so i’m helping Deb sell a maple Sweetheart and somebody posted to my facebook page that they have one, and it’s nice, but the wood “tastes like a pencil.” 
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Irish-Whistle-Shop/119017371459637
i’m wondering, i think some makers cover wood fipples with an epoxy or something (varnish?); could he do that himself? how hard is that to do? so he could play his whistle without tasting pencil?
no clue…
cheers,
eric
OK, this is probably completely against all common sense, but I have a high-Bb Hawkes that had a musty odor, so I was worried that mold might be forming in the headjoint. I dripped some mouthwash (Listerine) into the headjoint in hopes that it would kill any mold/fungus/whatever in there. Well, that was 6 months ago and I have seen/heard no ill effects AND the flute still tastes “minty fresh” even now. Also, no mold has formed.
Not sure I would do this to a flute I really cared a lot about, but it seems to have worked in this case. I actually DO like the little beggar quite a bit, though…
Pat
Using epoxy, varnish, or something like polyurethane is easy.
However…I would never alter a fine instrument without first talking to the person who made it.
Tastes like a pencil, huh? What part of the pencil does it taste like: the eraser, the paint , the graphite or the cedar? It’s been a while since I owned a Sweetheart wooden whistle, mine were rosewood, but they may have had a cedar plug. I don’t recall. Cedar is used for the plug in recorders because it is somewhat better at handling moisture than may other woods. So maybe that’s what they are tasting. I don’t recall a taste but I recall the Sweetheart whistles smelling like rosewood when they were new. Very nice aroma.
Two thoughts come to my mind. First of all if the whistle player is tasting either the wood of the plug or the wood of the mouthpiece, then they are not going about things quite right. Are they? Too much whistle in the mouth and too much tongue very likely. If you just put the beak of the whistle up to the lips you shouldn’t be taste testing too much. But I guess we are all different.
Yes, you can coat a plug, usually to keep the plug from absorbing moisture, but also to avoid contact between the wood and te lips/chin to avoid allergic reactions. This is not unlike coating the area around the embouchure of a flute to protect against contact allergies. The common coating is acrylic lacquer conveniently available in many homes as clear nail polish. And it comes with its own applicator too. CA glue or super glue can also be applied (carefully)over the offending part as well. That’s my favorite.
Good thought. It might be a wee bit difficult in the case of Plunk111’s Hawkes.
Feadoggie
Cork Grease. It’s what I use on the wooden fipples of my polypropylene whistles. Even vaseline will do if you can’t get hold of cork grease - although you might like to look at the flute forum about this, as opinions differ sharply.
I wish I had thought of superglue. That sounds like a really good idea.
I must admit I don’t taste the wood when I play, and it does sound like something else is going on. Have you got severe acid reflux?
I should ad this caution when using superglue as a coating. Let it dry thoroughly before putting the whistle up to the lips. 
Elfsongs (Sandy Jasper) and some Albas I believe.
A guy once made a knife for me with a handle of curly maple coated and sealed with 23 applications of crazy glue; it was gorgeous and held up just fine. Of course, it wasn’t lip tested.
Philo
I suggest “Flavored Chapstick”. This has a natural beeswax base + edible oil and will not harm the wood. The client can even change flavors at will. Bubble-gum? 
Ummm…Eric? I just had a look at the Sweetheart whistle pictured on your site. I don’t think you’ve got a maple whistle there. Looks more like walnut to me.
Feadoggie
I was under the impression that it was walnut when I bought it.
Deb
Ok then! Walnut it is.
I agree that it’s probably got a cedar fipple plug. That taste will fade in time, and is actually kind of pleasant. Keeps moths away from your mouth too…
That’s a beautiful example of a Sweetheart whistle right there… how does it play?
I have read that cedar is good for fipples because it handles moisture well (that probably means that it swells less as it absorbs moisture thus is less likely to split the head) - the other approach is to seal the fipple so that it does not swell - since I tend to use the same wood as the rest of the whistle this is the approach take.
A layer or two of super glue is easy and quick but I like to follow this with multiple layers of shellac because I like the idea of shellac in my mouth better than super glue (shellac is used to coat drugs and is also approved for food use - of course super glue is used to stick skin together, eye surgery etc so maybe it is just as good) and shellac is in fact one of the best or maybe the best (depends on the shellac and its application) water proofing coating - (as per USFS data I have read) Only downside to shellac, you can’t clean the mouthpiece with alcohol without damaging the finish - it is easy to refinish.
And of course there should be as little of the beak of the whistle in your mouth as possible - it sounds better - and no teeth!!!
It doesn’t take a great deal of air to produce a sound, but it does take a good deal of support to maintain decent intonation. It has a reedy sound with lots of character. Not so much what I understand as chiff. Just different than the other whistles I have played. I was mainly curious to see if my WD Sweet delrin whistle sounded woody, but it doesn’t have the same tone as this whistle. I’d be interested to compare it with, say, an older rosewood whistle. Comparing it to the metal whistles with plastic or delrin heads is like comparing apples to oranges. The Sweetheart can be leaned into in the lower register without much danger of breaking into the upper register. I find myself using tongue position and embouchure much more deliberately with this whistle. Unlike the Dixon Trad, which seems to almost play itself, this whistle would reward really getting to know its quirks.
Deb
Or dhe dhongue.