Hi,
About 10-11 years ago I bought what was advertised as an Overton Low D whistle. I have never doubted it until recently. I went looking for the Overton web site and they talked about Overton whistles having “Overton” stamped into the body after 1998 or so. My purchase date could be off but what did they do before the stamping date? There is a “D” stamped into the body though.
cheers
The maker of Chieftain whistles used to be an Overton licensee, and some retailers continued to sell his whistles under the Overton name after he had switched over. I guess the thing to do would be to also compare it to one of his.
Take a few pictures. Place them on this board, and ask either Colin or Brigitte for their input. The maker will know…
Cheers.
Byll
Second duplicate post in a week. Strange.
Byll
Pictures… good idea. I’ll work on that. Thanks
Or Phil Hardy, he used to make them.
I went to Colin and Birgit last year (I live near them) with my Overton made by Bernard Overton. Colin had to take a very good look before he could determine whether it was genuine. Normally there’s a certificate of authenticity that goes with it. I didn’t have it (it was 2nd hand), still he found out it was genuine. I don’t know how. So I’d say if you send pictures send good close ups from all the characteristics of the whistle. Also you can call Colin; he’s a very friendly guy who will I guess do anything to help you out.
Overtons have "squared off’ sides on the mouthpiece.
Chieftains don’t.
That’s the quick way to tell between the two and is fairly reliable, as far as i know.
That’s one way, but I’ve seen more whistles having the Overton headdesign. Also indeed Phil Hardy made Overtons before he made Chieftains. And also Bernard Overton, godfather of the low-whistle made them already before the ninety’s, I think even back in the seventies (Finbar Furey was the first he made a low whistle for is the story)
Even if it does have square sides it could still be a Kerry, depending on when Phil Hardy started making the Kerry Pro. They have squared sides.
Whoops..true enough. I forgot about the old kerry pros 
Colin Goldie signs the inside of the bore on the bottom of his lower whistles. Don’t know if he does/can do on the little rascals. Also don’t know how long he’s been signing them.
What I can say with certainty is that I’ve never had a Goldie whistle signed by Colin that wasn’t signed by him. 
Doc
If it was an older whistle it could of been made by Bernard Overton, Colin Goldie, or Phil Hardy. So… if it is an older whistle I highly doubt there’s a signature.
I’ll work on photos in the morning at work. My camera is so-so and lighting here is poor. Better gear at work.
The whistle I have does have the squared off sides on the mouth piece.
Thanks for all the info so far.
cheers
Dean…K…
The first low D I ever saw or played was one just like the upper photo above. That was around 1978 or 1979. It had no markings on it whatsover. Would that be an original Bernard Overton?
Hmmmm…
True Doc, I haven’t either. by the way, he signs them all as far as I know, also the little ones.
I have not forgotten about this. The photographer that will help me get picts is swamped until Monday. I tried using my camera and the resuts are so fuzzy that they are useless.
cheers,
Every Overton after 98 definitely has a stamp, every Overton from 93 to 98 should have been clearly marked/stamped as an Overton.
Bernard did stamp his whistles not from the very beginning, he only started doing this after whistles sold by a distribution company in Ireland were sold with a company sticker of them to make it look like it was their own brand, he then started putting his name onto the instruments.
Technically if you have no Overton stamp on your instrument it is not an Overton even if it may look like one.
Sorry for not having any more information in regards to very old Overtons meaning 30+ year old whistles and when exactly they started to be stamped.
Brigitte
As promised, the photos:
http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/~karres/Instruments/whole.jpg (2.1m)
http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/~karres/Instruments/whole_head1.jpg (<.5m)
http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/~karres/Instruments/whole_foot1.jpg (<.5m)
http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/~karres/Instruments/head1.jpg (<.5m)
http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/~karres/Instruments/head2.jpg (<.5m)
http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/~karres/Instruments/head3.jpg (<.5m)
http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/~karres/Instruments/foot1.jpg (<.5m)
