I picked up a Sweetone D yesterday and can't put the sweety down! What an amazing sound for ten bucks!! But how do I get rid of that tacky white cartoon figure? I feel like I'm playing a toy, even if it doesn't sound like one. Has anyone else had success improving Sweetones cosmetically?
Sorry to piss on your chips, but I think the appearance is the least of your worries; all the ones I've tried have been badly out of tune.
You could remove all the paint with wire wool or burning.
There seem to be plain ones floating around -- I've seen plain black, for instance. The figure wears off pretty quickly in any case.
And don't fret about the PP grumbling about the tuning. Tinwhistles are *supposed* to be out of tune . And you can do the usual tricks to loosen the head and make it somewhat tunable if necessary. I've had a few Sweetones that are in reasonably good tune, but I think the conical design tends to make the relationship between the octaves different from a cylindrical tinwhistle, which annoys some people whose ears have gotten used to the cylindrical whistles.
The real problem with Sweetones is that if you play them enough they start to rust out
The Sweetones have a great 'tinwhistle sound', but the upper and lower registers are never in tune with each other. This matters more on some tunes than others...
I just checked with the tuning fork, perfect A without adjusting the head at all. And just played both octaves note for note, listening very carefully, sounds great, even better than other whistles I paid three times as much for. Maybe I just got lucky...perhaps once in a while one of these masssed produced babies comes out a winner! I'm very very happy with it, except of course for the ridiculous looking figure. I tried to find black fingernail polish with no luck...and here I thought Goth was still in...black shoe polish was no help at all, except for making it extra shiny. I really don't want to scratch it up with wire wool. And burning? You mean set fire to it? Sounds kinda drastic to me! Maybe I'll just let him wear away naturally.
I just bought a sweetone in c, and love the tone. It's a plain version, no pictures on it. Some notes are a bit out from "regulation" tuning, but the only one that bothers me is the B flat (ie. C natural fingering) I've tried all imaginable alternatives, and the best I've found is: cover holes 2, 3, 4 and 5, leave 1 and 6 open. Is this how it's done?
I use oxxxox on the whistles I make.
Damn that "Regulation tuning" next thing you know they'll be expecting us to tune our Whistles before we join in.
PP
I have sweetones that do not have the figure painted on. It was more "pressed" into the metal. I love my Sweetone and really don't want to play any other whistle. Where did you get one for $10.00??? My local distributor sells them for $5.95 plus tax. Aren't the black ones the type with the wooden "fipple"? I think that is what it is called. Inside the top forming the mouthpiece? I hope no one starts to expect me to tune my whistle.
I took my new sweety out for it's first session last night, and it was grand! No tuning problems at all. I've bought several Generations over the years, and never really liked any of them, but figured, what did I expect for the money? This is the first Sweetone for me, and maybe I just really lucked out. When I plunked down my $10 (in Delaware, beacheroo) it was like playing the lotto...I really only expected a cheap sounding whistle with intonation problems. I'm still amazed, and if/when this one gets lost or rusted I will gladly take another chance.
The figure is "pressed" into the black metal, it came in 3 other ghastly vivid colors: red, blue and green. All with plastic fipple.
It does feel adjustable, there is some possibility of movement there, but so far, it hasn't been needed.
I have a "Celtic" Clark Sweetone -- it's painted a nice emerald green with a little gold symbol that looks like the one used on TheSession.org T-Shirt, the three-pointy-loops knot. And it came with some instructions, too.
It sounds great (relatively: I'm still a beginner with my whistle), and is easier to play than a few I just tried at a workshop that cost much more and were much heavier.
I haven't checked it against my electronic tuner, though. However, it sounds nice when I'm playing and no worse than anyone else's at that workshop.
Sweetone cosmetics
Sweetone cosmetics
I picked up a Sweetone D yesterday and can't put the sweety down! What an amazing sound for ten bucks!! But how do I get rid of that tacky white cartoon figure? I feel like I'm playing a toy, even if it doesn't sound like one. Has anyone else had success improving Sweetones cosmetically?
# Posted on July 19th 2004 by ketida
Re: Sweetone cosmetics
Sorry to piss on your chips, but I think the appearance is the least of your worries; all the ones I've tried have been badly out of tune.
You could remove all the paint with wire wool or burning.
PP
# Posted on July 20th 2004 by Pied Piper
Re: Sweetone cosmetics
There seem to be plain ones floating around -- I've seen plain black, for instance. The figure wears off pretty quickly in any case.
. And you can do the usual tricks to loosen the head and make it somewhat tunable if necessary. I've had a few Sweetones that are in reasonably good tune, but I think the conical design tends to make the relationship between the octaves different from a cylindrical tinwhistle, which annoys some people whose ears have gotten used to the cylindrical whistles.
And don't fret about the PP grumbling about the tuning. Tinwhistles are *supposed* to be out of tune
The real problem with Sweetones is that if you play them enough they start to rust out
-- Scott
# Posted on July 20th 2004 by srt19170
Re: Sweetone cosmetics
The Sweetones have a great 'tinwhistle sound', but the upper and lower registers are never in tune with each other. This matters more on some tunes than others...
# Posted on July 20th 2004 by Ottery
Re: Sweetone cosmetics
I just checked with the tuning fork, perfect A without adjusting the head at all. And just played both octaves note for note, listening very carefully, sounds great, even better than other whistles I paid three times as much for. Maybe I just got lucky...perhaps once in a while one of these masssed produced babies comes out a winner! I'm very very happy with it, except of course for the ridiculous looking figure. I tried to find black fingernail polish with no luck...and here I thought Goth was still in...black shoe polish was no help at all, except for making it extra shiny. I really don't want to scratch it up with wire wool. And burning? You mean set fire to it? Sounds kinda drastic to me! Maybe I'll just let him wear away naturally.
# Posted on July 20th 2004 by ketida
Re: Sweetone cosmetics
I bought a bunch of these for a beginners' class and they were all badly out of tune - so I don't recommend them.
# Posted on July 20th 2004 by milesnagopaleen
Re: Sweetone cosmetics
I just bought a sweetone in c, and love the tone. It's a plain version, no pictures on it. Some notes are a bit out from "regulation" tuning, but the only one that bothers me is the B flat (ie. C natural fingering) I've tried all imaginable alternatives, and the best I've found is: cover holes 2, 3, 4 and 5, leave 1 and 6 open. Is this how it's done?
# Posted on July 20th 2004 by fiddlefingers
Re: Sweetone cosmetics
I use oxxxox on the whistles I make.
Damn that "Regulation tuning" next thing you know they'll be expecting us to tune our Whistles before we join in.
PP
# Posted on July 20th 2004 by Pied Piper
Re: Sweetone cosmetics
I have sweetones that do not have the figure painted on. It was more "pressed" into the metal. I love my Sweetone and really don't want to play any other whistle. Where did you get one for $10.00??? My local distributor sells them for $5.95 plus tax. Aren't the black ones the type with the wooden "fipple"? I think that is what it is called. Inside the top forming the mouthpiece? I hope no one starts to expect me to tune my whistle.
# Posted on July 21st 2004 by beacheroo
Re: Sweetone cosmetics
I took my new sweety out for it's first session last night, and it was grand! No tuning problems at all. I've bought several Generations over the years, and never really liked any of them, but figured, what did I expect for the money? This is the first Sweetone for me, and maybe I just really lucked out. When I plunked down my $10 (in Delaware, beacheroo) it was like playing the lotto...I really only expected a cheap sounding whistle with intonation problems. I'm still amazed, and if/when this one gets lost or rusted I will gladly take another chance.
The figure is "pressed" into the black metal, it came in 3 other ghastly vivid colors: red, blue and green. All with plastic fipple.
It does feel adjustable, there is some possibility of movement there, but so far, it hasn't been needed.
# Posted on July 21st 2004 by ketida
Re: Sweetone cosmetics
I have a "Celtic" Clark Sweetone -- it's painted a nice emerald green with a little gold symbol that looks like the one used on TheSession.org T-Shirt, the three-pointy-loops knot. And it came with some instructions, too.
It sounds great (relatively: I'm still a beginner with my whistle), and is easier to play than a few I just tried at a workshop that cost much more and were much heavier.
I haven't checked it against my electronic tuner, though. However, it sounds nice when I'm playing and no worse than anyone else's at that workshop.
# Posted on July 21st 2004 by KeepFiddlin'