Hi all, I was wondering if anyone has/plays a Shaw Low D?
I have the high D, which requires as much aspiration as a turbo-charged V8, and I think needs a good tweaking (it gets cold when I play it, so much air is expanding and condensing out the windway!).
I’m thinking of buying a low D (WhOA’s kicked in again), but since I have an Acoustica D flute and fingering that monster is a tough stretch, I thought the Shaw might be easier for ‘reach’?
Searched the fora, but couldn’t seem to find a review of the Shaw low D…
I’m probably the only one on the board that likes the Shaw low D. It has an easy reach and the holes are small, so they are easy to cover. It does take a good bit of air to play, but it can be modified. The windway can be made smaller to require less air. There’s a C&F member around here that does Shaw tweaks to improve playability. See this thread http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=15502. Also, Elderly.com is probably the cheapest place to pick one up. Hope this helps.
I hated the high D when I first bought it. But when I first bought it, about all I could play on my Faedog was “Amazing Grace” (badly I might add).
Now, a couple of months on, and as my playing improves, I do pick the Shaw up from time to time and give it a blow…it seems a lot more responsive than the Clarke’s Original and does have a somewhat unique sound, and I find I actually quite like it…
Ta for the gen on the hole-size and reach of the Low D, too… you’ve confirmed what the ‘advertising’ said about the Shaw in that respect, which is always good to hear.
I LOVE the sound of the Shaw low-D. But I must admit I hardly ever break it out because of the air requirement. It takes more air than the high-D, but not as much more as you might expect. It does reward you with a big, breathy sound, though, so it doesn’t seem like your blowing your brains out for nothing. It does have an easy reach, as pointed out, but the holes are so small it’s hard to feel them with the middle pads of your fingers, i. e., piper’s grip.
In addition to Jerry’s tweaking, there’s also the trick of putting a couple of toothpicks in the windway to narrow it. I haven’t tried it, but someone else might be able to give you a sense of how well it works.
I hated mine. The back of the tube cut my fingers and the mouthpiece made my lips sore. I changed to a DIxon Low D and found the finger stretch better for me.