Hey Gerry, I got the Songbird you sent me, thanks. An you you may aleady have the Chieftain that I sent you. I thought it would be fun to give our opinions for all to read, since we’ve both played the two whistles. I really like the Songbird. I was WAY surprised by how good it looked. Here are my opinions:
Songbird: Pretty to look at, heavy, good feel, slight chiff, slight airiness, easy to blow in both octaves, balanced volume, not too loud or soft, nice transition to upper octave, almost equal volume between high B and low D…not much difference anyway. Upper notes are very pure sounding to my ear. Lower notes remind me of the way “old” Generation whistles sounded, which is good.
Chieftain: Pretty to look at, heavy, nice feel, similar in sound to the Songbird but louder…very much louder, needs a ton of air at the high end, hurts by ears. Big increase in sound volume at upper end. Not blowind very hard at the high end causes it to drop an octave. Ideal whistle for loud sessions.
I sincerely hope the Chieftain meets your expectations. It wasn’t right for me.