I have a $7 Gen Nickel D that wasn’t very good. The notes were unstable and buzzy and noisy. So, I decided to try to tweak it. There was some improvement after I ran the sandpaper (400 grit, couldn’t find finer) through the windway once on each side. But there was still a nasty buzz. So I tried blunting the window a bit, but think I did too much because now it’s worse. I did the sticky tak tweak also, but didn’t notice much difference. So in short, I think I botched it. Oh, well. First try. I tried sanding only the windway with my Feadog which was also a bit noisy, and it is improved, but not still what I think it should sound like.
Soooo, my question about Hoover Whitecaps is this: If I put one on my Gen D tube, will it still sound like a Gen, or will it sound like a Whitecap, or some combination of the two?
It will sound like a Whitecap. Nice, but different from a Gen, and plays differently.
What do you mean, you ran the sandpaper through the windway and dulled the windway? The windway is the tunnel into which you blow on one and and which opens on the window on the other end. What you want to do is clean and slightly dull/reshape the blade, that is, the edge of the slope into the window. Don’t give the whistle up yet. Also, botching a Gen is good, because that way you can cut out the blade entirely and replace it with a piece of plastic, say a guitar pic. Very fun & rewarding.
If dulling the blade achieves little or no result, try reducing the windway by gluing a bit of plastic into it, say a very thin pic, or lamenate, or something.
I knew I wasn’t handy enough to figure this out! I tried to follow the instruction on the main chiffandfipple site. I probably misunderstood what I was supposed to do.
8. Now, some background. Some whistles, especially Generations, are often shipped with extraneous bits of plastic in the mouthpiece. These are bad. You want to remove those. You can hold the mouthpiece up to the light and sometimes can see these. Carefully and gently pass the sandpaper strip through the mouthpiece airway. You DO NOT want to sand away any of the plastic that’s supposed to be there. You’re just cleaning out excess plastic. Turn the strip over and do it again.
That’s why I put it through the windway. Because that says “mouthpiece airway.” Guess I need pictures.
I guess I could keep trying to blunt the airway some; maybe I actually haven’t done enough yet. I’m not brave enough to try replacing the blade, I don’t think.
Oh, well. First try. I tried sanding only the windway with my Feadog which was also a bit noisy, and it is improved, but not still what I think it should sound like.
I tried to follow the instruction on the main chiffandfipple site. I probably misunderstood what I was supposed to do.