as an advanced beginner, i do not feel worthy of purchasing a high end whistle yet, but i love my clarke so much i was thinking of getting the tweaked version advertised on the whistleshop site. i was wondering what are the improvements to whistle’s performance from these modifications? (other than the mouthpiece falling out)
Thom Larson’s tweaked Clarkes just sound a lot better than the ones straight from the factory. I would avoid the additional cut–I call it the curb cut–that he is willing to make as part of the tweak, but that is a matter of personal taste.
Thom has been a great source of guidance, information and good value over the years, regardless of the price range you are interested in. His new toll free number is also a great innovation. I was doing business with him for 3 years before we ever spoke. When we finally conversed it was like I was talking to an old friend–which, in fact, I was!!
Have a nice day unless you have made other plans,
Tom D.
Hey, you can have the one I “tweaked” yesterday ~ it now looks like a dog chewed on it!
Mary
I tried this tweak myself. It is amazing what damage an industrial-strength angle grinder can do to a tin whistle!
Hardware overkill aside, the whistle is more comfortable to play with the incut, sanded plug. It does however, sound even breathier than before, which is opposite to what the whistleshop promises on thier version. I am not exactly sure what I did wrong there.
Otherwise it came through the procedure quite well. I use it as my apartment-whistle, because it is quiet and mellow.
Good Luck,
Stef
Thanks for making me feel a whole lot better about the modification I attempted…with a hammer…
My tweaked Clarke is my favourite D. I don’t find it sounding breathier at all. It uses a bit less air, sounds a bit less breathy (in my opinion), feels more comfortable in the mouth, and soars beautifully.
Last week I was asked by someone to play whistle at her wedding. When I asked what she wanted me to play, she said “That skinny black one. It sounds so sweet!” I went on to explain that I meant what SONG to play, but it was interesting to hear that she actually requested this whistle.
Jef
I think they need a WHOA group just for us folks who have NO skills in the usual TWEAKING methods. I appear to be mechanical tweaking challenged. I guess thats why THOM sells PRETWEAKED models. I did mess with the barrel of a Walton and it came out alright, but any experimentation with fipples has turned out terrible. Although a labeled diagram for the various parts of a platic head might help. For example when adjust the window…WHICH SIDE ARE YOU MESSING WITH? When you say BLADE…just WHAT Do you mean…the mouth piece part? When you fill in the chamber…HOW much (when I have attempted this mine always sound like a whistle full of ssssssssssstuff)
HELP THE MECHANICALLY CHALLENGED
I’m not the only one!
I thought I was the only guy here that hadn’t the foggiest idea what is meant by a “blade”. From what I could see, the whistle appears pretty blunt from just about every angle I can view.
I agree that the tweaked Clarke uses less air and sounds less breathy. The airway is smaller so when the plug stays wet for a while it will swell and clog much more than the untweaked. All in all it’s a pretty decent whisstle.