Dixon Trad - Your Experiences?

[Folk312]

Any suggestions on where to get a Dixon Trad in the US?

You can also try 'North Art Heritage Music' on Ebay. I've bought several items from them and am very pleased with the products and service.

The Dixon Trad is listed here:
http://cgi.ebay.nl/Dixon-Penny-Whistle- ... 913wt_1332

[Hotblack]

I have a Dixon Trad being delivered today.............

Also, how does volume compare to others? I don't need it to be particularly loud, as the session isn't a full-on dance music session with heaps of competing melody instruments, but it'd be nice if it were loud enough to work with a voice, a couple of guitars and the odd fiddle or mandolin. I'm expecting it to be a little quieter than my Feadog nickel D. What do you reckon?

I got a Brass Trad for Christmas. It's a lovely sounding whistle but is definitely quieter than my Generation and Feadogs. It's not a problem usually but when the session is very full the lower octave can struggle to cut through the noise. I'll see how it goes for me but I may go back to the Feadog on really busy session nights.

[waltcamp45]

Agreed with the newer ones being quieter. I haven't had the chance to measure the diameter of my new one, but the old one appeared to be roughly the same diameter as my Mellow Dog (maybe a bit smaller, but not much). The newer one reminds me of an Oak in terms of its smallness -- though it plays much better, of course!

[I.D.10-t]

I am not qualified to review the whistle....

...but here I go.

The thing wants to play in tune. It wants to play well up to the second G, after that it becomes piercing.

The whistle is great.

I have preferences. I like the ability to change notes a few cents by blowing. I cannot do this with this whistle like I can with my Oak.

[MTGuru]

I got a new Dixon trad last week, and it plays quite differently from its ancestor. I noticed the cylinder is much smaller in diameter than the old one, and it's got tons more chiff. It's not a bad sound, but it seems quite different from how they used to sound.

Can someone with a new Dixon Trad put a caliper to it and measure the tube?

[I.D.10-t]

The Oak tube fits inside of it. I'll measure tonight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why am I on the whistle forum??

[MTGuru]

The Oak tube fits inside of it. I'll measure tonight.

Thanks, ID. I'm concerned that if the design has changed, the whistle I've been recommending is not the whistle I think it is.

I think the Oak tube is standard 1/2 inch OD, like Feadóg and Gen - which won't fit inside the 17/32 inch Trad. Which implies that the new trad uses a larger, not smaller, tube. So I'm confuzzled. And a change of tube size either way implies a change of head and change of sound.

Why am I on the whistle forum??

Existential angst?

[waltcamp45]

Sorry Oak may have been a bad comparison on my part. In my mind's eye, Oak is comparatively small. Sorry if I mislead.

But the new one is definitely smaller than the old one. I'm afraid I don't have a micrometer, but maybe I can bust out the ol' tape measure tonight ...

[buddhu]

Feadog, Generation and Walton's standard bore D whistles fit snugly inside the tube of my Trad - very snugly.

The Trad fits very snugly inside the tube of a Mellow D / MellowDog. It's like exactly the midway between the feadog tube and the bigger bore Walton tube.

Sorry, John, no measuring equipment here, but those fits are snug with some friction/resistance and no room to wobble at all.

Volume (to my ear as the player) is a little less than Feadog, and a fraction louder than a Dixon alloy D with ABS head and brass slide. Very pleasant tone. Not overly chiffy, but a hint.

Don't know if that helps you suss if they've changed much...

[henryz]

Well - you have answered the question quite well. Tube OD's for Feadog and Generations generally range from 0.503" - 0.506" (over my sample of 3 - each brand). Both types fit rather snugly inside the bore of my older Trads. The Trad bore measures approx. 0.508", but mine is a little bit out of round from being carried around (and abused) quite a bit.

In a nutshell - the Trad tube size is the same now as it was 2 1/2 years ago.

(Now I'll have to make an adapter and try a 1/2" tube on a Trad head...)

[MTGuru]

The Trad bore measures approx. 0.508"

Just to be clear ... This is your measurement of a recently purchased Trad?

[henryz]

No, that's the bore diameter I measured on one of my 2 1/2 year old Trads. By bore diameter, i mean inside diameter.

Since the "fit" of a Feadog or Gen tube is "snug" in my (older) Trad and buddhu gave essentially the same "fit" description (Feadog/Gen tube inside his new Trad), I concluded that the Trad tube dimensions haven't significantly changed. Of course, one good direct measurement is worth many indirect ones.

I found a slightly short 1/2" tube (homemade) in my stash of whistlemaking debris and tried it briefly on the Trad head (using a short length of 17/32" S&K tubing as an adapter). It worked, but the Trad lost a bit of the chirp/chiff that makes it otherwise so endearing. Not all experiments work out well...

[waltcamp45]

Okay, I'm a pinhead. I just pitted them end to end again, and if they're different sizes, it's by a few nanometers. I don't know why I had it in my head that the new one was more narrow. I would still ardently claim that it seems to play different than the older one, but by now I've squandered all my credibility!

I try to be a measure twice, cut once kind of a guy ... but this time, it looks like I didn't even measure once ... sigh ... and sorry ...

[MTGuru]

OK, thanks Walt. I've been known at times to leave puncture marks on my pillow, too.

[buddhu]

So it seems they're pretty much unchanged...

Don't worry, Walt. I have half a dozen MkIII nickel Feadog Ds which look to me to be identical in all respects, but I swear that my favourite one sounds and plays better than any of the others. The design didn't change, but there is certainly some small difference in sound, and maybe feel, between individual whistles.

I'm pleased with the Trad.

Which Cnat do you guys use on it? oxxooo sounds good to me on this one, which makes a change. On many whistles I blow that fingering a tad sharp and have to add fingers.

Breath control... I'll have to learn that one day