hi guys i have a quick question, what is the difference between a Dixon trad brass and a Dixon trad nickel please?
One is brass, the other is nickel. 
Seriously, it’s just personal preference of look and feel. The sound is identical. And they’re both fine trad-sounding whistles that I never hesitate to recommend.
I would strongly disagree that the sound is identical. Similar, perhaps, but not identical. I called in at Big Whistle in Lancashire and played one of each while debating which to buy. The brass was sweeter, the nickel more penetrating. If I’d wanted a whistle for solo playing, I would have bought the brass, but as I wanted something for sessions, I bought the nickel. I already had a Clarke with a nice sweet tone anyway.
I would disagree with your disagreement.
I suppose I could post clips of the same head on brass and nickel tubes, and see if you could tell the difference. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong. Would have to wait until tomorrow. Recording whistles at 2 AM is frowned upon here. 
I like the look and feel of brass, but thats a personal flavor preference.
You’ll like which ever you choose, I’d bet.
They will be very similar, but not completely the same. Brass will sound slightly more mellow than nickel, nickel will sound slightly brighter than brass. Otherwise, volume, chiff, and back pressure will be the same. I personally preferred the nickel one. I will be interested to hear any samples MTGuru may do, considering I used to own the Dixons he’s talking about.
I recommended the Dixon to a friend who had a Sweetone. He bought a brass one - I have a nickel one. We compared whistles last weekend. The brass sounded rather breathy when my friend played it compared to the nickel one I play. Then we swapped whistles - this time the nickel whistle sounded breathy!
I also have a Dixon trad high E. The whistle sounds like the intonation isn’t great, until I swap the head with my other Dixon, which fixes the problem immediately.
My conclusion is that the whistler is by far the biggest factor when it comes to tone. The whistle head is the second largest factor. I’m looking into the effect that the tube material has on the tone. There’s definitely an effect, but it’s very hard to pin down.
this is great i love a healthy debate, it will be great to hear a vid comparing the two Dixons i am thinking of buying, thanx for all the posts, very interesting indeed
Interesting. I would guess that Hoopy Mike is right that the whistler is the biggest factor. This would make it theoretically possible that MT Guru could take his two whistles and play them so that they sound identical, while if I played the same two whistles they might sound a little different from each other (and no doubt different again to how they sounded when he played them).
My preference is to play with less pressure where possible, in contrast to those who like to ‘lean into’ a whistle.
Conclusion: recommendations are all very well, but if you want to buy a whistle, you need to know how it sounds under your fingers.
PS my sweet/penetrating is obviously the same as Thomaston’s mellow/bright.
Probably so! It’s all very subjective. Not to mention that, with all other things being hypothetically equal, a whistle will still sound different while you’re playing it vs. when you’re sitting in front of it listening to someone else play it. It’s always interesting at a session to hand your whistle to someone else to play for a set while you get up and see how it sounds from across the room.
I’m dealing with a few issues - including a very noisy computer fan - before recording. Maybe today.
Perhaps a game to play when the next whistle tour happens is for each player to record the same tune played on the travelling whistle. It’d be an interesting comparison.
But might demonstrate as many differences between recording environments, equipment and techniques as players?
To answer the OP, I don’t like nickel. Thought I would (because it doesn’t tarnish and has this dubious reputation for clearer tone), but don’t! It’s slippery compared to brass and, despite knowing you can tape the underneath for your thumbs, there’s not much you can do about the top where it still feels ‘wrong’ to my fingers and the holes effectively rule out a similar cure.
thanx for the replies guys certainly food for thought, at the moment i am torn between a freeman Blackbird, a freeman bluebird, a freeman tweaked generation and of course the dixon trad, whilst the trad is half the price of the blackbird and i have’nt seen the bluebird for sale in the UK on my searches so i am in a bit of a dilemma, decisions, decisions
Have you tried contacting Jerry Freeman directly through this forums PM system?
He is an active member and has answered all my querie.
And the Bluebird is so worth it.
You can order the Bluebird directly from Jerry. His email is jerry"at"tcenet"dot"net. of course replace the “at” and “dot” appropriately.
Or you can PM him directly through this board.
ecohawk
been in touch with Jerry to discuss when the ‘Blackbird’ will be available in the UK, but if I miss out will order direct from Jerry, this was before the Bluebird came into the equation, so if they are not available will order direct from the man himself, thanx for the input guys
kaizer