News about Generation Whistles

Post by **Dale** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 1:55 pm

I have learned the following about Generation whistles from, as they say, a very reliable source.

1. Barnes and Mullins is no longer making the Generation whistles. They are now being made by what I gather to be a new company, Generation Music. I do not yet have contact information.

2. A well known whistle-maker is working with the new Generation makers on some re-design work. These design changes, about which I do not know details, have been implemented in the Bb instrument.

3. Over the next year or so, their other keys will be evaluated and re-designed.

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 2:27 pm

Forty years ago we put men on the moon. Today? Can't do it.

Sixty years ago we made cheap decent whistles. Today? We need a couple of years of research, engineering and prototyping.

Sheesh, these engineers must know something I don't.

DreamOgreen · Post by **DreamOgreen** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 2:30 pm

I smell a surge of Bb sales coming on...

Adrian · Post by **Adrian** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 3:39 pm

crookedtune wrote:Forty years ago we put men on the moon.

I'm not sure that many people believe that anymore!

DreamOgreen wrote:I smell a surge of Bb sales coming on...

Yikes, you're right! I'll get my order in tomorrow.

Post by **Dale** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 3:54 pm

Well, I'm holding off on my Bb order. I don't know how long they've been making them with the changes and it takes a while, I should think, for these new ones to work their way through the distribution chain.

Ironically, although my personal experience was that the quality control problem was notable in the Ds, I NEVER had a problem with a Bb.

Dale

King Friday · Post by **King Friday** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 4:00 pm

The Bb's have always been the friendliest Generations to me, with the D/Eb's being the most erratic. I must say that I consider a Generation Bb directly off the shelf to be a wonderful whistle and am very excited to see if this new one can be any better.

emtor · Post by **emtor** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 4:39 pm

No problemo,-Myself and Jerry Freeman will tweak those new Generations into sounding just like the current ones.

mamakash · Post by **mamakash** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 4:45 pm

Dale wrote:I have learned the following about Generation whistles from, as they say, a very reliable source.

1. Barnes and Mullins is no longer making the Generation whistles. They are now being made by what I gather to be a new company, Generation Music. I do not yet have contact information.

2. A well known whistle-maker is working with the new Generation makers on some re-design work. These design changes, about which I do not know details, have been implemented in the Bb instrument.

3. Over the next year or so, their other keys will be evaluated and re-designed.

See what happens when the board picks on Generation? You big meanies!

Adrian · Post by **Adrian** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 4:49 pm

emtor wrote:No problemo,-Myself and Jerry Freeman will tweak those new Generations into sounding just like the current ones.

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 4:53 pm

Adrian wrote:
crookedtune wrote:Forty years ago we put men on the moon.
I'm not sure that many people believe that anymore!

[sarcasm]Ummm, right.[/sarcasm]

Tweeto · Post by **Tweeto** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 6:08 pm

Here’s hoping that the only change for the D is for the head to not be glued on. Do that for all the whistles, remove the “hiss” from all the ones that have it (Bb and C are the ones of mine that do this, don’t know about keys Eb-G) and it’ll be all good.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:29 pm

crookedtune wrote:Forty years ago we put men on the moon. Today? Can't do it.

Sixty years ago we made cheap decent whistles. Today? We need a couple of years of research, engineering and prototyping.

Sheesh, these engineers must know something I don't.

For all we know, they might simply be working on a return to the old design and on ways of ensuring more consistency without individual attention to each whistle. Presumably Generation know that they have a product which inspires brand loyalty and wouldn't want to lose that. Presumably, whoever is making suggestions and doing measurements for them also has a regular job. (Michael Copeland worked on the Sweetone.)

If I owned the company, I'd want to improve consistency but not at the cost of losing my regular customers. So I wouldn't be making any binding decisions in a great hurry.

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:07 pm

Yeah, but how could WHATEVER they're doing require a year of research? They're whistles!

Personally, I like the Gens (with a tweak). I hope they don't do something weird to 'em.

Congratulations · Post by **Congratulations** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:11 pm

Uh oh. I'd better go out and buy a handful of the current ones in case they change them for the worse. I'll need enough to last me until I die, I guess, just in case.

King Friday · Post by **King Friday** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:55 pm

It doesn't really matter to me because with the exception of my Bb, I don't play them as they come anyway. As long as I'm putting a tweak on all of mine now, I might as well continue doing so.

Chiff and Fipple Forums

News about Generation Whistles

News about Generation Whistles

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