How to go about tweaking a Generation.

[theweirdscotsman]

A just picked up a gen Eb and a D. They screach a tad bit. I guess first of all I need to soak them to get the fipple off so i can tune it a little? They are not exactly on pitch. Im currently a non-tunable low d chiefton player so any suggestions would help.

[Walden]

Have you checked out
http://www.chiffandfipple.com/tweak.html and
http://www.chiffandfipple.com/tunable.html ?

[BrassBlower]

Here's how to tweak a Gen, Sweetone, or other cheap whistle:

1. Soak in hot (not boiling) water until the glue softens up.

2. Remove the fipple.

3. Use a small wire brush to remove shavings from the tube and fipple.

4. Put the fipple back on.

5. Move the fipple back and forth on the tube until the whistle plays in tune.

6. After repeating steps 4 and 5 20 times without success, glue the fipple back on, give the whistle to the kid next door, and buy a better whistle!

[peeplj]

Here are some things to try:

As mentioned above, use hot water and elbow grease to loosen the glue and remove the fipple from the whistle.

If there is stray plastic (like flashing from mold marks) in the fipple, carefully remove it. Depending on where it is, the right tool might be a sharp small knife, or fine grade sandpaper, or even a small fine-grade file.

Hold the fipple up to the light and look through the windway. Stray plastic in the windway is a Bad Thing. Clean up with fine sandpaper as needed.

You might look carefully at the edge of the blade, sometimes a whistle can be improved by lightly sanding the edge with fine grade sandpaper, especially if there is any flashing on the very edge itself.

Go small amounts at a time--it's easy to remove plastic, but hard to put any back! And test frequently when you are doing this.

If you get to a point the whistle is starting to sound pretty good, STOP!!! It's easy to "over-tweak" and wind up worse than you started.

For all that, though, Brassblower may have the answer (by the way, hi from Texarkana; Always good to see another Arkansan on the boards): there are many good whistles in the same price range that do not require tweaking at all, such as Oaks, Acorns, and Clarkes, there are Waltons and Feadogs which only require light tweaking to be really good, and a little more money will get you a Dixon, which is one fine whistle for the price.

That said, when a Generation is good, it's really <i>really</i> good.

My Oak whistle is rapidly becoming one of my very favorites, but it requires really good breath control. I also have several good Generations, and they are a joy to play.

Best wishes,

--James
http://www.flutesite.com

[FJohnSharp]

I just finished tweaking my Gen. I fiddled with some sandpaper in the windway and took of a few pieces of stray plastic. It improved a lot, but there is still a buzz I don't like. But it's fine for the car.

I also did a little to the cheapie Feadog I got at a theme park, which was almost unplayable. It improved 100% at least. The upper octave actually sounds musical now. Before it was all air and chiff. That one's playable now. Good for the wife's car. One thing about that one is that the mouthpiece won't stay on except pushed all the way in.

[Sean]

Teflon Tape.

[JohnPalmer]

I think that most whistle-tweeking universities use Generations. They are cheap, easy to get, and if they are totally ruined, nobody cares.

But if you can get an older one, the kind with a great tone and that little popping chiff on the attack, then that whistle is worth more than any found on the Board.

JP

[E = Fb]

Here's how to tweek a Generation. Hold it at each end and push your thumbs forward, bending it in the middle. Then throw.

Seriously, the Gen barrel works well IMHO with other (tweaked) fipples such as Oak or Waltons. My favorite cheap whistle is a hybrid like this, a Feadog barrel and Walton fipple.

[Easily_Deluded_Fool]

Whilst not disagreeing with the above,
I plug the space under the windway with bluetack.
You don't even have to unglue the fipple!
Get a piece of tack, and roll it up so it's about 3/4(20mm) inch long, 1/8th(3mm) inch wide.
Drop this piece down the whistle, into the fipple. With a thin plade (small screwdriver etc) pack the tack into the gap - being careful not to touch the blade of the whistle.
When the tack is packed level with the end of the windway, remove any excess.
Smooth the tack so it's flat/level.
Blow. Adjust by adding/removing small bits of
tack.
Never failed to fix a Generation yet.
My oldest Gen being 10 years old now, and still being played with blue tack in it.
Also works for Megs that buzz.
I use Gens at sessions when I know people will be trying/using my whistles. Having 'lost' several, I can afford to replace the Gen's because they cost very little, and the blue tack fix takes about two minutes.

Try it and see! You know you want to

Typo fix!


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Easily_Deluded_Fool on 2002-09-14 02:30 ]</font>

[andy]

I have recently tweaked my Gen D. This was my first tweaking as such, and I was quite excited!! I followed the suggestions carefully and with caution. Anyway, in short I followed the advice from the C+F tweaking suggestions, and it now sounds worse, bad luck perhaps. They did warn me, and especially putting the beezwax into the cavity under the fipple. No big deal. Good fun way to spend an evening.

I have another Gen D that I might try tweaking with the bluetack.. See how it goes.
Ill report my progress, and I would love to read from other members on C+F who have tried the bluetack tweaking.
See ya Andy

[FJohnSharp]

Pardon me if this is obvious to everyone else, but where do you get blue tack?

[E = Fb]

Blue tack is available at office supply stores (stationary shops).

[AnnaDMartinez]

And I still have some (a lot) of that blue sticky stuff left. Send me an e-mail with a snail mail addy and I'll send it to you, if you cant find it locally!

[FJohnSharp]

Thanks.