The music shop downtown has a display of all the Generation whistles. Why does it only go down to Bb and not A? Why Eb and not E? Why are these two keys so uncommon?
I’d really like an A.
That’s a very good question! I hope someone has the answers.
For a while Generation’s range went down to G, the lowest whistle available at the time, before Hohner did their lower range anyway. Mary Bergin uses one on Feadoga Stain 1. I have hardly a recollection of ever seeing anyone else use one, which is probably why they went off the market. During the seventies French company Camac also made a range of whistles that went down to G.
For answers about the history and current news of Generation whistles … There’s an old tree stump in the wood outside the village of Oswestry in Shropshire where, on the first night of each full moon, you can leave your written questions in a plain brown envelope. Secret agents from the Generation plant will collect it at midnight, and reply in the form of encrypted clues in the next Sunday’s Times Crossword.
Otherwise, they’re about as accessible and forthcoming as the Knights Templar. 
the shipment made it into S Cal, eh! 
Actually I had an informative reply last year when I asked them about the original Generation lead fipples. I have never tried to email the Knights Templar though! http://www.smotj.org/
Why doesn’t it surprise me that the Knights Templar 
have a web page … and not Generation? 
Ah, but you can convert a Generation in Bb into a Generation in A by simply loosening the mouthpiece in hot water and sliding it back a semi-tone…
I have already had to slide mine back to get it in Bb 
When I need an A, I have a Tony Dixon 
Geoff
I just found a little F in my Gen jar…nice player…blue head in nickel
Philo
Those high f and g are also excellent for audio brain surgery.
So if I chop a bit off an Eb whistle will I get an E?
You’ll get a Christmas Tree Ornament is what you’ll get.
eeee by gum I love an ornament! If I chop some into different sizes tie them together put them by the breezy window I can get a whistley chimey thingy
Dang! I knew I was doing something wrong. I’ve been looking in the Star. Last answer I recieved said Nostradamus would herald the Big One in California by playing “Off With California” [sic] on a Generation high F. Or maybe it was “…trigger the Big One…”
Yes … There was a thread about just that not long ago. The bottom end remains a bit too sharp, but a bit of Blue Tack putty in the bell end of the tube to act as a choke, and electrician’s tape on the tone holes as needed, actually gives a usable intonation. I’ve tried it, and it’s not bad.
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?p=786999
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?p=781414
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?p=773130
When I think about it, I think an E would be quite nice to have because then I could play A tunes as if they were G tunes.
Yes, exactly. For me, the Susato narrow bore high E fits the bill for occasional use.
It’s not so simple a thing as just pulling out the head of a Generation Bb to get A, because the scale is thrown out of tune.
There’s a formula for making a Generation one-half-step higher: you chop the top until the upper-hand notes are in tune to the new target pitch, then you chop the bottom until both “Ds” are in tune to the new target pitch. Now you will find that the two lowest fingered notes- what would be E and F# on a D whistle, are very flat. You enlarge those two bottommost fingerholes and voila! You have a whistle that plays in tune in the new pitch.
For making a Generation A that’s in tune out of a Generation Bb, I soldered new tubing onto a short bit of existing Generation Bb tubing, chopped the bottom till I got A, then drilled all new fingerholes.
The result is a Generation A that plays pretty darn well.
Here’s my family of Generations:
homemade A, Bb, homemade B, C, homemade C#, D, Eb, F
About E whistles, yes very handy for playing fiddle tunes in A.
I use a heavily carved Susato low E (when it came the scale was whacked). Saving up for a Burke low E.
It’s not so simple a thing as just pulling out the head of a Generation Bb to get A, because the scale is thrown out of tune.
Well, it works for me. All the notes in the first octave and a half are within 20 cents of true pitch, with the exception of G# which is a little bit flatter, but that’s curable/avoidable. Depends if you want the hassle of soldering and cutting compared with accepting the simple method or shelling out a little more for an off-the-shelf whistle in A. You pays your money and you takes your choice.
Let’s face it, if anyone can find an out-of-the-box Generation whistle that’s less than 20 cents out throughout its range then they’re luckier than Lucky the Latvian llama on her lucky day eating four leafed clovers with her friend Boris the black cat.
Coincidentally, Boris and Lucky staff the Generation helpline and answer all the letters.
Stay hoopy,
Mike