I have many desires to buy one tony dixon, that they recommend to me?
a DixonTrad, DX002, etc…
thanks all!!
I just bought one of the Dixon polymers in D (DIX004) from whistleanddrum but I haven’t received it yet but I’ll let you know my impressions when I start road-testing it. Are they preferable to Susatos?
if they are handmade they must be better than the susatos or not?
I was curious because the Dixon I purchased was about the same price as a Susato in D and they are both “plastic” whistles.
I had a Dixon high D alloy. A tunable whistle with polyemer head and aluminium body. The sound was beautiful, I only had difficulties with the bell note, which was actualy too soft. The whistle is very different from Susato. Many people love Susato and others hate it, because of the sound, it’s supposed to be recorderlike and very loud. Dixon is not too loud. Also it’s a beautiful looking whistle, especially the alloy I had. I traded it for an Impempe, also same priceclass. Impempe is supposed to be softer, but mine is somewhat louder, all made of aluminium, slightly less neat finished than Dixon (which is perfectly finished), but I like it’s sound better. You know, difficulty with whistles is that you have to search for them, not may shops have them and if they have them, the collection is scarce. I had the privilege of visiting Colin Goldie, who had 40 different ones, so I could decide better what kind of whistle fitted to me. You can get some info from soundsamples, but only a fraction, because you don’t hear it’s volume, you can’t feel if it’s appealing to you or comfortable, etc. So I can imagine you’re confused. What you should do best is find a whistlecollector, visit him and try some out. What you also can do is call a whistlemaker and ask him to play something for you through the phone, many are happy to do so, Colin told me. Succes!
Thanks for that informative post. I also found a review of the whistle I just bought over at tinwhistler:
http://www.tinwhistler.com/music/reviews/srcreview.asp?keyword=dixon
Sounds promising. This will be my first intermediately-priced whistles. I have quite a few Feardogs, Clarkes, Clares and Walton’s so far which are all metal whistles. I will try this one out before jumping up to the higher end ones, of which Burke and Busman are next on my list.
Hi Alon,
I have a Dixon trad and a Dixon non tunable polymer whistle. Both are easy blowers.
At first I was using the polymer a lot. I still think its sound as very clear, quiet and soft, but now I like the Trad better. I think (from my beginner point of view) it allows more variation and expression than the polymer.
I find the Trad more like a Generation type wistle, without the drawbacks (shirllness and non steady sound, although I feel much more confortable now with my Generation whistles).
As I have a wet mouth, I also found that the polymer clogs more easily than the Trad. On the other hand, being polymer, it doesn’t care about temperature and you don’t have to warm it up.
Hope that helps.
I have a 2 Dixon polys (high D and low D) and I also have the Trad D. I’ve been pretty darn happy with them as they were my first whistles.
Hi there,
I have a number of Dixon Whistles and a Dixon Rosewood 3 piece flute.
So in order of livability with,
1.Dixon Flute ( I love this flute)
2.Dixon Alloy with Polymer ( the newest one revoiced for sessions)
This one’s getting close to exactly what I want in a D whistle.
I mean in terms of voicing, tone, moving between registers, playability etc. Night and Day in comp with previous alloy polymer, I think.
3.Dixon Brass with Polymer, (Playable, mellow lacks tone, overrated for price)
4.Dixon Alloy with Polymer (the older one) (playable, harder but bland tone, overrated for price)
5.Dixon Polymer ( okay for money and to start with, fairly bland tone)
6.Dixon Trad (Crap!, I think)
In saying that, these are the only whistles I own bar my Gen Bb which is special. For whatever reason, I’ve more or less decided to stick with Dixon. My thinking is along the lines of as he gets better at making them, then I’ll get better at playing them, at least that’s the plan.
Cheers
pkev
mmmm ok!!
I believe that but recommendable serious a DixonTrad, likes a very Irish sound like feadogs and waltons, so I suppose that this he is my whistle.
by the way, whistle Dixon is considered like High- end?
thanks all!!
I have a dixon trad and love it. My session mates the other day requested that I put the flute aside for a bit so I could play it…they really like it.
Eric
(I hope this translates well)
I have or have had the Trad, the polymer with the brass tuning slide, the brass & polymer, the aluminum & polymer, the polymer Low D and the 3 piece Dixon polymer flute. Tony Dixon does good work. The answer, AlonE, depends on sound you want. If you like a traditional celtic sound, the Trad is the best choice IMO. I also like my polymer with the brass tuning slide. The brass & polymer whistle was just too heavy for me. The new aluminum & polymer is a better whistle than the original version IMO.
The Trad would be now be my first choice.
(IMO is in my opinion. Not sure how a translator handles those.) 
I’m a big fan of Tony Dixon whistles, they are very high quality at an affordable price. Dixon’s are fun to play, sound great and the second octave is nice and easy. Most Dixon’s are not loud but I play alone or I play along with music on my computer so to me loud is not an issue. Tony Dixon has just come out with a few whistles that are loud and I bet they will be all I expect from a Dixon just louder.
I got a plastic high D tunable and I’m verry happy with it. It’s definately softer than a susato and plays pretty good. Onely downfall is the tendency to overblow it
If ya have any doubts about what whistle to buy, both should be bought. You can’t have to many whistles. 
I just got my polymer D and I am having great fun with it. It definitely has the cleanest sound of all my whistles and is not at all breathy. It is also the easiest and most-giving on I have - most likely due to the fact that it is the only “plastic” one that I have. It plays clean in both octaves and produces that best c natural among my whistles which tend to have a tendency to sound breathy on that note. I also haven’t had any problems with it clogging yet whereas my other whistles will clog between 10 to 20 minutes. This has become my practice whistle. As to be expected, it plays so clean that it doesn’t have the character of some of the others that I may have.