hi, a while ago I posted that I now own overtons, a lowG and an A.
boy, sure is hard to keep the windway from clogging.
These are “cures” that I know of sofar:
-thin layer of chapstick in the windway
-dip in soapy water, let dry
-(always) blow hard
-hold the instrument vertically
-make sure it’s warmed up well enough
Now, can anyone recomend any of these solutions? Haven’t had these kind of problems with my dixons…
thanks for the help
slainte, Amar
[ This Message was edited by: amar on 2002-10-04 19:51 ]
The only thing you really need to do is warm it up well before playing. If you’re the impatient sort. like me, you can speed the process by reversing the whistle, covering the fingerholes and blowing into the bell end.
I don’t have the more usual Goldie Overtons but a do have the original BO. Actually I’ve got nine of them and no serious clogging problems with any. Chuck’s right though—warm them up first. I’m impatient too. I just play badly until they get near room temperature.
Wombat, a very good point you and Chuck have made! I, too, have an Overton, and the solution to any problems to it, as well as any other “high-end” whistle is to warm it up first!!!
On 2002-10-05 18:49, amar wrote:
havent’t got a clue if this makes a difference, but the whistles i’ve got are fairly old and are bernard-made.
As the Bernard-made obsessive around here—anyone got more than 9?—I can’t be absolutely sure as mine are all, I think, recently made. But I’d be really surprised if the older ones were seriously different although I have heard it said that design improved down the years. But really, all you can do is try the suggestion and see for yourself if it works. So long as you don’t do anything silly heating it up—like throwing it on the fire—you can’t do any damage and it should at least go some way towards improving things, even if the older ones had problems the new ones don’t have.
[ This Message was edited by: Wombat on 2002-10-06 12:04 ]
I have three Goldie Overtons, two of them in F, the other in B. There is a fair difference between the F’s in terms of windway size and therefore cloggability. The narrow windway instrument has this amazing sound, but tends to clog, while the wider windway never clogs, but sounds more mellow. The key, I agree is to warm them up and then blow the heck out of them…
I’ve owned probably a dozen or more Overtons now, and the advice given so far just about covers it:
A) Coat the windway with soapy water and let dry.
B) Warm the whistle up before playing
C) Blow on the damn thing like you mean it - Timid tooting simply doesn’t work on an Overton. Think Coltrane, think Davis…Think Clemmons if you gotta, but wail on that whistle like you got something to say, and you’re clogging problems with dissapear brother.
On the issue of how hard you need to blow, on some of mine I agree, blow like Coltrane, on others I don’t feel I need to. Wombats sometimes blow Overtons sensitively but never timidly.
