Tony Dixon combo flute/whistle

[Tipple/fipple Flutist]

I have a Tipple PVC and am looking at both whistles and flutes. I have looked at many fine flutes and whistles in the last week, but came accross this offering, is this too good to be true or is it the same as many combination deals, convenience while sacrificing sound quality?

http://www.whistleanddrum.com/Tony+Dixo ... mbo%2Ehtml

I did a search on the forum, but was daunted by the amount of responses on Dixon whistles/flutes(and am cursed with a slow connection at home), so I thought I would just throw this out and see what kind of response it gets.
I am doing very well with my PVC flute, sometimes good, sometimes missing the mark, but the fun is in the trying....
Terri

[Jay-eye]

Hi Terri
Your post is of particular interest to me because I'm thnking of sending for a Tipple just to see what they're really like - on the other hand I may buy a Seery delrin. I can't decide.

However, I HAVE got a Dixon flute/whistle combo and.....
I have grown to hate it! Sorry Tony!

As a whistle it's exceedingly hard to play well, a nightmare in public performance. The notes squawk unpredictably and it takes an awful lot of air. The flute sound doesn't do anything for me either, comes out like 'flute lite'! I thought originally it was the thin wall plastic that causes the poor sound but by all accounts Doug Tipple's 3 pce flute doesn't suffer from that?

Again the Dixon flute seems to take far more air than any other.
It's so bad that I've banished it to the frozen north with my middle daughter who's away at uni. She thinks it's alright - but she's a master on the tin flute so what does she know!?!?

I've recently bought a 'Calmont' plastic flute from off Ebay UK, made over here in the UK by John McCalmont - only cost me £25 or thereabouts and it's terriffic. Beautifully finished, tasty big holes and a sort of bell end. Good solid low D, behaves itself with the octaves and pretty loud when you want it to be. Nice embouchure hole as well so you can get the different tones and express yourself properly. I love it. In a blind test on sound alone you'd swear it was wood. The other day I got to play a Dixon rosewood, a De Keyzer wood and a John Rutzen wood/delrin mix, all of them $450 flutes and my $40 Calmont was easily as good, I think.

So why am I thinking of a Tipple/Seery? Oh, just a case of Whoa or foa or whatever, I guess!
Hope that helps
Jon

ps: just look at that willya! I manage to go years without a post and now I've gone and done two in one day! It's the slippery slope I reckon, I'll be up to 3000 by Christmas!

[Tipple/fipple Flutist]

I can't really speak as an expert on the tipple flute, it's my first, I am impressed by the sound and just the plain durability of this instrument. I take it along with me everywhere assembled and play it at the drop of a hat.
I have many fine wooden native american flutes and I can't abuse them like that, they are too fragile and I'm sure it's the same with wood irish flutes.(I also have one of the finest PVC NA flutes, so I know plastic can be fantastic!)
I guess I should just break down and buy a good whistle, and since I already have a PVC flute, my next would probably be a Casey Burns folk flute, I'd get the wood experience, ergonomic fingering, and a great flute for the price from what I've heard,(I'd get a really fine flute now but am not sure if I have what it takes to play well enough to justify the expense).
I think with the Dixon it's just too good to be true, how can you have your cake and play it too?
You might want to check with Roger, he just got some strange extruded plastic pipe he's experimenting with, could be some unusually good sounding flutes if things go the way he thinks they might.
As a novice, I can't really be counted on to give a true representation of the tipples capability, It plays easily for a novice with no worries or large financial investment. Lets just say it's "fun".

[jonharl]

You don't have to spend alot of money for a good whistle. The Jerry Freeman Tweaked Generation is really good and they're only $36.00 plus shipping. I have one and I love it. Also from what I hear a Syn Whistle is very good also and they're only $36.00 too. Both of these brands are available on line at Gaelic Crossing and whistleanddrum.com plus the Whistle Shop. C&F on the main page has links to all kinds of whistle vendors. For really cheap a Clare for under $10.00 at Lolly Cross is a steal. Mine plays great.

[Tipple/fipple Flutist]

Ive heard good things about the tweaked freeman, I'll check it out and let you know, after all, what does a person have to lose with a price like that!
Thanks for the advice, now I'm thinking about the Seery Delrin just because everybody who has one seems to just LOVE it. I think I will also get the Casey Burns too, can't seem to get enough of these darn wind thingies.....but what the hey, it's not like I have a life or anything that I spend money on....which is just fine with me.
Terri

[Lambchop]

I'm sure that if I were a fine player of the flute, I'd have great success with the Dixon Duo. However, I'm a beginner, so consider my opinion in that light. I can't play anything very well.

I have a Dixon Duo, and I also have a Casey Burns boxwood and a Steve Cox bamboo.

The Dixon is a cylinder of plastic with holes. The Burns and Cox are musical instruments with life and spirit, and I adore both of them.

The holes of the Dixon do not appear to be undercut or shaped in any way. One hole had a curly shred of plastic dangling into the bore. You have to blow between 9 and 10 o'clock on the left side of the embouchure hole in order to get it to sound at all. It is capable of making noises that vary in pitch, but it is very, very difficult to play. I think a skilled flutist might be able to do something with it, but I don't think they'd want to. It was useful only in that it convinced me to get a good flute right away.

I'd get a really fine flute now but am not sure if I have what it takes to play well enough to justify the expense.

So, you have a choice. Go with a poor flute, suffer with it, and die never knowing if you would have been able to play better on a better flute, or go with a better flute, enjoy it, and die a happy woman.


**Edited to say that, in all fairness, the Dixon worked as a low whistle. It's just not very satisfying as a flute, which is undoubtedly a reflection of my personal inability, as the flute doesn't have that added help of the fipple.

[Tipple/fipple Flutist]

Thanks for helping a rank beginner, if all it takes is a good flute to make me happy, by gosh I'm going for it! The problem seems to be it's always the next flute that will do it. (sigh). :roll:
But by gum we have fun scaring dogs on a Friday night around here, even get the wolves and coyotes going with my rendition of the lonesome Boatsman(sp?).
The flute is a great instrument! It's the first one I haven't been able to just pick up and play!:P
Today I was at one of those flea market/boot sales and spotted a sad coronet in a box, I picked it up, (having never played one) and had the scale worked out pretty good before they got it away from me, darn music critics!
Thanks again for all your help, I really need it, don't want to get the wrong instrument at any price.
Terri :roll:

[Jay-eye]

Well done, Peggy.
You summed up the Dixon combo much better than I did. :roll:

[DCrom]

I have the Dixon Duo. I can even, with work, play a tune on it.

If you want an inexpensive, indestructable starting instrument, get one of the $6 Cooperman plastic fifes - they are easier to play, and less out of your pocket.

My Dixon is OK as a low whistle (does take breath control, but sounds OK) and the extra cost for the flute head was reasonable, but I wouldn't buy one primarily as a flute. From all accounts, the Tipple is a better flute, and for the same money there are (IMHO) better low whistles - I'd recommend a Howard or one of the plastic-headed Kerrys.

The first time I had a chance to try a real flute (a Hamilton) I was *amazed* at how much easier it was to play, and how much better it sounded. I've tried a couple of the Casey Burns Folk flutes with the same result. If you want a step up from the Tipple but still want a polymer, a Dixon 3 piece, a Seery, a M & E, or one of the new Wards are all probably better bets - but the Dixon Duo (as a flute, the same as the Dixon 2-piece) is probably a step backwards.

[Tipple/fipple Flutist]

I have done my homework, and thanks to all of your help, I am ordering the Seery tomarrow. I am going to wait a little while on the whistle, (probably until the end of the week), and I'll get a Jerry Freeman Tweaked.

It really helps to have advice on this, I am not excactly a rich person and getting the right instrument is so very important to keep one playing.

I love my Tipple still, I play it every chance I get, several times a day. I love the sound, but can't wait to try something a little more formal and see the differance. Of course I hope I will sound better on a more expensive flute, but I realise that I have a long way to go before I sound good on any flute!

It's also good to know Dixon has other flutes that people hold in high regard, I don't want it to seem like we are bashing his products, he didn't get as far as he has by having a bad product, and I'm sure there are those out there who just love his instruments, the duo is just seems to be one of those things that needs a little more work, if a comprimise can ever be found that combines a flute & whistle successfully.

Thanks again, you folks are the best!
Terri

[Jayhawk]

Tony Dixon's higher end instruments are much better than his low end ones. His 3 piece polymer is a fine flute, and I played an ebony flute of his which sounded wonderful.

Personally, I think you'll be very happy with the Seery. I love mine, and they're indistinguishable (I wonder if I spelled that correctly?) from a wooden flute in looks and in sound.

Eric