Chieftain or Harper
- King Friday
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Chieftain or Harper
I'm looking to buy an high end whistle in the key of D and I cant decide between a Chieftain or a Harper. Anyone have any opinion?
- canpiper
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Phil Hardy is developing, or has developed a second generation Songbird high D. I'd be interested in looking at that if I was going for another metal high D. I've only heard the first generation, but it sounded good, and if the second generation is an improvement, I'm sure it would be a very fine whistle indeed.
- Whistling Willie
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- Tell us something.: I love whistling and I have been a member of this forum for many years now.I have found it very informative and helpful over the years that I have been here.
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- William T. Anderson
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- Parkwood
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I've played both and would put the Harper in front for the following reasons.
Intonation - Steve Harper finishes all whistles by hand so intonation is spot on. Chietain intonation can be very variable.
Volume - Harper is fairly loud and sweet sounding (there's a nice clip on Phil Hardy's video section BTW). Chieftain has lots of back pressure so is a loud whistle.
Intonation - Steve Harper finishes all whistles by hand so intonation is spot on. Chietain intonation can be very variable.
Volume - Harper is fairly loud and sweet sounding (there's a nice clip on Phil Hardy's video section BTW). Chieftain has lots of back pressure so is a loud whistle.
- chas
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I would have said exactly what Parkwood said in his first post. I've owned several Harpers, and the quality has been consistently high and the sound consistent across the different keys. (The Silkstone alloy is a great whistle, but has a sound totally different from the Harper or Chieftain.)
Check out Preacher's for sale thread; he has an engraved C/D set for sale. The Harper C is one of the finest whistles of any key you'll ever find, plus the engraved set is just beautiful.
Check out Preacher's for sale thread; he has an engraved C/D set for sale. The Harper C is one of the finest whistles of any key you'll ever find, plus the engraved set is just beautiful.
Charlie
Whorfin Woods
"Our work puts heavy metal where it belongs -- as a music genre and not a pollutant in drinking water." -- Prof Ali Miserez.
Whorfin Woods
"Our work puts heavy metal where it belongs -- as a music genre and not a pollutant in drinking water." -- Prof Ali Miserez.
- dyersituations
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Cheiftains
Phil hand-finished all Chieftains, which are made by a machine ran by an experienced engineer. I think Chieftians are GREAT instruments.
-Casey
-Casey
Life is good.
They are all good whistles. It is going to come to personal preferance of tone. Try to buy used whistles first. You can just about get your money back if you sell it. Then buy a new whistle.
''Whistles of Wood'', cpvc and brass. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=69086
- straycat82
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I'd say talk to the maker before you buy. I've found, in my experiences, that most are willing to stand behind their product so if you aren't happy with it they'll usually be willing to take it back as long as it's in the same condition it was sent to you in. Making a larger purchase such as this (even though it's still significantly cheaper than most other instruments) shouldn't be taken lightly. You should definitely base your decision on how it sounds when you play it, and how it feels in your hands, mouth, etc. as you play it. Nobody else can tell you these things. If you really like the whistle but something seems off, again, talk to the maker and maybe they can tweak something to make their product work for you.Tommy wrote:They are all good whistles. It is going to come to personal preferance of tone. Try to buy used whistles first. You can just about get your money back if you sell it. Then buy a new whistle.
Good luck!
- King Friday
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