I found this forum after purchasing my first Alto A whistle and realizing I may have made a bad purchase.

I've had a Dixon DX007A for about a week, and even with hours on it, anything above the octave E (XX0000+) is unreachable. I'm also finding the octave B (XXXXX0+) sound week or sometimes a strange harmonic (maybe a 5th up) sounds instead of the desired tone. Sometime both tones sound a bit giving me a pretty horrible squawking sound.

I'm thankful to have found this forum though as I found some great content here confirming that others have had the same challenges and that the Dixon has a reputation for exactly what I'm experiencing.

So now I'm about 90% sure I will be returning the Dixon and replacing it with something else.

I've dabbled with various C & D whistles for 7 or 8 years, having played some whistle in my Celtic pub band for the past 3 years. No session stuff, just some melodies on some of the songs we do. I really like the Alto A for some of the songs we do in D, but will definitely need the second octave to be easier to get to.

Looking for recommendations on a whistle that will be easier to play, probably in the mid price range if possible and that I get a bit of a try-out period with.

I'm in Dallas TX, and I'm not aware of any place within 200 miles where I can test out whistles. Plenty of Generations/Feadogs/Waltons in D around here, but that's about it. That's why being able to get a trial period is super helpful since I'll be spending some decent money on this I bet.

Any and all thoughts will be most appreciated on my issues with the Dixon and thoughts on what else to try.

Thanks in advance!

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As if playing accordion wasn't cool enough, now I play whistle too...

That's really strange, because Tony Dixon whistles usually play fine.

I haven't owned a Dixon A but I've heard others play them and they seemed very nice.

I've owned several different Alto A whistles over the years:

Susato large bore: I didn't care for it, too loud, high notes a bit strident

Susato medium bore: This was a nice player.

Susato small bore: This was the best of the Susatos, lovely high notes, perfect tuning.

Burke: This played like Burkes tend to play, flawless smooth voicing and great tuning, very full low range, powerful bellnote, however a bore a bit on the big side, exceptionally large air appetite, high notes slightly strident.

Sindt: Gorgeous player, about as good as whistles get.

What I play now is a home-made Frankenwhistle, a Generation B flat head on a home-made A body. I love how it plays.

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Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle

Hi, I've gone through several mezzo A whistles to find my favorite. The Susato A was very clean and clinical but loud and used more air. The MK is fantastic, uses a fair amount of air and has a nice husky tone with a great second octave. My Goldie A is brilliant, though this is a very old model that tends to clog. It has a beautifully clear tone but really needs push in the upper octave. I just got a Goldie Bb which has the same bore but is much more balanced between octaves with lower air requirements and more back pressure. If anything I might swap my old Goldie for a newer one-I think Colin makes world class instruments.

The mezzo A is a great key for a whistle, IMO. It's low enough not to pierce in a small quiet space, rich enough to fit neatly among other instruments, and small enough to fit well in most hands. Goldilocks would find it "just right"!

-Peter

I have a carbony F and G that I like very much.They also seem easy on the air. I have heard their low and high Ds and they are good. I would think their A would be nice. I have a Sindt A myself and love it. I've heard a lot of Burkes in lots of keys and they all sound good.

Tony Dixon whistles are generally very good, (I have several in different keys & materials), but the aluminium 'A' seems to have a slightly faulty fipple - to get the higher octave, I had to twist the mouthpiece in my mouth very slightly - after that, it works fine, just have to remember to do it.
(I bought the flute head for it, & it has become a favourite keyless flute now.)

I also have his Trad brass in 'A', a really good whistle; but my absolute favourite 'A' is my Thunderbird, really easy to get good sound from.

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Keith.
Trying to do justice to my various musical instruments.

I think I saw your comments elsewhere which really put my mind at ease honestly. I didn't want to be too quick to jump to the conclusion that it was the whistle and not me, but I'm now convinced it is the instrument.

Some great insight here. Thanks!

I can get a Susato with a trial period which is where I'm going to start. If that doesn't pan out, I think I have a pretty good list assembled from y'all here.

Thank you again!

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As if playing accordion wasn't cool enough, now I play whistle too...

I like playing Alto's a lot more than Sopranos. Hopefully you can get one you like. I make my own whistles so I havent played any of these but a few of my top picks for if I gave up and bought some was Alba and Alexander Karavaev. To my knowledge both are professional grade whistles that play and sound very well. But they cost less than the super reputable Goldie, burke, and MK's.
https://www.albawhistles.com/whistleshop/index.php
https://www.ebay.com/str/shamanicshop?_bkw=nightingale

Sadly Alexander seems to not have any A's for sale but you can get the marked up version from hobgoblin usa if you wanted fast shipping.
https://www.hobgoblin-usa.com/local/sal ... -tuneable/

It may be possible to message him and see if he has or can make an A
https://www.facebook.com/whistles.workshop/

Theres other good makers but these two don't get mentioned as much and I think them seem really good.

I bought a Low E of his from eBay. The seller was a Russian business - Shamanic Boutique. When I received the E whistle there was a business card with the shipment that had their web address. After playing the E I fell in love with it and wanted other keys from him. I took a chance and went to their Russian website and there you can find all of his whistles from high E to low C. They even sell some of his whistles with brass bodies instead of aluminum.

If you decide to go there you will need to go to the bottom of the page, right hand side and change the language from Russian to English. Then on the list of categories on the left side of the page click on Flutes. Scroll down about a half to two thirds of the way down and you will see the Nightingale Whistles of Alexander Karavaev.

I ended up ordering a high B tuneable and a low G tunable delivered for $178 USD. That's much cheaper than going through eBay and one is a key that they don't sell on eBay. They sent me tracking info a couple of days after my order and the two whistles are now on their way to me.

The web address for them is:
shamanic.ru

OH WOW I didnt know that. Thats so much cheaper than his ebay. I just made a cart to see shipping and I think buying an alto A tunable shipped to USA is $87. Thats crazy good for the money. I'm incredibly over committed to making my own whistles (I've bought so many tools and spent so much time haha) that I feel compelled to not buy any but... I may consider picking up one of these to try because its just such a good deal.

https://www.facebook.com/whistles.workshop

Karavaev at FB

On his Ebay listings all of his whistles are made using the same tubing, 22mm, which is more or less standard for Low D and works fine stretched to Low C or shortened to Low Eb or Low E, but for the keys of F and G 22mm is getting very wide.

I just checked his Facebook, thanks for the link.

I just messaged asking what ID tubing he uses for his G, I'm in the market for a narrow-ish bore G. EDIT: His Ebay shop lists his G having a 22mm bore, that's very wide for G, not what I'm looking for.

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Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle

To my knowledge his A and G are 20mm inner. F and up are 22mm inner. Which still isnt what your looking for, but is a tad smaller than 22 haha.
https://shamanic.ru/muzykalnye-instrume ... -karavaev/
I think the number shown on ebay is outer not inner diameter. If you look here with google translate it says that the G is 22mm tube outer but 1mm wall, while the others are 25mm and 1.5mm wall (so 20 and 22 inners).

I actually did make the 19mm inner G I mentioned wanting to make on your Goldie G thread and I think the 19mm works pretty well. The tone is awesome, it sounds like a low whistle that just cant go as low. And as long as the mouthpiece is good can still easily hit the high notes. I find if I put my F head on my G it will be slightly harder to hit the high notes on the G than it was on the F. So my theory is the high notes should be easy to hit on Alexanders G because it shared the head with the A (and probobly a few others). So my guess is that the mouthpiece is made to blow A well, G slightly easier, and B slightly harder. I could be totally wrong though. But this is what I've found at least.

I like my Shearwater A. I also just got a narrow G which is the same bore as the A. (The normal G is a bit wider than the normal A.) I also like that a lot. Not sure which I like bette.