Hello all… I was wondering if someone could help ID this whistle I’m considering buying. It looks to be a Chieftain Low D, but I’m unsure. It’s too far away to put my hands on it, so I’m hesitant to buy, but the price might be low enough to take a chance. What would you pay, sight unheld?
Robert
Looks like a tuneable Cheiftain low D to me.
Looks exactly like the one pictured here:
http://www.thewhistleshop.com/catalog/whistles/stands/low/chieftain/tunable/tunable.htm
Thanks fearfaoin… that’s what I thought too, but I’m concerned it may be a knock-off. Did Chieftains just have the D stamp, or should there be some other marking? The seller says there is no other marking on it.
no other markings.
Ok, then it may actually be genuine. If the price is right, I may pick it up. Hopefully it just needs some love and tweaking to get it sounding nice. I think I’ve found the right place for tips on that sort of thing here in this forum. Thanks for all your quick replies!
Robert
You … probably don’t want to be tweaking a
high end instrument. If it needs fixing, I’m sure
Goldie will look at it if it’s one of his. But they’re
pretty solid, it should probably just need cleaning
if anything.
I thought Colin Goldie only made Overton / Goldie, not Chieftains?
it looks just like my Chieftain NR (though mine is untunable).
Sometime after starting making the NR’s, Phil started putting a date serial stamp on the back. So if this is a Chieftain NR (which I judge highly likely) it’s one of the earlier ones.
If it needs tweaking, I’d ask Phil Hardy about it. I’m not sure that Colin would be all too keen on fixing a Chieftain.
Yeah, I meant Phil. Sorry.
Though, it certainly is confusing:
http://www.chiffandfipple.com/whatamess.html
Hint taken 
I’ll just give it a good cleaning then.
Hello rdheaney,
Please go to this webpage at the Phil hardy’s website (the maker site):
http://www.kerrywhistles.com/dl.php?group=19
And check the following video clips (made by the maker himself) to see if you have an original Fixed Low D Chieftain Whistle:
3 Low Ds
Kerrywhistles Low D’s
Know Your Chieftain
Good luck!
Thank you all so much for the information. Based on what I’ve read here, I’m taking the chance and bought the whistle tonight. I should get it in the post shortly. When I do, I’ll pop back in to let you know what I’ve found using Phil’s site and the other info. Thanks again.
Robert
Well, I’ve received the whistle, and it looks quite nice. I think it might very well be one of Phil’s whistles, and I may be sending it to him for a looksee/polish. Thanks again all, for the help everyone.