Both of these whistles have been played less than an hour. Both are left over from the heady days when I was looking for whistles I could truly call my own. At this point, they are laying in a padded drawer, and deserve to be played… Both are in excellent condition. Each cost me around $80.
If interested, please make me an offer, off board.
1 Chieftan Bb - Aluminum non-tunable. A good example of Phil’s art and craftsmanship. Good, even, slightly chiffy tone from the bottom to the top. No surprises in the playing response. Truly an nice whistle - purchased in Ireland.
1 Ralph Cook PVC non-tunable low D - black - mid-serial number… Money is needed, or this collector’s item would not be leaving my care. The whistle is easy to play and has finger-hole positions advantageous for smaller hands. Check the Undisputed’s review of this whistle on the C&F main site.
Art and craftsmanship?!?!
As I understand it, Chieftans are made by a contracter by machine. Phil almost definately has never even touched, seen or even thought about that whistle.
Referring to the art and craftsmanship on a Chieftan is like referring to the art and craftsmanship on a Generation… machines are not artisans nor craftspeople.
Sorry to rain on your parade here, but I think it’s important for people to know that Chieftans are not made by hand, and certainly not by Phil’s hand.
Best,
Chris
Byll -
I really am sorry for putting such negativity in your thread, especially when you are trying to sell your whistles. I just think it is important for potential buyers to know the truth about the whistles. I wouldn’t have said a single thing - kept out of the thread altogether - if it weren’t for the comment about artisanship and craftsmanship.
Some Chieftans play marvelously! I’ve played some that I really loved, but finding a good Chieftan is kind of like finding a good Generation… they’re out there, but it’s a flook to find one.
Byll, I totally trust you to give your opinion on how well this whistle plays… if it’s a good one then it’s a good one.
I just didn’t want people to think that Chieftains or Kerrys were made by hand.
Best,
Chris
Yeah, having bought many bad whistles myself when I started playing, based on other people’s reviews and comments, I think it’s fair enough to set the record straight on a few things, would have saved me a couple of hundreds bucks.
Now, Generation whistles ARE craftmanship! It shows that men are able to create machines that will end up creating musical instruments that are half of the time in tune! That’s Art!
“The whole Chieftain/Kerry issue just fires me up.”
I think that was the real issue…
On a lighter note… products that are machine made, be it in part or totally, have to first be engineered by someone either from a working prototype or design drawing. In many cases both. After the manufacturing process begins someone still has to oversee production and quality control. In the case of whistles it may be deburring, polishing or removing scratches or marks by left by machine handling as well as voicing and final tuning.
I suspect the voicing step wasn’t intended in the lower end product products and that’s why so many are duds.
My experience with Chieftains has
been positive. I like the lower
ones better than the soprano,
the latter being too shrill
in the upper register for my
personal taste. But the lower
Chieftains (I’ve played mostly
As and low Ds) seem regularly
good in a rough and
ready way. I like ‘rough and
ready’ in whistles sometimes–makes
em sound like whistles.
Hey, look, if you like a whistle buy it. Who cares who made it as long as you aer satified with the product. That goes for stuff besides whistles as well.
Wow, that’s a nice philosophy. What about products made using underpaid children in poor countries? Would you never stop and think about that? It’s very important for me to know who’s made what I want to buy, and how.
Hmmm… who cares if those shoes are made by government controlled child slave-labor (yes, slave) in Myanmar, as long as they’re cool looking?
Who cares if that cocoa used in that chocolate bar is made by slaves in Cote D’Ivoire - I mean, hey, it tastes good to me! And that’s what matters, right?
Ahh, thanks, that’s a great link, will have a good look this week. Yeah, even though it’s gettin’ OT, it’s a little scary to think that while we enjoy stuff like movies, cars, etc, most of the products we use/buy are the result of lotsa suffering. At least it doesnt seem to be the case with whistles
Thread hijacking aside, I hope you sell your whistles. I’m quite pleased with the sound of my Chieftain low D, and I’m sure that neither Chris nor Az are trying to imply that Phil Hardy uses slaves or child labor in their manufacture.
I respect Loren’s knowledge…He has asked me to add a caveat concerning the finger spacing on the Cook Low D. He has measured a lot of low whistles, and does not find the Cook to have particularly close spacing, in comparison to some more modern low D’s, irrespective of Dale’s early review of the product. I have played the Cook and it gives me no troubles, but I use piper grip.
Interested parties take note.
Best to all and thanks, Loren.
Byll
And how much more suffering would there be in those places if they couldn’t even make .50-1.00 a day? In many area’s it makes the difference between a family starving or not.
In a perfect world all kids would be in school and no one would go hungry or suffer from addictions, women wouldn’t be treated like cattle and everyone would have a nice warm cozy house. But until someone figures out a way to do all that, what seems like pretty piss poor wages to someone well fed and warm in America might be all that’s keeping someone alive in a third world country.
