Well, now that I have some money, I’m going to get a Dixon. I hear they sound traditional, yet are loud enough to be heard over other instruments.
Problem is, Tuneable or Non-Tuneable??
I really don’t want to spend over $40 for the Dixon w/brass tuning slide (even though I like it a lot), but I don’t really like the look of the reg. Tuneable one…
I guess I’m asking for opinions… 
Thanks in advance! 
I have a non-tunable Dixon, and it’s a great whistle for the price.
One catch: it is tuned slightly sharp compared to A=440. Since the modern tendancy is for everyone to want to tune as sharp as they can anyway, it doesn’t turn out to be a problem when playing with the guys.
So even though I love my nontunable Dixon, if I get another one, it’ll be a tunable one. Call me old-fashioned, I still like to tune and play at A=440.
Best,
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
Go for the tuneable. I have the regular (non-brass) tuneable and I love it. I did have a nonplayable one, but Tony Dixon replaced it – actually, he insisted on replacing it, even though I was willing to try a little repair. Impressive.
Anyway, I thought I would not ever be playing with people so the whole tuneable thing would not be an issue. I don’t play with people often but I have done so. I was not able to use any of my non-tuneable whistles, but I was able to use a tuneable one. And now I can almost hear when I pick a whistle up and it’s not at least close to being in tune. It’s not pleasant. With the tuneable, you can correct that quickly, and you won’t have to worry about having to replace a whistle you’ve come to love because you can’t tune it!
My .02.
Tery
Thanks all.
On 2002-11-07 13:32, peeplj wrote:
One catch: it is tuned slightly sharp compared to A=440.
Hi, noob question here, but what is A=440?
A=440 refers to an internationally agreed standard where the note “A” is represented by a vibration occuring 440 times a second, or at 440 Hz.
There is a tendancy for lots of folks both in folk and classical to want to tune sharper than that–sometimes much sharper than that–because they think it gives them a “brighter” sound.
Which is a shame, because it means eventually the standard will probably be redefined at A=445 or so, and at that point lots of really good older instruments are going to be very difficult for musicians to play in tune, especially in an orchestral setting.
Best,
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
I know that my ear seems to be conditioned to be a hair sharper than A=440… I can still hear the ‘on’ pitch, but it always sounds a touch flat to me…
thanks
Last week I ordered the Brass Ring Tunable Dixon D from TheWhistleShop. I recvd. an email shortly after that that they were out of stock so I got the regular tunable one instead. Now I did not care too much for the look of the regular tunable D but I figured I would give it a try and boy was I suprised!!! The picture does not do this whistle justice. It is a very pretty whistle and wife likes it’s sound much better that my Susato D and my Sweetone.
Not being very good with the whistle yet all I can say is that the Dixon Tunable D is a good balance between the loudness of Susato and the sweet sound of th Sweetone…
BTW:
The one thing I did not like about it was the cheesy stickers on it. I removed the D and the gold trim from the bottom of the whistle. Then I used a gold paint marker and recreated these accents with it. Much better…
[ This Message was edited by: Fyndhorn-Kroog on 2002-11-08 11:08 ]
Ok.. so how sharp is sharp when concerning the Non-tuneable??
I think im going with the tunable, it doesn’t cost THAT much more and if I play with others i wont have to worry about pitch.