Hi,
Can anyone give me advice on unsticking the tuning slide on a high E Overton? I’ve tried the hot water trick, but this thing’s really jammed. Thanks.
These questions are always best asked to the maker of the whistle. Contact Bernard or Colin (whoever signed it) and ask what the best actions would be… or they may possibly even fix the problem for you if you are willing to post it to them.
get a burning hot (soapy water) face towel (wash cloth) wrap it around the coupling only-try not to get the tubing hot ----focus on the coupling-------thats why the towel has to be hot–heat transfer happens fast on aluminium----so localize it on the coupling after about 45 seconds try to pull apart with rubber dish gloves or latex gloves
You may want to put the whistle in the freezer for a while before you do the heating trick. Get the whole thing nice and cold then QUICKLY heat only the FEMALE half of the slide and try to pull it apart. Cold male part shrinks*, hot female part expands–> open tuning slide
*only after I typed it did I realize the way this sounds. really.
You could use a handful of rubberbands to increase your grip on each peice as well.
Make sure you are twisting more than you are pulling.
nice one bro -never tuned in on that one
I’ve had good results by freezing a whistle briefly and then twisting with rubber gloves. It came free easily. The quick change in temperature may have caused the “crud seal” to break loose.
Thanks lads. I’ve been trying the freeze and heat method, but no results so far. The whistle took a tumble off an amp, so I think the slide is cocked a bit rather than just gummed up. I haven’t given up trying, but I think it may have to go back for the pros to do.
Luckilly, the tuning is dead on once warmed up, so it’s really no worse than having a fixed length whistle. Still, I’d like to have the slide back.
Well, I’ve been trying al these tricks but the thing is still stuck tighter than a lichen on a cobblestone. I’ll have to send it back to the shop eventually.
But thanks again everyone.
Hi Tim,
I had the problem you are having and tried EVERYTHING…I thought.
I asked a plumber friend of mine if he had any magic penetrating solution that would free things up. He looked at the whistle and said, “I don’t know about a liquid solution but I’ve got a solution!” He went to his truck and came back with two of these: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=97535-16878-40112. He put one strap wrench handle in a vice and put the body of the whistle in the wrench and tightened the strap. Then he put the other strap wrench around the head and gave it a mighty twist before I could say anything like “Be gentle! Don’t bend anything!” Plumbers are not gentle creatures. Anyway, the thing twisted right off with nothing bent or damaged. He did stabilize things by grabbing the strap wrench with his right hand and the whistle in his left.
Hi Clark,
Thanks for that. I was almost to the point of trying that. I think we get too paranoid about musical instruments. After all, they are built by human hands and there’s nothing magic about them. A tin whistle is just a length of pipe with some holes in it.
I have a suspicion that the pros would do the same thing if I sent it in. You’d faint dead away if you saw some of the things that the ‘techs’ do to your cherished instruments in that secret back room!
I’m going to give that a shot tomorrow, as we have strap wrenches where I work. Thanks.
I think you’re right that we’d be shocked by the methods that instrument builders use.
I’ve read a description of how a whistle maker would go about taking a stuck whistle apart, probably on C&F. All I remember is that it involved a technique (clamping it in a vise?) that I’d be hesitant to use.