Review housed at http://www.tinwhistler.com/reviews.asp
Vargas Whistle tweaked Feadog in D review
(Review written 08/04/2006)
Preface
Back in April of this year, Erik Torp-Olsen sent me a tweaked Feadog to review. Unfortunately, the first one didn’t really survive the Texas heat..the bubblewrap having melted into the mouthpiece a bit by the time it arrived. So Erik sent another one, this one packed a little differently, and it arrived just fine. I apologize to Erik for this review taking so long to get out, but here it is at last!
At a Glance
Whistle Reviewed: Vargas Whistle tweaked Feadog in D
Models Available: Tweaked feadog
Construction: Tweaked Feadog whistle with a plastic/resin head and brass body
Price at time of review: $ 35.00 US
Available From:
Vargas](http://vargaswhistles.com/webshop/htdocs/shop.html%22%3EVargas) Whistles Erik also offers tweaked Generations and and Clares in various keys.
How Acquired: Product Sample from Manufacturer
Appearance/Construction
The whistle looks like a standard brass-bodied inexpensive model, with the exception fo the shiny black mouthpiece. This makes the whistle look very cool and professional!
Here’s a picture of the Feadog close-up. I’m not going to go into too much detail on the whistle, since the tweaked head is really the only difference between this whistle and a standard Feadog. Erik makes this tweak by cutting the whistle in half, filling the cavity with a resin, and then re-assembling the whistle and coating it with the resin. This cutting in half bit is important, as the next picture will show.
A couple of weeks ago, I was playing this whistle, and forgot that the tweaking process also renders the whistle untunable. I was playing along with a CD, and it was hot in the house, making me sharp. I grabbed the head and twisted–pretty standard for tuning–and broke the whistle along the line where Erik cuts it! Luckily, after gluing it back together with super glue, it plays exactly as before. This picture shows the crack left in the finish, though.
Here’s a picture of the first tweaked whistle that arrived with the bubble wrap partially melted into the head. I’m sure this was caused by the whistle being in a Texas mail truck or something and getting hot enough to soften the epoxy. The whistle ended up looking pretty ragged, but the next whistle Erik sent was wrapped in such a way that the head didn’t contact anything in the mailing tube. I’m confident he’s solved this issue.
Playing Characteristics
When I first played this whistle, I thought to myself “you know, this sounds just like a Feadog”. But after playing them back to back, I realized that there are some subtle but very important differences which I’ll describe in more detail. The great thing is that Erik has managed to work his magic without chanigng the fundamental character of the whistle. I immediately knew it was a Feadog upon hearing and playing it. I am not going to cover every aspect of the whistle, as I normally do. Things like volume, responsiveness, etc, are relatively unchanged from the standard Feadog.
Sound clips of the whistle:
Johnny Mickey’s polka
Spoot O’ Skerry Like the Meg review, I’ve recorded this whistle alongside a regular untweaked Feadog so that you can hear the difference. The left channel of the recording has the tweaked version, while the right channel is an standard Feadog.
Differences: As I mentioned, Erik’s tweak really doesn’t change the fundamental characteristic of the whistle, It plays just like a Feadog, and it sounds like a Feadog. But what Eriks’ tweak does do is soften the whistle somewhat. It has less rasps, less squeaks, and isn’t quite as harsh sounding. These are the exact things he claimed when we first corresponded, and it was nice to see his claims were completely accurate. Really, there’s no more else to tell about this whistle!
Summary
Nifty tweak! I find myself playing this a lot at home. I only wish is that it could be made tunable. Otherwise, this is a great whistle!