Whitecap on a Generation Brass D

Whistle
1

:smiley: I am strongly considering getting a Whitecap for one of my Generation Brass D whistles. I currently have one sweet untweaked and two tweaked brass Generation D whistles. One of the tweaked plays nicely and other I ā€˜overā€™ tweaked. Since the ā€˜overā€™ tweaked whistle played so-so before I over tweaked the fipple, I am considered getting the Whitecap for it. The barrels on all three whistles have never been modified, and as close as I can measure, they are identical. I would like to get otherā€™s opinions of replacing the over tweaked fipple with the Whitecap.

2

I highly recommend that you replace the fipple with a Whitecap. I did the exact same thing to a Gen D, sanded too much off the blade and made it unplayable. Replaced that fipple with a Whitecap and now I have a pure, sweet sounding whistle.

3

Go for it!

Be aware, owever, that the resultant combo will not be a Generation but a Hoover. From my POV, thatā€™s a fine thing, but not all agree.

4

the hoover, if you are not familiar, is very sweet but takes very little air compared to whistles you are familiar with. extremely easy second octave.

i strongly suggest that if you do it, you send mr. hoover the tube, rather than just ordering the whitcap and putting it on yourself. if macke does not have access to the tube the whitecap may not fit perfectly and will not be tunable in practice. also, he may fine tune the fipple if necessary.

meir

5

Thanks to all the advice, I have decided to get a Whitecap. I have contacted Mack Hoover and made arrangement of doing a ā€˜tubeā€™ exchange. I have to wait until July, but even if I would have to wait until August, that would be fine. Just from is reputation on this message board and his answer to by emails, he seems to be a great, quality person! :slight_smile:

6

My Whitecap on a Gen tube is a great practice whistleā€“quiet and sweet. I have one on an Oak tube also and thatā€™s a little louder and breathier.

7

I agree that once you put a whitecap onto a Gen brass tube, it no longer sounds like a Gen, but a Hoover. However, you can ask Mack to make the whitecap with more volume. I asked for one, and itā€™s fine. Itā€™s nowhere near Susato volume, but it would be appropriate in a session (admittedly I donā€™t play with a lot of people), or for playing with my church band (albeit near a microphone).

8

Is the tone much different from the standard quiet, pure Hoover sound? Is it breathier, reedier, edgier, or anything? Is the playability the same (besides the fact that I assume it takes a bit more breath.)

9

Hmmm. Itā€™s still fairly pure-sounding when compared to the gritty Gen sound. But I think itā€™s (ie, my newer whitecap for Gen D) edgier and chiffier than my 2 much older whitecaps (for Gen C and Bb). Those were really clean and pure. Trad tunes sounded weird on them, in my opinion. My newer whitecap sounds quite ok with trad tunes, altho I still prefer the Gen redtop. I not sure what you mean by playability, but it plays like a normal Gen/Feadog-type D whistle, not like Mackā€™s narrow bore brass, where breath control is absolutely essential.

Iā€™m not that convinced Mack still has a ā€œstandard quiet pure Hoover soundā€ now, though. In the past, he made only his brass whistles, and those were what gave him the reputation for making pure quiet whistles. I have an old brass narrow bore C, and it lives up to that rep.

But I also have a wide bore, large-holed CPVC B that is LOUD and breathy, as well as a narrow bore CPVC B (a gift from Mack) that is softer and very pure. My low CPVC D is soft but not pure; it sounds like a breathy Irish flute (I have a clip of me playing Sliabh Russell on the latter on Clips and Snips).

Give me a few days, maybe a week. Iā€™ll see if I can post something to Clips and Snips on my newer whitecap for Gen D, or some sort of comparison clip.

10

Bonequint, Iā€™ve posted some comparison clips up at Clips and Snips now.

Just to clarify, though, that in the Rose in the Heather clip, the jig is played first on the Gen redtop (on Feadog tube), then on the Whitecap (on Gen brass tube).

Volume-wise, the Gen redtop is only VERY slightly louder, if at all, and itā€™s grittier. However, the whitecapā€™s sound is not totally pure either. The difference - to the listener - is more obvious for the 2 clips where Iā€™ve recorded close to the mike.

Playability-wise: it is noticeable to me that my Gen redtop has slightly more backpressure/resistance, so I can lean into notes more than on the whitecap. But again, itā€™s not a vast difference.