Can you identify this Low D?

[Mikethebook]

Any ideas what this Low D whistle is please?

[Lars Larry Mór Mott]

Ian Lambe or Cillian O'Briain? hard to tell without a closeup of the mouthpiece.

[Mikethebook]

You think? I didn't think the shape of the curved bit below the window matched either make.

[Lars Larry Mór Mott]

You think? I didn't think the shape of the curved bit below the window matched either make.

To be honest i sold my O'Briain in the late 90's but it looks like it from memory.

[Mikethebook]

Well it was on eBay for £60, so if its either an O'Briain or a Lambe I don't think I got a bad price there for a tuneable whistle. The seller doesn't know what it is but says: "an unusual Low D whistle I picked up in Ireland a few years ago. No makers stamp so maker not known. The tone is like nothing I've heard before on a whistle. Haunting, powerful and very expressive. Best whistle I've played for slow airs."

[Lars Larry Mór Mott]

So you bought it? Congrats and hope it lives up to the sellers claims, although i would charge more for a whistle *that* good
As far as i can remember my O'Briain came sans any stamp or makers mark..

[Mikethebook]

Well, the jury is still out. I had a PM from someone who is pretty certain it was made by Phil Hardy though not one of his current whistles. For a better look at it, and listen, the seller provided this YouTube video: http://youtu.be/PnuLsQDUh2w. Does that help?

[plunk111]

Try pulling the head all the way out and looking for etching (and check the inside of the bottom of the tube as well). I find it tough to believe that a whistle of this obvious quality doesn't have SOME sort of makers' mark on it!

Pat

[Mikethebook]

Good idea, Pat. I will when it arrives. Thanks

Mike

[Sirchronique]

It's definitely not a Lambe, unless the appearance was different at some point. The Lambe uses different looking aluminium than a Goldie or Chieftain. It is reflective and looks more like the aluminium on a Burke.

[Mikethebook]

Have you checked the video? The line around the slide and the fact that the slide is rounded suggest a Lambe to me now. On the other hand, the tone appears to be more complex than I would have anticipated with a Lambe, and I wouldn't regard a Lambe as being a powerful whistle as the seller suggests. Having watched the video, the person who thought it was by Phil Hardy has changed his mind, thinking that Phil's whistle would have had a brushed appearance. So I'm still none the wiser.

[Lars Larry Mór Mott]

Why do you reckon the Lambe not to have "complex tone"? Just curious as i have never heard one being played.

[greenspiderweb]

Hmm, looks a lot like this one, doesn't it Mike?!:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=90388

[Mikethebook]

You're right, Barry. Looks like we've been here before.

Lars, from reviews and even from listening to a Lambe at one point it is supposed to have a much purer less complex tone. But looking back at the thread Barry suggested I'm increasingly wondering if it is in fact a Lambe.

[Sirchronique]

Perhaps I should retract my statement, in this case. The one in the linked thread does indeed look like a Lambe. The tuning slide especially gives it away on that one.

Edit: Yeah, upon closer examination it looks like the tuning slide on that one has a little slit where it pushes up into the above part. I do think that is possibly a Lambe.



I should have looked more closely, as I think I was mistaken.

The picture does make the dimensions look somewhat differently though. I think they distort the size and colour a tad. In the picture it does also seem to have the tuning slide closer to the head than on mine, no logo on tuning slide, and the incline under the window looks to be at a different position. Anyone here play one of the older Lambes and can say if the appearance has changed at all?

I'd say you've come across a good find if you did get a Lambe for that price, Mike!