Hi,
Just ordered Bill Oches tutorial book and cd.
I am also ordering a Clarkes Original in natural finish,(hoping it has the wooden fipple). Probem is to make it worth my while i am looking at another but cheap whistle, to take advantage of the P+P costs.
The Waltons little black whistle is really cheap, but what is it like?
I have heard some bad stuff about some of the other waltons.
I still am experimenting buying whistles trying to find the sound thats right for me.
Whistles I have are:-
Feadog(I find it loud and quite shrill in the 2nd octave).I like the feel of the feadog.
Dixon one peice D nice, suffers from moisture really bad.
Sweetone C dont really like it, i think it might be the key not sure, feels cheap.
So what about the WLBW???
I was really temted to go for a Generation in D Nickle, but knoing my luck I will get a bad one..
Thanks alot.. Merry Christmas to all…
Tony Fletcher, Sheffield Eng..
p.s is it true Clarkes Orig in Nat are quite rare, hard to get…
Well Tony first I dont think the Clarke Org is a rare bird. I got mine from Elderly Ins. for 6 bucks. As far as the little black whistle goes there is some good info on it on James site http://www.flutesite.com . You will have noticed, no doubt, that there are as many opinions about whistles in this forum as there are members. When you get the local desease thar runs rampant in this community there will be, no doubt, no whistle that you havent bought.
I realy like my Walton Guinness but it took some tweeking to make it one of my favorites.
Have fun and whistle on.
Tom
I only have one LBW (actually, it’s my wife’s), and I have a Guinness which, before it was tweaked up, was very similar.
Pros: very feather-light whistle, weighs almost nothing; easy to play; easy upper register; fairly pure sound with moderate chiff.
Cons: bell note (D) is very sharp, required lengthening whistle with tape to bring down to pitch; tone is shrill on the upper end and hollow and empty-sounding on the lowest notes; squeaks and buzzes easily; for pretty much the same money you could get an Oak or an Acorn, both of which I feel represent far better whistles and a far better value.
This is a decent whistle for reels and jigs but it wouldn’t be my first choice for airs or songs.
The Guinness I have though, after extreme tweaking, is now one of the very best whistles I own.
This is only my $.02 worth; your experience with it may vary.
The wonderful thing about cheap whistles is buying several different kinds to see how they play and which ones you like best.
Best wishes,
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
Hi Tony,i got a Guinness whistle as a present from a relative who’d been to Dublin.I would have preferred a pint of the blackstuff!The plastic head is very badly moulded,and the metal body is so soft,that it was dented at the bottom when i got it out of the box!I have never tried to tweak it,and it is now in my ‘whistle graveyard’(o.k.,the top of my bookshelf!).Save yourself the bother,and get yourself a BRASS Generation ‘D’(or an Eb-the consensus of opinion seems to be that these are more likely to be o.k.‘off the shelf’ than D’s).Just my experience.
I think James pretty much nailed my experriences with the LBW. I have two of them. The second one I got it marginally better than the first one but my Clarke Original ($10 plus tweeking time) is worlds better. My Clarke Meg ($3 no tweeks yet) also better than the LBW. And my Oak is so much better than the LBW that I can’t even make the comparison. I will say that the LBW head on my feadog body makes a nice whistle though. So if you really feel the need to try the LBW, go for it, it’s only about $6. If you don’t like it, try putting the LBW head on your feadog body. It really does work pretty well. Still not as good as my Oak though.
Check ebay, they always have natural clarke originals on there for reasonable prices. They don’t seem to be too rare. I think I’ve seen more of them than I have of the all black clarke originals.
Hope this helps some.
\
-Jim
I may never be the best, but I can always be better than I am now!
[ This Message was edited by: Jim_B1 on 2002-12-15 14:32 ]
I have an LBW that I play for ONE reason–it’s so super light, you can take it anywhere. The sound isn’t fantastic but it’s fine for practicing. I play my LBW at bus stops and during other “down” times, get the feel of songs or work on memorizing, and then go home and play something else to hear how it really sounds.