WTT: (sort of) A note for Serpent owners

Whistle
1

I picked up on a thread on GC in which there appeared to be a misunderstanding about waxing the slide on the tunable Serpent whistles. Since I didn’t include that information with the whistles that shipped with Teflon tape, I hope nobody minds if I let people know about it here…

After reading a short description of waxing the slide, I thought perhaps I’d better clarify how you use the beeswax for those who might misunderstand:

  1. Pull the slide completely out of the tube.
  2. Remove any Teflon tape and clean the slide barrel
  3. Holding the head with the slide facing you, use the beeswax block to “draw” a fairly heavy coat of beeswax onto the lower 1/2-inch of the slide while turning.
  4. When the slide is coated all the way round, warm the tube with your fingers and reinsert the slide with a rotating motion. Push it all the way in.

If the slide is still loose, repeat (3) and (4) until it’s snug in the tube, then do your adjustment for pitch.

You should warm the slide area with your fingers any time you want to adjust the whistle. Reapply beeswax as needed to keep the slide snug. If the wax gets dirty, you can clean it out with mineral spirits, followed by a wash with soap and water, then reapply.
Happy whistling! :smiley:
serpent

2

Hee Hee :blush: :astonished: :roll: :confused: :blush:

One of those people would be me. After wrapping a big glob around the slide and trying to fit it back together I realized it only takes a tiny amount and now I can see that drawing it on is a much better idea.

Thanks for the clarification Serp. :smiley:


Kathy :slight_smile:

3

Serpent I didn’t put two and two together.

I just checked your site. I’m in the market for a very low chiff, high quality whistle. How would you compare the “chiff factor” of your brass tunables with various whistles. Say vs. a Susato and a Clarke Original (opposites of each other). Do you think your whistles compare to the Burkes?


Thanks (and I think you already know what makes a whistle stay in tune with itself across the octaves!)

Rick

4

Jim Peeples did this comparison of the Serpent to 2 others.

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=10103

Enjoy! Thanks, Jim! :smiley: