Hi May,
The Megs are nice, quiet whistles, with a sweet, and a bit airy tone.
Personally I like better a Dixon. Those are nicer and equally quiet, they are more expensive than Megs (although still cheap), but the sound is pure, not airy and the balance between octaves is way better. They’re very good looking too and the black plastic ones won’t tarnish 
I play two Clarke traditionals regularly, a black D and a natural C. I’ve had both for years. The gold diamonds have worn away on the black whistle, but I don’t really have much tarnish on the silver one. Colorado is very dry, and that may be the difference.
My unpainted clarke turned gray in just a couple of months. I live on top of a mountain in NC. It got so bad I had to sand and paint it. A cool burgandy color.
Wow-- I live in Florida at present, where everything is damp-- I might as well live on a sailboat.
I kind of like the tarnish, though. It gives the impression I’ve owned the thing for longer than a couple of months. If only my playing were as well seasoned! 
I got my score for Brigadoon today!
And then realized that I don’t have a tunable whistle to play in the orchestra! Looks like I’m going to have to buy another one… drat.
So my question is this. I have a Feadog and a Clarke traditional. What’s a good tunable whistle, in the neighborhood of $30 or under, that would be able to compete with a 15-piece orchestra?
I would think Syn or Susato would be good choices. Of the two, the Syn is the easier to play but the Susato has more volume.
–James
Hmmm-- I’ve just stumbled upon an Oak with an “adjustable and tunable mouthpiece”-- for ten bucks, should I snap it up?
Sure! It’ll go well with your tunable Feadog!
All whistles with the plastic heads can be made tunable by either running hot water over the metal tube just below the head, on the head, or by soaking in hot water. Sometimes you can just yank 'em off, even, but most are glued on. Luckily hot water will take care of that.
I strongly encourage ALL new posters to read the main website (curiously linked above as the “Main Website”). This is not to forestall questions (ok, it is), but rather to get you started. Besides, it’s pretty freaking hilarious. This topic in particular is covered somewhere up there (I think).
I know I can yank the head off of my Feadog (yikes! sounds painful!), which I will undoubtedly do-- but if the tuning happens to be flat to the orchestra, it can only get flatter-- and I really don’t trust myself to take a saw to any musical instrument at this point in my completely unprofessional life. 
I just listened to a sound sample for that Syn D someone mentioned, and oh my Gods I’m in love with it. A little out of my price range, but Yule is coming up-- I wonder if my father is feeling generous?
Here’s a free tuner you can download to your computer and check the tuning of your Feadog.
http://www1.ocn.ne.jp/~tuner/tuner_e.html
I pulled a new brass D Feadog out of a box of them I have in stock and found it to be right on pitch as packaged. Then I pulled the head off and set it all the way on the tube as far as it would go, and it was seven cents sharp. So it looks like there’s plenty of room to adjust the tuning of a Feadog sharp or flat as needed. (I didn’t bother to check to see how flat it could be tuned, but I know from experience that there’s plenty of room to flatten it well below standard pitch.)
Best wishes,
Jerry
Hey, thanks Jerry!
What a comprehensive answer-- can’t wait to get home to my Feadog- had it shipped ahead of me. 
Well that should about do it, then!
Are you sure you know what your talking about…
Can Jerry Freeman tweaked whistles be purchased directly from him or only through the retailers he supplies? I noticed he doesn’t list a web address. I have one of his Mellow Dogs and it is “the best” inexpensive whistle I have and even better than a couple of the more expensive ones I purchased (names omitted because it is only my inexperienced opinion).
eBay.
Is that a question?
If so, (and if you meant to write you are, instead of your) then: Yes, to it being freaking hilarious, yes to the part about how to take plastic heads off, yes to reading the main website, and finally, yes to this.</a](http://www.chiffandfipple.com/tunable.html">this.</a)>
By the way, according to the rules here at C&F, multiple user accounts are not allowed. Just in case…
Of course you can order directly from me.
On eBay, I only sell tweaked Sweetones and tweaked Mellow Dogs. I’ve found that if I offer more choices on eBay, total sales go down, rather than up.
In addition to tweaked Sweetones and tweaked Mellow Dogs, I also sell tweaked Generations in all the keys they make, tweaked Feadogs and tweaked Shaws. Send me a PM or email (delete the all caps “REMOVE THIS SPAMBLOCKER” text from my email address in my C&F profile or the email will bounce) for details.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Thanks Jerry! That’s great to know. When I bought my Mellow Dog, I had quite a search because most places said they were “out of stock”. I’ll be in touch shortly.
Ok mate cool down, tis just a question.. Your info did’nt make good sense, but the link helped , Thanks much..
Look texasbagpiper, if you’re going to have another ID on the chiffboard even though that’s against the rules, you should at least keep them straight. Also, it’s generally considered bad style when you get called on your shyte in the Pictures of Your Pipes thread to go needling people anonymously elsewhere. Sorry display, really.
Thanks much for the help…