

It’s like someone took a D head and crammed it onto a C body, and split the head in the process.

Jason

11

I took some measurements of the old whistle.

5.5 cm 2.165" head length.
1.7 cm 0.669" How far head goes on the whistle body.
1.587 cm 5/8" body outside dia.
25.2 cm 99.21" body length without head.

All I need is a new head and the whistle body to be cleaned in/outside.

Cheers

Fergus

12

That’s the same as a Gen in Bb, so a cheap and easy option would be to use a head from one of those.

stay Hoopy,
Mike

13

I tried the Gen Bb head peice but the my old whistle body is wider than the inside dia on the Bb Gen head peice.

I took some more measurements using a Electronic Vernier Caliper

The Gen Bb body outside dia is 15.47 mm 0.609"
My old whistle body outside dia is 15.85 mm 0.624"

I sanded out the inside of the Bb Gen head peice a wee bit. I then tried to fit in on the body of the old whistle and it was not easy but very tight fit. The head began to crack.

I gave the whistle a blow with the Bb Gen head and had to cover the crack with black insulating tape to seal the leaks from the crack in the head.

I got the whistle down to Key of “D” but need to fine tune some tone hole by half covering the note hole with tape and give the whistle a good clean.

What is the best thing to use to clean the inside of a old whistle.

Will be come back soon with more news on the whistle repairs.

Cheers

Ferg

14

http://www.gamaliel.com/cart/product.php?productid=71

Or for the frugal or non-shooter, steel wool around a dowel. Cloth around dowel with paste wax to slow down further corrosion.