I’m having trouble finding the right PVC with the right metric measurements for Dr Gonzato’s Low Tech Whistles. Can someone who has been successful in producing whistles to his designs and metric measurements tell me what materials they are using and where they get it to Dr G’s specifications? I’m on the west coast of Canada.
(Our first whistle was made successfully in two hours but splintered dramatically at the mouthpiece because I had mistakenly bought acrylic).
Thanks,
Keith.
I have not found any material that matches Guido’s here in Florida. But some of my early whistles were made of thicker 1/2 in CPVC, and I had to glue some material to the top of the mouthpiece to reduce the windway height. That’s all that really matters - the windway height and width and how you cut the labium ramp. You can move the fipple and mouthpiece around to get the tone you want.
At that point you have the ability to make the sound. Put in the holes (tricky to get them perfect but you’ll have something you can work with at least.) If you are not happy with the first set of holes, you might want to consider cutting the head off your whistle and making multiple hole sections as you perfect the hole placement. Just tape the two parts together with some attractive tape, and add a strip at the bottom for balance and there you go!
Thanks for your expert advice Carey, it’s much appreciated. I have been directed to a source of CPVC here so hope to check it out tomorrow.
In the meantime, I’m not sure about what you say here: Quote: You can move the fipple and mouthpiece around to get the tone you want. Endquote. The Gonzato fipples are round and stay round so far as I can see. And I think the mouthpiece is glued. Should it be?
Anyway, having just spent some luxury time on your web page I now have very bad WhOAD again. The reviews of your whistles and the pictures, not to mention the prices, make your whistles mouthwateringly tempting, especially the thought of having one of your clear High D whistles.
I’ll be back. Thank you again.
Keith.
You don’t have to use exactly the same stuff as Guido - these things seem to vary internationally, so you have to put up with the nearest suitable thing available where you are. Try going to an electrical factor or a plumber’s merchant - trade supplies. They are likely to carry wider ranges of stock than the average DIY store.
Have a look at these past threads for some useful ideas and experiences:
Guido Gonzato’s Low Tech Whistle - Low D - Review.
Let us know how you get on.
Hi there, I’ve made a bunch of these whistles. Here in Australia 16mm electrical conduit from the Electrical goods store is the way to go. It has a 1.5mm wall thickness, giving 13mm internal diameter, and I find that 12.5mm dowel is fine for fipples, especially if I dip them in beeswax. Dont leave them in there as the air drives out of the wood, then the wax solidifies as it’s drawn back into the pores, but doesn’t go back all the way, leaving the timber smaller. I mainly use the Stout hole placings with a 7mm windway width, and that gives a whistle that’s pretty much in tune. A Chromatic Tuner will fine tune it. If you find that all the holes are a bit flat (check before getting the whistle into overall pitch), then move the lip down by a couple of mm at a time until they’re close, then tune it fom the bottom up. After building lots of these I was inspired to mess around with some designs of my own and am now making some in aluminium with the windway carved into the fipple block and no external windway cover.
Whistle Building Obssessive Syndrome strikes!!!
Have fun,
Ian
Thanks to all you Whistle Building Obsessive Syndrome types who came to our rescue in the matter of finding materials for our whistle building attempts. … The information you’ve given me is being stored for reference as we pursue our version of WBOS. The experience you’ve shared is priceless. Thanks again.
I’m pleased and relieved to report I found some half inch (inner bore), two millimetre thick, white PVC tubing at our local Canadian Tire chain- store. Its manufactured in Canada by Ipex.
I’ll let you know how we get on. I’ll post a sound sample if the tone is anywhere near as good as the High D, High Tech Gonzato-made whistle I play every day…
Thanks again.
Keith.
Next week I’ll have a go with thicker pipe and a different design. It’s not as easy as with thin pipe, but it should work regardless of pipe thickness (within reasonable limits). Pictures and explanations will follow.
I’d like to stress that I haven’t discovered anything new: it’s a very common design, I’ll just make it more accessible with pictures and diagrams.