F whistles are the Boss.. Ian Lambe from Clare make me mine. Its easily the most fun whistle to play that I have. seconded by Burke ses D. I wonder what burke Fs are like. Unbeliveable I bet
flat flat.. mm if da notes are in tune the either warm it up or possibly stick a bit of coathanger up it..or if u are decent with your hands, take it apart and grind or file it down by half MM at a time
Sinocal, can you confirm this isn't a wind-up? Chieftain whistles are generally pretty poor but you say it's tuneable. Are you saying you still can't shorten it enough to get it up to pitch?
No wind up, to excuse the pun. Even when the slide is fully in, it's still flat. The heat thing I'm aware of, put this isn't perfect as temperatures can be variable in live situations. I've heard a few horror stories about the filing idea. What exactly does this coathanger thing involve?
I have an untuneable Chieftain A whistle. It is also out of tune and I have been meaning to get a tuning slide fitted. I never play it. Perversely I was probably willing to sell it until two really good players tried it out a couple of years ago, both proclaiming that they liked it. One of them even offered to buy it off me and have a tuning slide fitted herself as Phil Hardy hade no As ready. I suddenly had second thoughts and figured it was probably worth persevering with - more fool me!
Sinocal. Where you say flat - how flat are we talking?
Does the whistle play in tune with itself?
Also - which modal Chieftain? Th NR Chieftain had the area around the ramp flattened, the V3 has a rectangular window cut into the curve of the pipe.
Aluminium low whistles can be as much as 30 cents flat before they warm up - but the tuning slide should have enough allowance for this.
On a whistle, putting a coathanger into it (rushing) will make it even more flat.
If you are going to re-tune it yourself:
* Remove the body - the edge at the end with the cork seal is the bit to shorten.
* Check that there are no burrs or other stuff in the bore or head. If there's anything there - remove it carefully.
* As Trucks said - 1mm at a time and do a neat job of it - remove any burrs and keep it even. Check against the tuner after each 1mm cut. (warm whistle before testing).
* After the whistle reaches 15 cents sharp (warmed-up with slide fully closed) - stop cutting.
I often hear people complain about Chieftain whistles being out of tune. With the hundred or so that I have tried I have only encountered a couple which had small tuning issues. Usually it's because the whistle was tried with the tuning slide too far open - Depending on where it is, the tuning tenon gap can radically alter the pitch of the notes in relation to each other (intonation).
If the whistle is set-up to be in-tune with 20 cents allowance for sharp, then adjustments up to 15 cents either side of concert pitch should not make a lot of difference.
If you file off too much, or do the operation on a cold whistle - the whistle will be stuffed.
The above info is general - each whistle maker incorporates design features known only to themselves, they are the only ones truly qualified to do correct adjustments on thie own designs. Safest way is to just contact Phil Hardy for a fix.
F whistle flat
F whistle flat
My tuneable chieftain 'f' low whistle is flat. Apart from sending it back to the maker for fixing, are there any short term solutions for this)
# Posted on June 8th 2009 by Sinocal
Re: F whistle flat
Have you checked it after it's well warmed up, as cold ones play flat.
# Posted on June 8th 2009 by Bredna
Re: F whistle flat
F whistles are the Boss.. Ian Lambe from Clare make me mine. Its easily the most fun whistle to play that I have. seconded by Burke ses D. I wonder what burke Fs are like. Unbeliveable I bet
# Posted on June 8th 2009 by Miss Mulligan
Re: F whistle flat
flat flat.. mm if da notes are in tune the either warm it up or possibly stick a bit of coathanger up it..or if u are decent with your hands, take it apart and grind or file it down by half MM at a time
# Posted on June 8th 2009 by Miss Mulligan
Re: F whistle flat
my da did this and truly F ucked a low d cheiftan so b careful
# Posted on June 8th 2009 by Miss Mulligan
Re: F whistle flat
Sinocal, can you confirm this isn't a wind-up? Chieftain whistles are generally pretty poor but you say it's tuneable. Are you saying you still can't shorten it enough to get it up to pitch?
# Posted on June 8th 2009 by bogman
Re: F whistle flat
p.s Trucks, your da did the whistle world a favour there.
# Posted on June 8th 2009 by bogman
Re: F whistle flat
No wind up, to excuse the pun. Even when the slide is fully in, it's still flat. The heat thing I'm aware of, put this isn't perfect as temperatures can be variable in live situations. I've heard a few horror stories about the filing idea. What exactly does this coathanger thing involve?
# Posted on June 8th 2009 by Sinocal
Re: F whistle flat
I have an untuneable Chieftain A whistle. It is also out of tune and I have been meaning to get a tuning slide fitted. I never play it. Perversely I was probably willing to sell it until two really good players tried it out a couple of years ago, both proclaiming that they liked it. One of them even offered to buy it off me and have a tuning slide fitted herself as Phil Hardy hade no As ready. I suddenly had second thoughts and figured it was probably worth persevering with - more fool me!
# Posted on June 8th 2009 by No Cause For Alarm
Re: F whistle flat
blow it harder
# Posted on June 9th 2009 by ...
Re: F whistle flat
That's how we fix a bodhran that's a bit flat, just hit it harder
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
# Posted on June 9th 2009 by mcknowall
Re: F whistle flat
hit it harder? ha ha ha .. until it it plays in tune? ha ha ha.
Or until it breaks? That would fix it
# Posted on June 9th 2009 by ...
Re: F whistle flat
What would the folks here do without llig?
My first trip back to the yellow pages in a while... I now remember why I don't bother any more.
# Posted on June 9th 2009 by proinsiasrua
Re: F whistle flat
Sinocal. Where you say flat - how flat are we talking?
Does the whistle play in tune with itself?
Also - which modal Chieftain? Th NR Chieftain had the area around the ramp flattened, the V3 has a rectangular window cut into the curve of the pipe.
Aluminium low whistles can be as much as 30 cents flat before they warm up - but the tuning slide should have enough allowance for this.
On a whistle, putting a coathanger into it (rushing) will make it even more flat.
If you are going to re-tune it yourself:
* Remove the body - the edge at the end with the cork seal is the bit to shorten.
* Check that there are no burrs or other stuff in the bore or head. If there's anything there - remove it carefully.
* As Trucks said - 1mm at a time and do a neat job of it - remove any burrs and keep it even. Check against the tuner after each 1mm cut. (warm whistle before testing).
* After the whistle reaches 15 cents sharp (warmed-up with slide fully closed) - stop cutting.
I often hear people complain about Chieftain whistles being out of tune. With the hundred or so that I have tried I have only encountered a couple which had small tuning issues. Usually it's because the whistle was tried with the tuning slide too far open - Depending on where it is, the tuning tenon gap can radically alter the pitch of the notes in relation to each other (intonation).
If the whistle is set-up to be in-tune with 20 cents allowance for sharp, then adjustments up to 15 cents either side of concert pitch should not make a lot of difference.
If you file off too much, or do the operation on a cold whistle - the whistle will be stuffed.
The above info is general - each whistle maker incorporates design features known only to themselves, they are the only ones truly qualified to do correct adjustments on thie own designs. Safest way is to just contact Phil Hardy for a fix.
# Posted on June 11th 2009 by Mozle
Re: F whistle flat
Many thanks Mozle for the advice.
# Posted on June 15th 2009 by Sinocal