I’m going to place an order with the whistle shop, and I have some questions. I know I want a high F whistle and I know I want an Oak.
Questions -
Is the Susato VSB Kildare F or the Generation F a better choice? The generation F can be had for $15 cheaper, but if there’s a big chance it’ll be a lemon I don’t want to risk it.
Is the Oak C or Oak D better, or are they about the same? I am leaning toward C, but I have a Meg C that I don’t really like and I’m not sure if it’s the Meg part or the C part I don’t like.
Waltons Nickel C - does anybody have it, and how do you like it compared to other whistles, and to other C whistles specifically?
Hey Cranberry the Gen F is a must if you want an F. Mine, which is the brass one is truely a nice whistle. I tweeked it of course but I would hold it up against any other F. Very clear tone so it doesn`t hert your ears in the secound octive. I think you would be very happy with it.
I have two Generation F’s, one brass and one nickel. They’re both pretty good, but the oxxooo c-natural (or whatever note that is on an F whistle) seems worse on the F than on other Generations I’ve tried. I bought them for my daughters to play since they’re a more manageable size.
The Susato’s probably fine too but the highest I’ve played was an Eb.
I only have the Oak in D and I like it a lot. It took me three tries to get a good sounding one though. Then I tweaked it. Plus it seems to get better with use
I had an Oak D which, after tweaking, was a good playing/sounding instrument. I gave it away because, for that type of whistle, I enjoy more the O’Briain Improved D, which is slightly less problematic in the lower register. I must say, however, that the tone of the Oak D has a unique quality which I would describe as almost mystical/spiritual. If you don’t mind “holding back” (as opposed to “leaning into”), you might like it. I’ve never played an Oak C.
I’ve owned 3 gen Fs and all have been servicable whistles. The only objection I have is that there’s something wrong with their molding process that leaves a weak “seam” in the exact same spot on all the mouthpieces that will begin to split after about 8 months or so. You can usually stop it with some superglue, but it’s still a nuiscance. But then, they’re cheap enough to buy a new one. I think the Fs are the only generation key where they are consistently playable, or so I’ve heard…
Second attempt at this - my browser died first time 'round.
Cranberry, I have a Meg C and don’t much like it - the D hole is a LONG way from the E hole and is small, hard to find, and much harder to seal reliably than the D hole on my Generation Bb (“D hole” == “lowest hole”)
I can’t speak for the Nickel version, but I have a Walton’s Brass C that is one of my favorite whistles - nice tone, well balanced across the octaves, and a pleasure to play - though I love it for airs, it is responsive enough to handle fast tunes without difficulty. They’re very inexpensive - give a Walton’s C a try before writing off C whistles.
Re F whistles - Generations are cheap, and I love my Generation Eb - the F version has a good chance at being a wonderful whistle. But you may have a hand-size issue with any F whistle - I didn’t buy one because the Eb is about as small as I can comfortably finger (I have medium-sized hands for a man - broad palms, but slender fingers). The spacing is about the same as for a Sopranino recorder (also in F) - though I have one, I never play it because my hands don’t fit.
Now a LOW F might be nice - F Alto recorders have (IMHO) the nicest voices of that family - big enough to be mellow, small enough to be responsive.
I’ve got a low D coming (birthday present from my wife) but I am tempted to get either an A or low F next. Both Susato and Dixon have reasonably priced whistles in this size range, so I probably won’t hold out too long . . .
On most of the Gens I’ve had, the head fits extremely tight on the tube. Get the mouthpiece off (somehow) and slightly reduce the diameter of the tube where the mouthpiece goes (with sandpaper). This will reduce the stress on the mouthpiece as well as make the whistle somewhat tunable.
Cranberry, I have a Meg C and don’t much like it - the D hole is a LONG way from the E hole and is small, hard to find, and much harder to seal reliably than the D hole on my Generation Bb (“D hole” == “lowest hole”)
I can’t speak for the Nickel version, but I have a Walton’s Brass C that is one of my favorite whistles - nice tone, well balanced across the octaves, and a pleasure to play - though I love it for airs, it is responsive enough to handle fast tunes without difficulty. They’re very inexpensive - give a Walton’s C a try before writing off C whistles.
My Meg C is the exact same way. The D hole is 5 miles away. There’s something about the sound that I just don’t like, and I think it might be because it’s a Meg, not because it’s C. So I’m going to try a couple more Cs, probably.
Re F whistles - Generations are cheap, and I love my Generation Eb - the F version has a good chance at being a wonderful whistle. But you may have a hand-size issue with any F whistle - I didn’t buy one because the Eb is about as small as I can comfortably finger (I have medium-sized hands for a man - broad palms, but slender fingers). The spacing is about the same as for a Sopranino recorder (also in F) - though I have one, I never play it because my hands don’t fit.
I can play nickel high G on slower songs, but it’s mainly a novelty because it’s hard to do. I am hoping F will have a little bit farther-spaced holes and not be as tightly spaced as the G. How does the F spacing compare to the high G (which I have)? Does anybody want to do high F measurements?
I had the same problem with my two Gen Fs and I solved the problem by winding 4-5 feet of Glide Dental Tape around the head of the whistle below the “skirt” on it (be sure to get it to lie flat). Then I painted the dental tape with clear nail polish to make a fiber-resin composite strengthening the head. I suppose if you wanted to get really fancy you could take your whistle down to the local drug store and color-match the nail polish to the color of the head.
I would recommend against using superglue as your resin, since it tends to be thin and dries kinda flaky with sharp edges (it will also dry white on your whistle head if you’re not careful). The nail polish enamel is a pretty strong substance (so is the Glide, you ever try to break that stuff with your bare hands?) and it goes on thick enough so the Glide can hold enough of it to create the composite you want. I also like the shiny finish it leaves.
So far my Gens are holding solid…I would imagine that you could reinforce any plastic headed whistle this way.
I finally managed to track down a UK mail order stockist of the Oak D and ordered a Gen F Nickel at the same time. My 21 month old daughter has stolen my Eb and covered it in little sharp teeth marks…shame as I quite like it.
The Gen F came in BRASS in spite of me mailing the supplier to point out that their online catalogue showed the pictures back to front. And I agree the mouth piece on the brass looks very weak and doubtfully playable. So baby-sharp-fangs won’t be gnawing at one of these.
I live within an hour’s drive of Oswestry the home of Generation whistles…maybe it’s time for a petition on quality control!!! I WILL NOT BE PICKETTING THEIR FACTORY HOWEVER
Anyhow I finally picked up the Oak D this morning and set a modest target of getting the first section of Reel around the Sun vaguely under control in spite of the F Naturals…have only been playing a few weeks so bear with my minor successes! First impressions of this whistle are - great potential except the fipple skids around a little and selftunes so I guess I need some tape.
The only weird thing is that as the bore is about the same as the Feadog Nickel and the holes similar the extra weight and thickness of the walls make it feel odd in the hand…or maybe it’s just Monday morning. Anyway even I managed passable F Nats on it and 2 full good-sounding octaves.
Re spacings, the Big Whistle site in the UK pictures all the whistles he stocks against a ruler although it is probably in centimetres and you need a big screen/hawk eyes to read it. I couldn’t play a high G even if I wanted to and the 3,4,5 holes on this F are going to be very tight but depends on the width of your fingers!
I live within an hour’s drive of Oswestry the home of Generation whistles…maybe it’s time for a petition on quality control!!! I WILL NOT BE PICKETTING THEIR FACTORY HOWEVER
I think we should all move to the UK and picket Generation at once. When they see us coming they might run, so we better do it at night. We will threaten to ONLY buy from Waltons unless they start some major quality controlling. It might get ugly, but that’s the nature of war.
How many whistles is it now Cranberry?
I think I talk about more whistles than I actually have. I don’t even have 28 yet. And all are cheapies except for one. So I’m still a lightweight here.
Wierd, I have two Oak Ds on which the heads are really tight, tighter than any other make I’ve come across, and I want loosen to adjust them because they’re not quite in line with the fingerholes. It doesn’t really affect the playing, but it bugs me. Neither gives me numb lips. I need to bite the bullet & do the hot water treatment.
I have a Meg D & a C, both free gifts from Shanna Quay with orders, and the D is great while the C is iffy at the least. My favoured C is a Feadog, a lovely whistle that looks and plays lovely, black head on a Nickel barrel.
I’ve just ordered C, Bb and G whistles from Tony Dixon, and I’m confident these will become firm favourites too.
My last Oak was super hard to get the head off the body. Even after heating I couldn’t budge it, partly because I couldn’t get a good grip. What I ended up doing was taking many rubber bands and wrapping them snugly around the body and head to give me a better grip and a little more torque. It worked.
Perhaps my Oak’s counterfeit? Sounds even better this evening, but the head is certainly loose. Heated the heads off two Sweetones last weekend - one easy, the other took 20 minutes.
Strange things whistles.
Martin, had a look at Shanna Quay - seems a bit expensive to me. Always sceptical of free gifts…let me know when it’s a Copeland tho’…
[quote=“trisha”]
I live within an hour’s drive of Oswestry the home of Generation whistles…maybe it’s time for a petition on quality control!!! I WILL NOT BE PICKETTING THEIR FACTORY HOWEVER
Never mind PICKETTING,the Generation factory should be a place of PILGRIMAGE for us ‘Whistleheads’
I REALLY wish that I owned that vintage Generation,that is shown on the ‘cheap whistles’ page. I saw it on E-bay(via this board)but wasn’t demented enough then to bid the $100,or whatever it was, that it went for.
I almost certainly would now!
Sounds even better this evening, but the head is certainly loose. Heated the heads off two Sweetones last weekend - one easy, the other took 20 minutes.
I saw it on E-bay(via this board)but wasn’t demented enough then to bid the $100,or whatever it was, that it went for.