Opinions on Brass Hoovers

Whistle
1

I’m still in the grip of WhOA since my Dixon and Laughing Whistle haven’t arrived yet. I’d like to hear everyone’s opinions of the Hoover D brass whistles. After all, Christmas is coming up!

What’s the difference between the narrow and traditional bores? Does anyone know of any sound files that use the brass Hoover D?

–Beth

2

Beth,
I received my Hoover Traditional bore just over a week ago.I really like the tone and the wind requirements.The second octive is easily the best of any of my whistles and it is VERY quiet.My only problem is with condensation build up which happens very quickly. The windway is so small that blowing does not work and slinging only seems to remove some of the moisture.I have not yet tried the soap trick.
From what I understand,the narrow bore is a little quieter than the traditional bore.
John

3

Soap trick?

Do you have any recordings?

4

Soap Trick- Coating the windway with a mixture of soap and water to reduce condensation build up.You might want to look at the topic “Copeland Condensation” 7/12/2001 in the archives.
No recordings,I am new to whistling and this forum and it will be a long time before I am ready to even attempt a recording.
John

5

Jet-Dry works very well to avoid condensation. To whoever it was that shared that tip: thanks.

6

That Mr. Hoover’s narrow exists
And is mine (I bought it, yes)
Has made all the difference.
My girl she sleeps so very soundly
Or maybe just is there paging,
Left to her own thoughts
within arms length;
And yet the sweet beautiful
Tone of quiet expanses
Over-rides ‘creative’ ornaments.
Love (she says) is the word
When describing this sound.

I definitely endorse.


-M

7

I have both narrow and traditional bore in D. Both are wonderful whistles and quiet. I prefer my narrow bore. Both have the purest, sweetest tone I have ever encountered in a whistle. They change octaves more easily and evenly than any other whistles I own, which has included Burkes, Cooks and Susatos.
I very much recommend them. I also especially recommend the PVC whistles. The tone is so flute-like on my F you can’t believe it is plastic!

8

I have a traditional bore D from Mack Hoover. It has a beautiful sound, I definitely recommend it. Here’s a link to his sounds page. You can hear the trad bore D there. http://users.acsol.net/~mackh/sound.htm

9

I just got my traditional bore brass Hoover in D last week. I am quite pleased. I agree with the other comments here–delightfully sweet tone, low breath requirements, and condensation problems (I have yet to ‘soap’ the whistle). I’ve only just started fooling with the whistle, but here are some preliminary observations:

  • I’m interested as to why ‘mysusato’ prefers the narrow bore. The trad bore is very quiet as is. It’s the only whistle on which I can play high B and my wife doesn’t grimace.
  • Low D is pretty sensitive. Too much air and it gets a bit shaky. Especially if the windway is wet, and it gets wet easily.
  • The corian fipple looks great.
  • Service from the Whistle Stop was flawless.

I am enjoying the whistle and will definitely consider more Hoover’s in the future.

–Eric

10

On 2001-09-10 06:03, ScottStewart wrote:
I have a traditional bore D from Mack Hoover. It has a beautiful sound, I definitely recommend it. Here’s a link to his sounds page…

I hate to say it Scott, but in the clip of soprano D, many notes sound way out of tune to my ear - mainly the Es and F#s. Which causes me to wonder: is this the whistle? or is its sensitivity to breath so great as to make playing in tune difficult?

Also, with backing and reverb, the clip really doesn’t give me any useful idea of the what the whistle would actually sound like in ordinary playing.

11

My narrow bore is not the most in tune whistle in the drawer, but that doesn’t detract from it’s appeal as far as i’m concerned. I wouldn’t play it with other people, or even along with a cd. But when i do play it, it’s for my ears only, or fingers really, when i’m practicing and for that it’s fine.
jb

12

For those with Hoovers that have some notes out of tune, I have the standard bore and I was having that problem until I pulled the mouthpiece out just a bit and adjusted it back and forth using my tuner until I got the best compromise. Now when it’s out of tune, I’m responsible for that by the way I play.

One of the things I like about the Hoover is its sensitivity. After practicing with the Hoover for a while and then switching to my Silkstone, I’m able to make the Silkstone sound even better. Hope that helps.

13

I love my Hoover traditional bore. It is quieter than my other whistles, but I think the reason it is so easy on the ears is not that it is quieter but that it is so much less shrill. It is sweet sounding. But I don’t think it is exactly in tune - and it is not tuneable. This is okay for playing alone, but I wanted to play duets with a friend (on piano) and it just didn’t work.