Is Clarke Original C easy to tweak?

headwizer · Post by **headwizer** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 11:54 am

I am thinking of getting a Clarke Original C. Does this model tweak as easily and successfully as the Original D?

BTW, I ordered a Clarke Original D in natural and black. I spent hours bending/crimping/nipping etc. on both. The black one sounds very nice. The natural one takes longer to warm up and the quality of some notes can vary wildly (eg, excessive brightness and even buzz). I think some others here have commented that the natural Clarke's don't take tweaking as well as the blacks.

hielandman · Post by **hielandman** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 6:18 pm

For a long time(all their commericial lives that I know of, except for the last 15 years or so) all Clarke made was the C whistle. I've had,and still have, a number or them, and the only tweaking I ever did was taking the hot table (red hot) table knife and sticking it into the airway of the mouthpiece to cauterize the wood. It does work, but the new ones are coated in black tar, or something to seal them(at least the last time I looked at one), so they may not need that tweak, just whatever else you are upto, or think it needs. And yes, my black ones alway behaved better than my natural ones!

billw · Post by **billw** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 9:33 pm

I'm a huge fan of Clarke originals, because they make my older whistles seem not nearly so breathy.

But for real, the only tweak I've ever felt was needed was taking an automatic center punch and adding a couple extra dimples to keep the fipple plug in place. However, if you'd rather get higher tech, Paul Busman turned me on to a really great cyanoacrylate glue called "Mike's Model n' Crafter's Glue" that would undoubtedly work well to keep the fipple plug in place. I don't have the ref in front of me, but if you cut and paste the name, including the quotes, into Google, it'll probably take you right to someplace to buy it. (edit: it does, I put the link below)

I gave my old black Clarke D away to a friend I was feeling sorry for, and I've regretted it ever since. He sat on it and bent it almost in two about five minutes later. Nuts.

Cheers,
Bill Whedon

(edit) you can go here to get the glue:
http://www.drmikesglue.com
BW

headwizer · Post by **headwizer** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:18 pm

Thanks! I guess I'll just have to add a Clarke Original C to my collection.

Chiff and Fipple Forums

Is Clarke Original C easy to tweak?

Is Clarke Original C easy to tweak?

Clarke tweaking