FrankenDixon Eb
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:34 pm
One of the minor downsides of the Dixon Trad D for fans of Frankenwhistles is the inability to swap heads. The Dixon head is slightly longer (~13 mm) and the tube slightly shorter (~15 mm) than a standard Generation D head and tube. The Dixon tube is also slightly wider. So the Dixon head is not interchangeable with other standard 1/2 inch D heads - Generation, Feadóg, Waltons, Oak, etc.
Pondering this knotty problem here at GuruLabs, I decided to try a standard, larger C head on the Dixon tube instead. First, 7-8 turns of Teflon/PTFE tape to snug up the head on the tube. Unfortunately, it's not possible to pull the head out enough to bring the pitch down to D. But it is possible to push it in far enough for a nice in-tune Eb. Hmmm ...
This position leaves the left hand notes (A and B in particular) sharp relative to the right hand. But a bit of tape over the T2 and T3 holes brings the intonation right back into line. Even the C-nat oxxooo is nicely in tune.
The result? A very nice Eb whistle with a big sound because of the large C head. I'm actually using a Blackbird C head, which works great. And, of course, the hole spacing is that of a D whistle, which might be more comfy for some hands than a standard Eb tube.
So there you have it, something to try. I'll try to post a sound clip later ...
Pondering this knotty problem here at GuruLabs, I decided to try a standard, larger C head on the Dixon tube instead. First, 7-8 turns of Teflon/PTFE tape to snug up the head on the tube. Unfortunately, it's not possible to pull the head out enough to bring the pitch down to D. But it is possible to push it in far enough for a nice in-tune Eb. Hmmm ...
This position leaves the left hand notes (A and B in particular) sharp relative to the right hand. But a bit of tape over the T2 and T3 holes brings the intonation right back into line. Even the C-nat oxxooo is nicely in tune.
The result? A very nice Eb whistle with a big sound because of the large C head. I'm actually using a Blackbird C head, which works great. And, of course, the hole spacing is that of a D whistle, which might be more comfy for some hands than a standard Eb tube.
So there you have it, something to try. I'll try to post a sound clip later ...