Is it possible to tell which of the three possible craftsmen have made a particular Overton whistle? I don’t have any documentation for my Overtons and all of my whistles simply have the characteristic Overton stamp at the bottom of them. Can anyone help with my detective work?
OK, so I couldn’t resist the detective word!
I don’t have the benefit of an Overton whistle myself, but the following site may help:
I have recently exchanged emails with Brigitte Goldie about the very same question concerning my Low D.
She has been very helpful with providing information.
Jeroen
If the information on the Overton web page mentioned above by Martin doesn’t help to conclusively answer your question, then you should know that there are other manufacturing clues which will help and, as Jeroen did, I would recommend that you contact Brigitte Goldie by e-mail and discuss it with her. She will help solve the mystery for you.
Mick
Many thanks for all your help. I’m intrigued with the differences in the Overtons that I own. I have two tenor D instruments that I suspect are made by different craftsmen. One came to me second hand and was owned at one time by Marc Duff of Capercallie. Unfortunately the fipple end has been considerably reworked and although the lower octave is still absolutely glorious in tone colour the upper octave is not achievable beyond the high G. The other low D has a slightly longer fipple section and is also longer in overall size. I have taken your advice and sent an e-mail to Colin and Brigitte.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh!
If one of your whistles has a shorter fipple section it may in fact be a Chieftain. Last summer I met someone with a set of Chieftains who believed them to be Overtons - doubtless as a result of the confusion created when Phil Hardy started marketing the Chieftains.
The difference is very easy to spot - the Chieftain, which is a factory-made instrument, has a very “snub-nosed” look, whereas on Overtons the fipple section is longer and the tubing on the sides of the fipple section are narrowed and squared, down to same level as the flat surface on top.
Thanks for your reply StevieJ.
The two whistles are definitely Overtons. They display all the design features you would expect. I actually had to remove the block from the mouthpiece of the second hand instrument and refit it, it had become so loose. Playing about with the fipple end of the instrument has only increased my respect for the Overton craftsmen. They really do produce a wonderfully made instrument. On the subject of the Chieftains, I had the pleasure of playing alot on a Chieftain Brass low D that is also a great instrument. There is something very special about its sound and I believe it is distinctly different from the Overtons. It’s much more forgiving than the Overton and that’s a benefit for the inexperienced player. I would love to hear your views out there on these two beautiful instruments, the Overton and Chieftain Brass low Ds.
Just to let you know I got a prompt and very interesting reply from Brigitte Goldie regarding my Overton query. Their standard of customer service is absolutely first class.
I’m really pleased to hear from her that I own a Bernard Overton Overton, if that makes sense!
What about the Chieftain Brass (or Gold, whatever)? Does anyone else out there own one and if so what do you think of it? I’m more interested in comments regarding the playing quality of the instrument rather than whether it has an alleged dent in the windway!
Overtons made by Colin Goldie are signed and dated by him on the inside bottom of the tubing.
Hi Everyone,I feel to say that there are many of my Overtons out in the world as I did build them for a number of years as an official Overton maker,some people seem to forget that.
They all still carry a full warranty on parts and labour and you can usually tell mine from Colins as he signed the bottom of his inside the tube.
Phil.