Some of you may have read my previous topic about a new non-tunable Chieftain V3 Low D that I received a few days ago and that had tuning problems, among them: it was not in concert pitch (425 instead of 440). Following the suggestions of some forum members, I wrote to Phil Hardy at Kerry Whistles and he replied that it never happened that a Chieftain had tuning issues, and suggested me to warm it up because when the whistle is cold is flat.
Yesterday I intensively played the whistle and warmed it up a lot, just to be sure. The tuning improved but not too much. Even when warmed up, most of the notes are 10/15 % flat and, what is even more surprising, there is no improvement at all on the low D note which remaines steadily 30 % flat…
Now, according to Phil Hardy, I am in the not enviable situation of being the first and only person in the world to have a Chieftain with tuning problems.
Difficult to believe. More over : my Susato Dublin D and my Dixon Trad D are “cheap” but they are 100 % in tune with themselves and 100 % in concert pitch. My electronic tuner does not lie. And finally, this morning I received from Doc (The Irish Flute Store) the second low D that I ordered: a Syn Low D made by Erle Bartlett in Australia. What a great whistle ! Gorgeous, great and full tone, very easy to play, and, guess… 100 % in tune and 100 % in concert pitch. How is it possible that a Chieftain which costs more than the Syn Low D and the Susato and Dixon put together, has tuning and pitch issues ? Brittany Stone from Hobgoblin Music USA - where I bought the Chieftain- has been wonderful and insisted to replace the Chieftain with a new one at their full expenses (what a great customer service, I would recommend Hobgoblin to anybody), But I decided to return it and to ask for a refund instead. Why ? Well,as they say: You never have a second chance to make a first impression!
gerardo1000…
I don’t want to get into a food fight, but rest assured, you are NOT the only person to ever have had tuning issues with that particular brand of whistle.
On the Syn…how does the stretch compare with other Low Ds you’ve handled? I remember looking at that whistle awhile back, but coming to the conclusion that it would be too big for me. (I play low Ds, but have had to trade off a few because of “stretch” issues…)
A-Musing,
The fingering hole space is average. More or less like the Chieftain, but smaller than a Susato Low D that I had for a while and that was ,because of that ,almost unplayable for me.
I am also getting used to the piper’s grip on the right hand, and this is making things easier. The Syn Low D in my mind is really a great whistle for the price (Doc at Irishflutestore has the best price so far) and it is very easy to play. You can hear some audio clips on this site:
http://www.micksvirtualwhistle.net/whistle/index.html
The guy who is playing the whistle (he has many other brands) seems really enthusiastic about the Syn low d.
Thanks for the insights.
I’ll take another look at the Syn.
Your story reminds me of the first Susato high D I bought, their early kind, back in the early 1980’s. (These were all hand made from PVC stock and had a wooden block.)
To my surprise, when I checked the whistle against an electronic tuner (yes these existed back then!) the whistle played perfectly in tune at A=415!!! (That is a common Baroque pitch.)
Since this whistle had a huge bore and great loud tone, rather than send it back I started carving. First I chopped the bottom until bottom and middle D were in tune to A=440, then I began enlarging all the fingerholes (starting from E and working up).
I ended up with the World’s Loudest Whistle, perfectly in tune. I’ve rarely played it, since it’s rare to be in a situation where I need a whistle that loud.
I’ve never heard of anyone else receiving an A=415 Susato.
About that Chieftan, couldn’t Phil retrofit a tuning slide to it?
Perhaps Phil could retrofi a tuning slide, but I have already returned the whistle and got a refund.
Susato makes Db whistles, which would be the equivalent of D at A415. It’s possible you inadvertently received a Db.
That would be correct - 415.3 Hz is a perfectly in tune Ab. (chart)
You received a perfectly tuned Db whistle.