Off the market for what seems like at least a few years, Tony Dixon has just reintroduced the heavy brass high D. It got great reviews before, and I never understood the stop of manufacturing, but it’s back. Maybe this just means the post-COVID marketplace is recovering well enough for whistle makers to feel some encouragements?
When I saw the thread-title I thought it might be about The Heavy Brass (Low) D.
I had one, the “Chieftain Gold” as Phil called it, and holy moley it was heavy.
You’re talking the Dixon High D with the thick brass-tubing body and plastic top?
When I visited Tony’s booth at the NAMM show years ago he had several of those, which I tried and really liked. To me they were his best-playing High D.
(I’m holding Tony’s prototype all-plastic conical-bore Low D.)
I haven’t heard the name “Chieftain Gold” before, interesting.
I have a Chieftain from the late 1990s or early 2000s that has a brass main tube and aluminum head. It can second as a defense weapon, as the brass tube is that really thick walled stuff. It has a wonderful sound and playability, but is monstrously heavy. Is this the model you are talking about?
The “Chieftan Gold” looked like an Overton or Goldie (thick walls) but entirely of brass.
The low register was too soft for my liking but the 2nd octave was perhaps the best of any Low D that I’ve ever played.
It was so heavy that I ended up getting a Bari Sax strap. It had a plastic clip that I could clip onto the open end of the whistle to save my hands from getting too tired holding the thing up.
I founds some photos of the Chieftain Gold on other posts, cool. Mine looks similar just the head is aluminum and includes a tuning slide. It is a beast in terms of weight.
I’m sorry that I never took a photo of that Chieftain Gold Low D while I had it.
I just now looked around online and couldn’t find any photos of Chieftain Gold Low D’s but I did find photos of a couple Mezzo sizes.
Phil Hardy had a super interesting video where he discussed the history of his whistles and he demonstrated a Chieftain Gold Low D. (He seemed to have an example of every kind of whistle he’s ever made, which is amazing.)