Which do you prefer? To Tell you the truth, I have never played an Overton, but they sure go back. Overton seem to be the popular choice when i am watching people on youtube playing low whistles. I love burkes. Whats your opinion?
my buddy has a burke and an overton. I say burke. My cup of tea/
Hi,
I thought I chime in and give some tips for questions that may need to be considered, but first are you aware that the brand name Overton is not used anymore, although the design is still being made.
Which Burke model would you want to compare with which Overton maker and whistle style?
Overtons have had small, medium and large tone hole models through the years, along with soft, medium and hard blowing models. Which ones of these do you want to compare with which Burke models, the composite, the brass or the aluminium, the EZ and the Pros etc…? What are your playing and blowing preferences …
That may already be confusing enough, sorry for that 
it is not easy to generalise, even for one maker as a small hole soft blower would be totally different than a big holed hard blower…
Greetings
Brigitte
My first Irish music mentor/teacher, back in the late 70’s, played an Overton Low D as his primary instrument. (He was quite good on the flute and could knock out a tune on the banjo or box but he seemed to prefer the Low D.) It was the first time I had seen a Low D. It must have been quite rare at that time- for that matter, even today it’s rare to see somebody play a Low D as their main session horn.
He had removed the aluminum block and had carved his own block out of some sort of black plastic. I spent quite a bit of time playing that Overton back then, and I’ve spent short bits of time playing a number of other Overtons in the 80’s, 90’s, and the present century. I recently tried a new one that was really, really good.
I love the tone of Overtons but I have two reservations with them
- I don’t like the feel of the beak in my mouth and I would like to see a delrin mouthpiece fitted
- I’m a very “wet blower” and I clog the windway with moisture within a minute or two, rendering the whistle virtually silent. (My old mentor developed the habit of inhaling through the mouthpiece to keep his clear.)
It would be interesting to fit an Overton with a wood block and find out to what extent that eased the clogging issue.
The Burke has a delrin mouthpiece, and perhaps due to its curved windway I can play for hours without any clogging issues.
I find that both of the makers in question, create superb instruments. I have seen so many threads that attempt to glean information from others, in an attempt to make a personal decision between two different whistles. I often wonder about the verbiage that finally leads to a purchase of one or the other.
In this case, Overtons (hereafter referred to as Goldies) and Burkes have a number of shared characteristics: Their playability is beyond reproach - different - but beyond reproach. One has no trouble going back and forth between them… The instruments are both delivered, in tune with themselves. The fit and finish of both instruments are excellent. Both makers believe in, and stand behind their product. And the list can go on and on…
However, in one characteristic, they are truly different. A Burke sounds like a Burke. A Goldie sounds like a Goldie. Never the twain shall meet, and all that… The sound of each of these whistles is wonderful - and entirely different. Both a French Horn and a trumpet are identifiable as instruments of the brass family. And yet their individual timbres are just that - individual… The same holds true for Colin’s instruments, and for Mike’s instruments. There is a difference in philosophy, here. Each whistle sounds precisely like it’s maker wants it to sound - nothing more, and nothing less.
Whether one ‘prefers’ a Burke or a Goldie is a very personal choice. I would hope that while it is advantageous to listen to the opinions of others, that the final selection is made mostly on primary information - playing each, if possible, and doing a lot of listening to the two instruments.
Best to you in your choice. You truly cannot go wrong, here. If I were a betting man, I would bet you will eventually own both…
Byll
To echo Byll…
There’s nothing like a Goldie. (Overton)
There’s nothing like a Burke.
I have an old Bernard Overton Low Eb, that is as strong and as beautiful, and as cosmic and as sensitive and, and, and…
And I also love me Burkes.
Happy hunting, and happy playing!
I also had the clogging problem with my Goldie/Overton low D, and to a lesser extent high D, both fairly hard blowers with narrow windways. Duponol / detergent treatment didn’t seem to help much, probably because of poor adhesion to aluminum.
So last week I sat down and gave them the waxed dental floss treatment. Made sure the windway was perfectly dry, then ran a length of waxed floss through, making sure to rub it against the entire inside surface area until the wax was mostly transferred from the thread. Repeated a second time with a fresh length of floss.
Result: Big success so far. The clogging problem seems to have vanished. I suspect it’s a combination of the wax aiding condensation run-off, and making sure the windways are absolutely clear of micro-debris. Both whistles now have around 2 hours playing time post-treatment, and the problem has not yet recurred.
So, an easy, inexpensive, and effective maintenance chore for the legendary Goldie/Overton sound. Plus, thanks to flavored dental floss, my whistles now smell like mint.