Dixon whistles

[slowair]

I voted "Love Them".

At present I have five Dixons:
Soprano D all plastic tunable
Soprano D with aluminum tube
Tenor G tunable
Low D non-tunable
Prototype four piece D flute.

The D's and G are absolutely fantastic. During seisiun I play my Greenwood or Lon Dubh, but when the music goes quiet and someone is singing, I pick up the Dixons to accompany them and it is the most wonderful combination.

I also live in an apartment building, so I frequently use my Dixon aluminum for practice. It's one of my very favorites.

Another thing about the D's...if you use them with a PA system, they are the nicest, most well behaved whistle for the money.

I can't say too much for the low D. We never hit it off. I ran into the same problems with breath control and I guess I just gave up.

I have picked up the flute and while I don't have trouble with embrochure, I have trouble with my damn fingers hurting after a short time. Jim Stone has tried and liked it very much. I'll have it at the NE Whistle Gathering if anyone else wants to give it a try. But don't ask to buy it, it's very special to me. You'll have to get your own.

I am going to give the new tunable low D with aluminum tube a try AS SOON AS TONY ANSWERS THE EMAIL!!! He is a great maker and very friendly. He goes far out of his way to please his customers, but by jingles he's terrible at getting back to you at times.

I am still his number one fan though.

Mike

[burnsbyrne]

I didn't know what to vote so I settled on kinda like them. A Dixon D with the brass slide was my first high-ish end whistle. Actually, the one I have now is the third one I have had. The first one I returned to the on-line merchant because it was horribly out of tune with itself. He sent me another that was also out of tune and had some production flaws. This time I wrote directly to Tony Dixon about the problems with the whistle and he immediately shipped me another one and told be to keep the bad one. That's the one I have now. It's not as badly out of tune asa the others but it is out of tune the second octaveis sharper than the first and the A and B are way sharper than the first octave. If I blow softer to get them in tune it jumps down to the lower octave.
In sum, I think Tony Dixon should be the poster boy for customer relations - really a nice guy. I think that the Dixon w/brass tuning slide is a whistle with problems. I don't play it any more.
Mike

[DRC]

They're basically ok. I have a tunable D, high C, and two As (one, a replacement for the first with problems that Tony told me to go ahead and keep). The D sounds nice with good volume, but isn't terribly accurate. The second register tends to be slightly sharp. Also, the finger holes are too close together overall for my taste. Playing it feels cramped, and I have average-to-small hands. The C is more accurate through both octaves with comfortable hole spacing, but I prefer the sound of my Burke composite C and Susato C. The A has a very nice flute-like tone, but gets a bit scratchy in the upper register. But it sounds nice in the first register. The Dixons were fine when I first started out, but don't play them anymore. I will say that Tony is a great guy to work with, but I've had (or have) other whistles in the same price range or lower that I like better.

DC
SlipJig Cletic Band

[Kansas]

"Nor can you make a silk purse out of a whistlers lips. "

Thanks - I do remember the seller telling me the same thing. I'm sure I need a lot more practice.I guess it is because I have such better luck with the whisltles. I just got a new Busman thanks to Bill Stine (Byll). I love it, it so so sweet and productive. Bill has been very helpful to me in many ways. I am constantly picking it up to play it . The "newness" has not worn off.

I will keep trying once in a while on the Dixon.If the problem persists, I'll convert into a Busman in C to compliment my D. Someone else may have much better luck on the Dixon, it makes sense to have duaI heads.
I'll come full circle again later and try a little smaller flute that may make it easier for me. The finger distance on the Dixon is fine, but the cramping of the wrist to side blow it is a little akward for me it seems. In the meantime, I'm really enjoying the whstles. Easy to start, hard to master!

Thanks for your kind input!!!

[E = Fb]

On a summer's day don't leave it in a hot car anywhere south of the 60th parallell. Not in North America, anyway.

[Pete D]

I have a D Dixon whistle. I like it...definately worth the modest price.

[gonzo914]

I have lots of Dixons. The sop D nontunable is my most frequently played whistle, and I keep a brace of them on hand in case I lose one, which I am wont to do. I've also got a tunable one, which I have used only the couple of times I played with someone and actually had to be in tune. The nice thing about Dixons is that the playing characterstics are identical, so it's easy to switch from non-tunable to tunable.

I also have tunable Dixons in low D, G, A, B flat and C. I don't use them much, but they are still good whistles. The lower ones are easy to finger and don;t require a piper's grip.

But my favorite is my Dixon aluminum tube. Plays much like the regular D, but seems a tad more responsive, and the sound is brighter. But -- this is not a sturdy whistle. The tube on the mouthpiece cracked as a result of being constantly carted across the country in a laptop bag. Tony Dixon offered to replace it, but I just applied a little super glue and some electrical tape, and that seems to have done the trick. looks like hell, but it plays great.

Dixon's are very good beginner's whistles. They're pretty forgiving and it's easy to develop the control to play in the upper octave.

As for quality control, I've never gotten an out of tune one, but I have had one that arrived slightly cracked and one that was just plain bad and would not play in the upper octave at all without screeching and breaking. But as others have said, customer service from T. Dixon is excellent.

[talimirr743]

I totaly agree with everything you said gonzo!

[slowair]

The whistle gods are smiling upon me. I heard from Tony today and I've got a new aluminum low D on the way.
From what he tells me, it's the first in the USA. Come and see it, made play it at the NE Whistle Gathering.
Mike

What's with the Brits working on the 4th of July? I thought they'd have made it a holiday by now. Glad to be rid of the lot of us!

[perrins57]

What's with the Brits working on the 4th of July? I thought they'd have made it a holiday by now. Glad to be rid of the lot of us!

I think we should dump McDonalds, Starbucks and Pizza Hut into the Thames, have a "London Junk Food Party" then declare independence from the USA.
Who knows we may even be able to choose to stop invading places then!?

[anniemcu]

Other - I would love the opportunity to give an educated opinion, but alas, I not only don't own one, haven't 'met' one, and can't affort to purchase one. (where's that teary-eyed, lower-lip-twitching'smilie'??)... although I do know someone who has one... perhaps I can 'meet' it...

[KDMARTINKY]

I have a Dixon Aluminum D that I like very much. Its very reliable.

[Les Cruttenden]

I have two...his new brass high D...a solid whistle ...plays well the high octave is amazingly sweet...no screaching....easy to hit the notes and very mellow...lower octave is good also...below g it can be a little less powerful but not bad and all notes well in tune...i also have the low d aluminium...bit quieter on those notes below the bottom octave g but well ion tune and actually plays beautifully...top octave just so lovely...voted i like them...should have said i love them....can ply the reels jigs etc really well on the high D...lovely. Les.

[Leel]

What's with the Brits working on the 4th of July? I thought they'd have made it a holiday by now. Glad to be rid of the lot of us!

I think we should dump McDonalds, Starbucks and Pizza Hut into the Thames, have a "London Junk Food Party" then declare independence from the USA.
Who knows we may even be able to choose to stop invading places then!?

[perrins57]

I have a Dixon Aluminum D that I like very much. Its very reliable.

Snap - just traded up my all ABS Dixon for the aluminium model. Very pleased, the tone is sweeter than I imagined, it sounds more expensive than it is.