Hi, In another thread on cheap whistles it was mentioned that:
“Cillian O’Briain worked out the hole size and placement for the Feadog tube which would optimize the intonation, and this was incorporated into the latest version of the Feadog D”
Where should I order from to ensure that I get the latest version of the Feadog???
Do they come in anything other than green top and brass tube? I’d like black and nickel (like an Oak) if they make 'em that way.
Thanks for any info!
-Brett
The last batch of Feadogs I got from The Whistle Shop had the new “Mark III” heads, but hole size and placement is identical to my older “Mark II”… I don’t know when they switched to O’Briain’s layout.
Thom only stocks the ones with brass tubes and green heads, but they are also made with black heads and nickel tubes… and a variety of colored tubes as well.
Shanna Quay stocks all the different varieties, but you’d just have to e-mail Steve to find out if they are the newest models or not.
Any new Feadog which you buy will likely be a Mark III, and it should have the O’Briain layout. Maybe you should be warned that not every Feadog is the greatest playing whistle in the world. Sometimes it is necessary to slightly modify (tweak) the mouthpiece.
Maybe you should be warned that not every Feadog is the greatest playing whistle in the world.
That’s fine…I was mainly interested in a tube with correctly positioned/sized holes, so I didn’t want to end up with a Mark III head but an old tube.
i bought an o’brian tweaked from the Whistle & Drum shop, and it came with a black head on a brass body. nice, quiet, intune whistle for unobtrusive spousal friendly playing at all hours 
It was my understanding that the O’Briain improvements comprised tweaking the head by filling the cavity with putty and replacing the blade with a clear plastic one with a sharper edge and better positioning, and then resizing the holes to get the tuning spot on all round.
If the new tubes are already better tuned, would they need to be tuned again?
I’d suggest you get a Cillian O’Briain straight out from Whistle & Drum or The Whistle Shop, and if you get the chance to line one up alongside another Feadog, tell us in the holes are different, and how the tuning sounds.
For his D whistles, O’Briain now just uses the stock Feadog tubes without modification. He does resize the holes on Generation tubes for his wonderful (and I do mean wonderful!) Eb whistles.
I have compared at least two Mark III Feadogs with an O’Briain, and hole size and placement are identical.