I’ve been playing a Freeman Mellow Dog for about a year now, and it has served me well. However, I’m playing a lot more in the second octave than I used to, and it’s quite loud and shrill up there. It also takes a disproportionate amount of air to get certain notes, especially between F# and G.
I’m in the process of obtaining funds for a professional quality whistle, but until then I’m looking for something in the range of $30-50 with a clean 2nd octave that doesn’t burst your eardrums, preferably with minimal “push” between notes. It also needs to be able to handle fast, heavily ornamented dance music. As long as the instrument is in tune with itself, I don’t care how close to concert pitch it is- I’ll save that concern for when I buy something more expensive. I half-hole instead of cross-fingering so C natural isn’t an issue for me.
Could anyone reccomend a whistle, be it tweaked or crafted, with these qualities?
Sure, an Everywhistle would be perfect.
I use that whistle to practice, since it has incorporated a “mute function”, and you can play very quietly without worrying about the higher notes (even those in the 3rd octave).
The whistle is also tunable. The price is $55, not much more than what you want to pay.
You can read more about it in www.parkswhistles.com
A Dixon Trad may be perfect for you. It has lower air requirements than the Mellow Dog. I’ve actually never found a whistle easier to play than the Trad (although they undoubtedly exist!).
I’d pm Jerry about your Mellow Dog. I have one and the upper register is nice. High A steps up a bit from high B in volume but isn’t shrill and everything below there is even and clean. If the key isn’t important, get a C tube for the Mellow Dog from Jerry. That whistle has a marvelous upper register. Get the C tube even if you need a D - you won’t regret it.
Please send me your whistle. I guarantee 100% satisfaction with every whistle I do, no matter where or how long ago you got it. If something’s amiss with it, I’ll make whatever adjustments are needed. If not, I’ll refund your purchase price.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Jerry Freeman
P.O. Box 191
Orwell, NY 13426
Edited to add: If not, I’ll refund your purchase price and return the whistle. It’s yours to keep in either case.
I’ll put in a second vote for the Parks Everywhistle. I just received one of these little gems (a Walkabout Everywhistle) and I absolutely love it! I haven’t had much chance to play it in a group yet but it has plenty of volume, is very responsive and is very much in tune with itself. And the tone ring is great for adjusting volume and the upper octave notes come out effortlessly when closed down a little. Really, a great whistle for a great price.
Respect to Jerry for his offer/professionalism…
However, have you checked out this thread? Listen to MTGuru’s clips (OK, he’s a damn fine player, but any player also needs the tools for the job!), then go here - you can’t get better value for money, nor I think better sounding/playing whistles short of the very highest end wooden ones.
Let Jerry fix what you have, but get a GG (set!) too!
How about Walton’s Little Black Whistles? I tweaked one of mine by gently rounding the blade and inserting some putty in the void under the airway. Though the Little Black Whistles rarely need any tweaking this did wonders with mine. Going up into the third octave is no problem at all though the cats and dogs in my neighborhood probably hate me now…
Not only did the tweaking make the whistle much smoother to play, it did also make the volume of the different octaves a lot more even. The second octave won’t burst any eardrums. -The third might though, but then again only if you’re a cat or a dog…
I’ll second the Dixon Trad, and also suggest you look at a Thornton for just a little more money. It may be the only whistle you aver need. A couple of people have suggested the Parks. I haven’t any experience with them myself, but have built a couple of CPVC and PVC whistles that are similar in design and my homemade whistles would certainly fit your wishes. (I’m not parting with them though.)
Re-reading the thread, it seems to me that OP does ask for whistle recommendations, apart from whatever the described problem might be. So I think people are just responding to that specific request, with no bias one way or the other regarding the Mellow Dog. As for that, I think Jerry’s reputation for quality and fairness and his exemplary expressed concern for 100% customer satisfaction speak for themselves.
I’ll be more comfortable when the OP chimes back in. The problem described could be due to many things which may or may not have anything to do with the physical characteristics of the whistle.
I find it interesting this thread didn’t play out the way the recent “Question about my new Oak whistle” thread did, especially after Jerry made his offer.
MTGuru asked me to consult and I’ve read the thread and can’t see a justification for locking this thread. Even if someone posts an opinion that is very much a minority opinion and unfounded, they’ve got a right to do that if there’s no personal vendetta. Admirers of Jerry’s work, and I’m one of them, will post accordingly.
In regards to Jerry’s concerns about future passers-by reading this thread, I want to clarify my earlier recommendation for the Dixon Trad.
Both are damn good whistles. While I still feel that the Mellow Dog does take a little more air than the Trad, the Mellow Dog is not a hard blower. Matter of fact, if I had to choose one, I’d keep the Mellow Dog.
And I don’t mean that as a slight against the Trad, either. Before I got the Mellow Dog, I went through several high end whistles (most in excess of $200) and eventually sold them all because the Trad met my needs time after time. It wasn’t until the Mellow Dog that I found another whistle that was good enough to justify the price vs. my income.
I’ll speak up and say that the Mellow Dog is a great whistle, and the C body is especially nice.
I also think that Jerry’s eagerness to handle any possible problems with his whistles (no matter when or where they were bought) speaks much louder than anything in this thread that seems to be negative about the Mellow Dog.
If you’re new and anything in this thread gives you a negative impression about the Mellow Dog, know this: the Mellow Dog has been praised and recommended MANY times on this forum, and Jerry is well known for standing behind his work, no matter what.
