Hi Everyone
I’m thinking about getting a Dixon soprano whistle and have seen these two types. Anyone make a comparison of these yet that could tell me if the brass slide is worth $12 or so more? What effect does it have on the whistle? (Sound, maintenance, reliability, etc) Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Hi Jim,
I have both, and to be honest I prefer the non-brass one. The Brass whistle has a much cleaner, purer tone, the non-brass is much chiffier. I guess it’s a metter of personal preference.
I’ve never noticed any difference in air requirements between the two types. The Brass Slider does look rather smart.
I got the brass slide model several months ago (I don’t have the other) and was very disappointed. It’s my most expensive and least satisfactory whistle. The slide was loose, so that 1) the mouthpiece waggles back and forth in its socket and 2) always has a tendency, when pulled out, to slide back in. The slightest pressure (as in from playing) makes it do this; the result is you’re always playing quite a bit higher than you want to. Up in that range the higher notes are very piercing. Also the whistle was not in tune; c sharp was noticeably too sharp. All in all I was not impressed and pretty much never play the thing. I should have got a full set of generations instead and had fun trying to tweak them. I might have got one good one in the bunch anyway.
Michael, if you’re not happy with your Dixon, e-mail Tony Dixon! I did, and the replacement he sent is a wonderful whistle.
TK
Yes, Michael, contact Tony Dixon. The sop D w/ brass tuning slide is one of my very best whistles. It’s very pure and crisp…the best whistle I have for fast songs with triple-tonguing in them.
On 2002-11-01 08:00, Martin Milner wrote:
Hi Jim,I have both, and to be honest I prefer the non-brass one. The Brass whistle has a much cleaner, purer tone, the non-brass is much chiffier. I guess it’s a metter of personal preference.
I agree the non-brass has a sweeter tone less chiff.
I’ve never noticed any difference in air requirements between the two types. The Brass Slider does look rather smart.
I agree the non-brass has a sweeter tone less chiff.
[ This Message was edited by: Wizzer on 2002-11-02 10:57 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Wizzer on 2002-11-02 10:57 ]
On the non-brass tunable model, does the head joint part stay in place well or is it a little wobbly?
I’m now torn between the untunable vs. the non-brass tunable model…
I have the brass slide one and it is a beautiful little whistle with a lovely tone and easy playability. However, somewhere down the line the joint worked loose and I now have the same loose brass slide problem (I’ll be visiting Tony at some stage and will discuss). Even so, I could buy 20 Gens and never get one to match it.
On 2002-11-02 16:30, Jayhawk wrote:
On the non-brass tunable model, does the head joint part stay in place well or is it a little wobbly?I’m now torn between the untunable vs. the non-brass tunable model…
It stay in place. It is about the same on both whistles.
I have all three: non-tunable, tunable two-piece plastic and tunable w/brass slide. The non-tunable is my car whistle, the all-plastic collects dust and the brass slide whistle is one I play quite often in performance. To my ear (and I admit that I’m am not an audiophile) the Dixon w/brass slide is narrowly the best of the three. I’ve had mine for six months or so and have not had any problem with loose join. With my samples, at least, the brass slide version is remarkably like the non-tunable in terms of tone and “chiff”, both are better than the two-piece plastic, which WAS loosey-goosey and did not have the same tone quality.
Most people that I ask enjoy the tone of the brass-slide Dixon over, say, my tweaked Black Dog or Oak or Meg/Sweetone (though these same people prefer the tweaked classic Clark D best of all).
I would have no hesitation in buying a Dixon brass slide high D for even the pickiest whistle-playing friends for Christmas.
Ian
Edited to include reference to Clark D
My village keeps calling. Apparently their idiot is missing.
[ This Message was edited by: bassnwhistle on 2002-11-03 01:01 ]
I have Dixon with the Brass Slide, I have had no problems with the slide. It plays wonderful. I had a Waltons High D before I got the Dixon…I think it is worth every penny!