Many good brand names in the past had to deal with product copies which tried to enter the market place. This mostly happens when comparing or even using the high quality brand name to advertise a new product. We are sorry that also OVERTON Whistles® is confronted with this problem as well as our customer. A bad effect of this is that the lack of quality of the copies is then harming the good reputation and name of Overton.
There are every now and again music shops and even big distributors, who try to sell copies under an introduced brand name or even complete different products to their customers. I find this kind of dishonesty unfair especially to their customers who pay good money for a handmade quality instrument and find out later that they were "ripped off" especially when the expected craftsmanship, tone and playability is not there.
"OVERTON Whistles®" is now trademarked and will come down strongly on people who persist to use the name "Overton" to sell other whistles.
We are not always sure when something like this happens and therefore can not stop how they conduct their business. What I want to do is make you aware that this happens and give you advice on how to identify such forgeries or betrayals.
You should always ask if the whistle you want is a geniune "Overton". Sometimes you will see that even your retailer is not always informed correctly and has to admit after a detailed check that the offered whistle is another brand. This normally is directly checkable on the instrument itself. Below you will see what to look for. Always ask for an invoice with the brand name written on it. If you find out later that you were sold another product than mentioned on the invoice you can easily then go back to the retailer and get some redress. If they are not interested you can then get support from your local trading standards advice center (traders chamber etc). I would also be very happy to know which companies or people are doing this.
1.) All "Overtons" have an Overton-stamp on the bottom side of the tube. The O is a bit bigger than the following letters and also is centered to the rest of the name. You will find whistles made by Colin who are stamped CSG OVERTON. This has changed since January 1999. Since this time all whistles made by Colin should have his signature and date engraved inside the ende of the whistle. If you buy directly from him then you can also have your own name engraved in there.
2.) Since 01. July 1998 EVERY "Overton" is supplied with a whistle bag without exception. .
3.) From the 01. January 1999 every "Overton whistle" is additionally supplied with a certificate of authenticity. These are either signed by Bernard Overton or Colin Goldie. Below is an example signed by Colin.
If you have doubts about your retailer, email us and we come back to you as soon as possible.
We hope to safeguard you a bit against copies in the market place with this warning and will do everything possible to stop this from happening.
This page will be regularly updated with new information I find necessary that you know:
+January 1999
Overton Whistles are not supplied to Lark in the Morning.
+March 1999
Since August 1998 NO Overton Whistles were delivered to Waltons which have two shops in Dublin and will not be supplied to in the foreseeable future.
+März 2000
Overton Whistles made by Colin Goldie now come in a padded whistle bag.
+April 2001
Unfortunately we still find shops, most of them being new to the Internet, offering whistles with misleading information. If you find whistles offered with a "combined brand name" like "Overton-XYname-Whistle" these are not Overtons even if they may look like Overtons. Please ask for the Overton stamp as well as the bag and certificate
If you have information, comments, corrections and requests about this please email us.
I like to thank Thom Larson for the use of his excellent pictures.
