Hello all!
I am looking to sell 4 John Sindt silver whistles, one head/four bodies of Bb, C, D and Eb.
They are in absolute perfect condition. They are about 7-8 years old (approx).
To be completely honest they have been hardly used at all.
Question for you all…how much do you think these are worth?
Your advice and opinion would be extremely appreciated!
This question has appeared time and again on Chiff & Fipple. Honestly, the only right answer is - whatever the market will bear. Find out approximately what the whistles were/are selling for, decide what your minimum price is to part with them, then put them out on the market for your beginning price. You’ll find out soon enough if you’re asking too much.
Thanks saintninian, is-I guessed as much.
Will see what research I can get on them and place a price thereafter.
Bflat to Eflat is a long stretch to cover with one head, especially considering there’s a vast difference between the Bflat head and the Eflat head on a standard Sindt. Did he modify the head or the tubes to enable this set to work?
I was thinking the same thing. Even the C and C#/Db Sindts use a larger head/bore than the D/Eb/E ones, and the Bb ones another size larger.. so, that’s quite a stretch, more than I would think is playable on that bore size.
Photos might help. More info/history. The whistles are worth what someone is willing to pay, or as what you are willing to part for.
You could always ask JS himself.
There isn’t any confusion whether Sindt or Syn set is there?
Silver? Nickel ? Any chance used tubes swapped out?
Yes, I remain doubtful that John Sindt ever made Bb whistles that used the same bore size as his soprano D’s. I can’t imagine them playing well at all, if so. I think there has been some sort of confusion here.
A clue here would be “silver whistles” which would imply a syn set not a John Sindt set. I think he only works in brass. Good Luck on your sale.
In response to the original post, if the set is indeed a Syn set and not a Sindt set, then a brand new similar set of Syn whistles (Eb, D, C, Bb) is listed for sale at the Whistle and Drum website for $131.99. Of course, a used set would sell for less than that.
Nope. John Sindt has made whistles in sterling silver (as well as a few different combinations of materials that differ from the regular brass ones).
I can’t remember completely, but I thought I paid around 90-something dollars for my D, C, B, Bb set when I bought it. I would think around $75 or so would be a reasonable price.
Any time you’d like to sell your Sindt D,C,B,Bd set for $75 let me know?
You might consider posting pictures of the whistles in question here. That can be a bit of an ordeal for people new to C&F; however, it would be worth the effort. Then people could see what you actually have, and someone might be willing to give you some useful advice on pricing. Unless people know whether what you have are Sindts or Syns, silver or aluminum, it will be hard to do that.
Hahahaha… Nope, not selling my Sindts. Sorry, I should have specified that in the second half of my post I was referring to the Syn whistle set (not Sindts) costing that much, and that 75 would be fair for the Syns 
I was talking about Sindts in the first bit, and Syns in the last. I can see how reading the post on its own could be misleading.
Thanks for the info that John Sindt made silver whistles. I seem to learn something every time I check this site. 
He used silver tubing, I don’t think he made silver heads as well. The ones I have seen had regular heads with silver tunes anyway and I can imagine that the heads would take a considerable chunk of metal, to a point where the price of silver becomes prohibitive.
Mary Bergin is supposed to have a silver one although when I saw her play a Sindt last week it was a plain brass one.
I am pretty sure I saw an entirely silver one (including the head), as well. Maybe faulty memory though..
I am pretty sure I saw an entirely silver one (including the head), as well. Maybe faulty memory though..
Quite possible. The ones offered for sale here on the forums over the years all had mixed metals (ie just a silver tube). There’s no real reason other than the price of silver why there shouldn’t be all silver ones.
And while we’re at it : Here is the OP’s ad for his whistles. It shows he is indeed erroneously calling a SYN set a Sindt and hopes to get €800 for it.
Having spent much time around flutes, I can’t help but be struck with the oddness of this, because you wouldn’t ordinarily see a flute made with a sterling silver body but nickel head.
It’s the other way round: as the price goes from low to high it goes
-nickel head and body
-nickel body, sterling head
-sterling head and body
Because most of the tone is reckoned to come from the head.
Funny how it’s the other way round with whistles, a plastic head with a metal body and so forth.
Funny
It depends on the reason for using sterling silver. The appearance of the first sterling silver Sindt whistles was driven by a board member who was a jeweler of sorts who commissioned a silver instrument from him and provided him with a source for silver tubes. It was the desire for a silver instrument for the sake of having a silver instrument that seemed to spawn this rather than considerations of sound. Reactions to silver instruments coming up for sale often seem to point towards the same motivation (the bling factor or as I called it here in the past, the magpie factor)
I’m glad that little mystery has been cleared up, don’t know about you but the suspense was killing me.