Interesting (?) - Killarney Whistles/Órlaith McAuliffe demo

[deisman]

Ordered mine yesterday! Thanks to all who participated to this thread. Regarding the head I'd say better too tight than too loose. You can always make it looser if desired, but going the other way is more difficult. I will follow up after I get mine.

It's going to be a happy new year!

[MTGuru]

Just speculation, since I don't have one in hand and have had no contact with the maker:

If the Killarney head is based on the Sindt, including its dimensions, then we know from experience (and our member Bloomfield's experiment) that the inside bore of the Sindt head is slightly too small to allow a standard Gen or Feadóg to to be substituted without sanding down the end of the tube a bit. And if Killarney are in fact sourcing their tubes from Feadóg Pros, then perhaps inconsistency leads to various degrees of tightness in the individual whistles.

If so, the solution is to simply work the joint end of the tube down a bit with sandpaper or whatever, for a better fit. And for the cautious, it's easy and cheap enough to acquire another Feadóg Pro tube to try this.

So a question for the Killarney owners: Is there any evidence that the tube joint has been reduced? Or does the plating extend all the way to the end of the tube, as in the stock Feadóg Pro?

[Steve Bliven]

So a question for the Killarney owners: Is there any evidence that the tube joint has been reduced? Or does the plating extend all the way to the end of the tube, as in the stock Feadóg Pro?

The plating extends to the end of the tube. On mine there are a couple of scored lines running parallel to the axis of the tube that look like they were created when the head was slid/forced onto the tube. The head will move on the tube, but it takes enough force that fine adjustments are made more difficult.

If the resolution is to sand down the tube slightly, not a major effort, then there's the possible cosmetic issue of removal of the plating and some amount of the underlying brass (?) being exposed below the lower edge of the head. Wouldn't affect the playability of the whistle (which is pretty darn good from my perspective) but might offend the aesthetes among us.

Best wishes.

Steve

[Steph7]

Hi, how is the volume compared to Dixon, Generation, Sindt?
Thanks

[narrowdog]

Just an observation on the tight tube
The 'scratch' that Steve mentioned is a crease similar to the one on a Sindt tube, it's there to make the body slightly oval.
If you take the body out and slide the bottom end into the head you'll find its a snug but loose fit.
So I would say the variations in tightness is probably down to how much each body is creased.

[narrowdog]

Hi, how is the volume compared to Dixon, Generation, Sindt?
Thanks

Just a quick toot,
Loudest to quietest, note there's not much to choose.
Dixon Trad
O'Briain
Killarney
Freeman Gen
Thornton.

[Peter Duggan]

the tube looks like I suggested above (identical to a nickel Feadóg, maybe a pro, as it seems slightly heavier than the regular ones)

Have Feadog tubes changed over the years? Becuase my Killarney doesn't match my c.25-year-old Feadog...

Just a quick toot,
Loudest to quietest, note there's not much to choose.
Dixon Trad
O'Briain
Killarney
Freeman Gen
Thornton.

Yep, I'd say quieter than a Dixon Trad or Mellow Dog, on a par with a vintage Generation and louder than an Eagle (predecessor of Clare?) two-piece or vintage Feadog.

[MTGuru]

Have Feadog tubes changed over the years? Becuase my Killarney doesn't match my c.25-year-old Feadog...

Yes, they have. A 25 year old Feadóg would be a Mark I or Mark II (from McCullough Pigott), which would have been only brass tubes, I think. And both the hole spacing and sizes of the current Feadóg tube are different.

[Sirchronique]

Do Freeman blackbirds use a nickel feadog tube, or do they use a gen tube? Either way, neither a brass feadog tube nor the freeman blackbird tube fits on the killarney. I was just experimenting to get an idea of the head/body size on the killarney. Both feadog bodies are too big to fit at all. The killarney tube, if flipped upside down, is very loose in the head. Not "snug" at all on mine. In fact, if you were to put the tube upside down in the head, then hold it up, the tube would fall right out. Therefore the size seems different at one end than it is at the other. I almost posted yesterday that those lines are on there, and seem to protrude out a bit, as though they make the body bigger on that end, but it seems that's already been posted. By moving ones finger over them you can feel they actually stick out. Sindt tubes fit absolutely perfectly on the killarney, so the head is indeed very close if not identical dimensions to sindt heads.


I am going to experiment and sand down a brass feadog tube, and see if that works equally well, since I don't want to sand down on the nickel played tube.

[Steve Bliven]

Just an observation on the tight tube
The 'scratch' that Steve mentioned is a crease similar to the one on a Sindt tube, it's there to make the body slightly oval.
If you take the body out and slide the bottom end into the head you'll find its a snug but loose fit.
So I would say the variations in tightness is probably down to how much each body is creased.

Following on your comments, I took the tube out and reversed it and, just as you say, it's a snug but much looser fit. So it appears that something (the creases?) is done to the upper end of the tube to make it as tight as it is. Wonder if that is done by the tube maker (has it been confirmed that the maker is Feadog?) or Killarney Whistles.

Best wishes.

Steve

[Mr.Gumby]

Yes, they have. A 25 year old Feadóg would be a Mark I or Mark II (from McCullough Pigott), which would have been only brass tubes

Mark I was made with a black head and Nickel tube. There was still old stock in circulation by the mid nineties, I bought one from Crehan's (I had gone into town without a whistle) for £2.50. Not sure where the other ones I have came from.

[MTGuru]

Mark I was made with a black head and Nickel tube.

Ah, OK. I've only ever seen the green head and lacquered brass, of which I have two.

[Mr.Gumby]

There you go, I have a number of these, all quite nice:




I have two of the latest model in nickel as well, blue head nickel tube.

I must add here that all Feadógs I have have, including the Cillian O Briain improved, the same hole pattern, which appears again on the tube of the Killarney. If there are any differences I am not able to spot them by just looking at them.

[Peter Duggan]

Yes, they have. A 25 year old Feadóg would be a Mark I or Mark II (from McCullough Pigott), which would have been only brass tubes, I think. And both the hole spacing and sizes of the current Feadóg tube are different.

I must add here that all Feadógs I have have, including the Cillian O Briain improved, the same hole pattern, which appears again on the tube of the Killarney. If there are any differences I am not able to spot them by just looking at them.

OK, here's mine (lined up on T1)...

[JoFo]

Hi, how is the volume compared to Dixon, Generation, Sindt?
Thanks

The Killarney was kind of quiet compared to my Generation whistles and my Dixon Trad. Actually compared to Clare, (modern) Feadog and Waltons as well…