After the relentless praise hurled at Jerry for his tweaked whistles I’ve been considering getting on of his modded Gens and/or Sweetones (I don’t much like Shaw-style whistles…)
Although the fine people at bigwhistle.co.uk do have descriptions of the whistles I’d be very grateful if some of you existing owners (and Jerry?) could describe for me the differences between the standard versions and the Jerry-tweaked versions of the Gen and Sweetone.
Ta.
My Jerry Tweaked Gen. is a solid whistle all around and I would say it’s the best you can get in that price range. How it compares to a “stock” Gen: the tweaked has even breath requirements and solid tuning in both octaves which is not the case with “most” off the shelf Gen.'s.
I don’t have experience with the tweaked Meg’s.
I don’t think Jerry changes anything about tuning. The higher octave needs more pressure, it has been argued too much by players used to untweaked whistles. You get used to it .
Most important tweak is the voicing, Jerry is better at describing what he’s aiming for, the whistle I have is not of the latest tweaking scheme so it is not all that similar (in playing or voicing) to the ‘old’ generations Jerry is aiming for(it’s overall louder with a more ‘open’ sound, especially the higher notes compared to the old whistles I have), in itself it’s a fine whistle though.
Ta very much chaps.
The problem I have with Gens generally is that I’ve never found a really good D. I have a couple of excellent Eb and a good G and F. I contrived some good Ds by putting the mouthpieces from Eb whistles on the D tubes, but they’re still not as reliable or solid as my blu-tacked Feadogs.
All the D Gens I’ve had (apart from an old all-metal vintage one I bought a year or so ago) have squeaked and rasped quite badly. I’ll definitely get a JerryGen from Bigwhistle.co.uk (a brilliant, efficient store for those who haven’t used them).
Can anyone gimme a clue about what to expect from the Jerry Sweetone compared to factory issue?
I apologize for taking so long to reply to this thread. It’s been a busy couple of days, what with the disappearing ink crisis and all.
My intention with the tweaked Generations is to duplicate the voicing of vintage, pre-1980’s Generations as closely as possible while at the same time reducing the tendency of the whistles to buzz, rattle and squawk. In the process of cleaning up the tendency to buzz, rattle and squawk, some characteristics do change compared to off the shelf, factory run whistles, and this is why Peter reports that they are a little louder and more open sounding than the factory run whistles.
Basically, when I tweak them, the whistle becomes more efficient. There’s less turbulence in the windsheet, less wasted air, more of the energy of the windsheet is converted to music, so what you hear is that somewhat louder, more open sound with less buzz, rattle and squawk.
Most of the people who purchase these whistles, whether advanced players or beginners, are looking for Generations that are less temperamental to play than the factory run whistles, even though Peter and others, especially in Ireland where many begin the whistle at an early age, find untweaked Generations not difficult at all.
Compared to currently manufactured Generations, my tweaked Generations are somewhat sweeter/purer voiced. In this aspect of voicing, they are as close to the pre-1980’s Generations as I can make them, and players who own or have owned pre-1980’s Generations have expressed satisfaction with the result. (In fact, I developed this voicing in response to a request by one such whistler, who sent me his 1978 Generation to match as closely as possible). Currently manufactured Generations are somewhat huskier/more complex/edgier than pre-1980’s Generations or my tweaked Generations.
Best wishes,
Jerry
My tweaked Sweetones have a somewhat more focused timbre, are somewhat less breathy and more responsive to nuanced playing, as the linkage between breath and the output of the whistle is more direct.
The overall difference in timbre is that the tweaked Sweetones tend to come off as somewhat richer sounding and more responsive playing. They retain the general voicing character of Sweetone whistles, however, so if you like the sound of Sweetones generally, but would like a better one, a tweaked Sweetone should suit. However, if the sound of Sweetones doesn’t appeal to you, you’ll probably not care for a tweaked one either.
Best wishes,
Jerry