Chieftain aluminum whistles

[sunshine]

I was thinking of buying a Chieftan aluminum whistle. How are they? Any advice.

[PhilO]

I haven't had any recent experience with them, but there's a reason. Prior to the last several years Chieftain's earned a reputation as very inconsistent from one whistle to the next, odd considering that they're not custom made. My personal experience - a mediocre and very loud C, a horrible worst whistle I've owned G, and a really terrific low F. I much prefer Overtons and you should ask around about the Burkes or Silkstones - both wonderful IMHO and priced around the same as Chieftains. Remember this is personal preference, you should either try the whistle before purchase or ensure easy return policy if not satisfied, and Chieftains may be better and/or more consistent these days; others might know better. Enjoy your playing.

[Mark_J]

I just got an (old style to be fair) Chieftain B. I did not like it at first. I had some problems with the tuning slide. It was held snug with a piece of steel wool. Once the steel wool fell out, the slide was so loose it did not touch. I tried teflon tape. It seized up. After some freezer/hot water/freezer treatments, it came apart. There were gouges in the aluminum of the slide that needed smooting out. When I got them smoothe it was snug but some air got through. I used some keg-lube food grade silicon lubricant to treat the inside. It is now snug and air tight.

At this point I finally got the hang of how the air pressure works. It requires a lot of air. It is loud in the lower octive. If you can make it air tight, you can make the second octive sound nice and not much louder than the first. I find that my Chieftain has a nice chiffy traditional sound, just louder than other whistles. It is growing on me. Phil got me this whistle at a significant discount. For the price ($77 after shipping and with the $10 fee paid to the exchange broker), it was really good deal.

In it's native price range, it is on even turf with other whistles of similar price. I would be very thoughtful about choosing between this whistle and others in its price range (Burke, Overton (more expensive, but just slightly), Silkstone). Just some food for thought. You should try as many whistles as people let you try before sinking cash into one. Also, e-mail these people and see what they can tell you. Phil, Colin, and Mike have always given me quick responses to e-mail.


Cheers and good luck.

[DrGiggles]

I bought a low D Chieftain a few months ago and a Soprano D a few weeks ago. I love the Low D; it's got a very sexy, raspy sound in the low register. Wonderful for slow airs.

Now the Soprano D... I've played it twice. It's third octave is almost impossible without screeching! And notes above A' can be difficult. If all your music is between D and G', it's not a bad whistle. It's tone is chiffy - but it's definitely not my favorite whistle.

I'd say go for a Dixon if you want to practice good economy (the Dixon is still the whistle I first pick up when I want to play), and silkstone if you want to pay a little more. I'm waiting on my first set of Burkes, but from very trusted sources, they're also a wonderful buy.

As a generalization, I would say there are other whistles I would recommend in any price range over a chieftain.... Now if you're playing Outside, in a crowd, during a rainstorm, then the Chieftain is for you. The darn things are indestructible!

(Well, at least the non-tunable ones are... as it would seem)

My 2 cents,
Frank


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: DrGiggles on 2001-08-14 21:40 ]</font>

[Redding]

Another thing to bear in mind about Chieftains is that they are heavy, even if they are aluminium (no lightweight Little Black Whistles here).

The soprano D does have a lot of chiff, but I really like the fact that you don't have to stretch your fingers too much with the B flat or A whistles. All my Chieftains are dead on tune according to my electronic tuner.

Phil Hardy of Kerry/Chieftains frequently has sales, so you might want to keep an eye out -- he usually posts a list of whistles on the board. The sale whistles really are a bargain in terms of cost.

--Judith

[garycrosby]

I have an "old-style" Chieftain Soprano D that I got for a very good price. When I first got it I noticed that inside the tone holes there were lots of burrs from machining - I carefully cleaned them out with a Dremel tool and some polishing bits - it made a HUGE difference to how it played and sounded. I find B' and A' quite difficult to play clean. IMO its breath requirements are bit high (especially B' and A') but not unreasonable - a bit more than my Clarke Original. It is heavy but I like that. It tends to sound like crap if the windway gets dirty so I keep it very clean. I have great difficulty playing it fast (I don't know why) but I like really it for airs and american country folk tunes. FWIW, I've only been playing for 6 months and the only instruments I have to compare it with are Clarke Sweetone, Clarke Original, and Walton's LBD