I’m a peacenik, so I’d use a Howitzer Low C with a piper’s shillelagh attachment, and play in Strafe mode.
A Chieftain Gold hands-down!
Solid brass, too heavy to play for long, but peerless as a “blunt instrument” in a fight!
I’m envious, I’ve never had a chance to play a goodly number of Chieftains for an extended period like that.
I did try several Chieftains at a shop in Glasgow (by St George’s Cross, I don’t remember the name) and at Hobgoblin in London, but only briefly.
For me it was never a binary thing like that.
Around 2006 I decided to end 30 years of Irish flute playing and switch to Low D Whistle.
Selling off four or five flutes raised enough money to fund a massive Low D Whistle buying spree, and I borrowed, traded, or bought 30 or so Low D’s to evaluate.
I was struck initially by all the things Low D whistles couldn’t do (compared to flute) but soon concentrated on all the things they could do.
Fact is, there’s no perfect Low D Whistle! All manifest a series of compromises made by the makers.
For a time I was preferring the Burke, then for a time the MK, but eventually settled on the Colin Goldie as being the best bundle of compromises.
There are a few different Low D’s that each do one specific thing a tad better than the Goldie; but in each case this benefit is cancelled out by some flaw, that whistle’s Achilles’ Heel. On the other hand the Goldie has no such flaw, and is excellent at everything.
Currently I have two Goldie heads I can switch on my Goldie Low D body, one “medium blower” and one “soft/easy blower”, and both are superb.
If I had only ever played one or the other I would be prefectly happy. Switching back and forth is actually a joy due to being able to experience subtle differences.
Currently I have Goldies in Low C, Low D, and Mezzo F and all are great. I’ve owned several F’s over the years and the Goldie is by far the best.
I’ve really wanted to try a Goldie but every time I see one used for a good price its already sold haha. A month or 2 back I saw a Goldie low D for $250 “posted 13 minutes ago” and I was still too late haha. Some day maybe I’ll get lucky. I could put a WTB but I have a MK and Reyburn so I dont exactly need another Low D. but if I see one used I have to take the chance haha. I jumped around trying several makers out aswell (although they were other keys not low d’s, mostly low f’s) and MK have definitely been the best to me. I’m worried I’ll have moisture issues with Goldies, because I’m a clogging machine. Which would probobly make MK my closest to perfect whistle that I know of. But, until I try a Goldie I wont know.
I started out playing low whistles on a Chieftain OS back in 2003, had a Kerry Pro for awhile before discovering Colin Goldie’s whistles, though a couple of years ago got somewhat interested in the Chieftain Custom model. After going through several Goldie tenor Ds with different specs (backpressure, hole size, etc), I finally settled on a lovely NB (narrow bore) model, which Colin believes was originally intended for John McSherry! I also have a Hammy Hamilton low D, though mostly play flute these days.
Well, if you really want a Goldie without waiting, Big Whistle carries new Goldies (albeit at a steep price), and there may be shops in Europe that do as well. Of course, the best way to become the owner of a Goldie whistle is to order one directly from Colin himself.
For those wanting a Goldie Low D, here’s one on Ebay uk.
I have no interest or connection with the sale.
Iain
I’m trying to get a good deal used so that if I end up not liking it as much as my MK I can re sell it for the price I bought it and not loose to much money. Its hard to imagine not loving the Goldie with all I’ve heard about them. But I’m pretty picky haha. And my Thunderbird F gave me bad clogging even with toothpaste, so I’m too worried about the Goldie doing the same thing to pay anything above used.
Me too. I’m what’s known as, in the Highland piping world, a “wet blower”.
I can clog any Overton-style whistle in a few seconds.
People say “you just have to warm up the whistle” but I’ve picked up whistles nearly too hot to hold- been sitting in my car- and they still clog within seconds.
So any of those whistles (original Overtons, or Goldies, or Chieftains) were unplayable for me until I learned about the toothpaste & dishwater trick on these very pages.
I’ve found that with my Goldies a treatment lasts a year or more. Small price to pay for a great-playing whistle.
Yes the toothpase trick works wonders. It didnt work on my thunderbird completely tho. It helped but I still had some issues. Although, the thunderbird had a not smooth sand blasted bevel. Which I feel like just makes moisture want to stick on it, and was most of the issue. So if a Goldie has a smooth bevel which I’m assuming it does, it should work better.