Specific Dixon Questions

Whistle
1

I apologize in advance if this has been discussed before–please point me to the correct thread if it has!

I am thinking about buying a Dixon because I would like a good either Bb or A whistle (which are the lowest I can play confortably) and I hear good things about Dixons on this board, and I can afford one. I’d like to know:

How is the Dixon sound? I have a Susato A and a Shaw A–which seem to be opposite ends of the spectrum. I like the Shaw, the breathy sound is my favorite–and I DON’T like the Susato. In fact, I never play it. Where does the Dixon fall, if you had to compare it to one or the other?

How are the breath requirements? I can play my Gen Bb easily but the Shaw A knocks me out. (BTW, I like the Gen but I want something a little easier to hit the second octave with)

And finally, if there’s someone out there who can tell me–I can usually play an A with few reach problems (I have VERY small hands). The Shaw is fine, I tried a Cheiftan and that was fine, but the Susato fingering is hard for me. Would I be better off with a Dixon Bb or A, fingering-reach wise? Buying over the internet makes it hard to tell. I want to get the lowest key I can COMFORTABLY play. (I play alone so the actual usefullness of the key is not an issue. I just want low but still easy enough to play.)

(My computer doesn’t have speakers so I can’t listen to clips, by the way–or I’d compare sounds that way.)

All ye Dixon lovers, thanks in advance for your advice!

2

Hey there -

I see you’re in San Francisco. Have you tried calling Lark in the Morning and seeing if they have Dixons? http://www.larkinam.com

I have a Dixon A but I don’t play it much. Email me if you’d like to borrow it. :slight_smile: (remember to take the spam blocker out of the email address)

–Beth

3

I bought a Dixon Bb about 2 weeks ago and so far hav’nt found it to my liking. I say so far because I did not like my hoover D at first and now it is one of my favorite whistles. As for the dixon Bb I find the lowest note (all holes closed) considerably lesser in volume then all other notes.
I know Shaw makes a Bb and am thinking of making tha my next whistle.

4

For those of you who don’t like the Dixons, why not?

5

On 2002-07-09 14:18, avanutria wrote:
Hey there -

I see you’re in San Francisco. Have you tried calling Lark in the Morning and seeing if they have Dixons? > http://www.larkinam.com

Lark in the morning doesn’t carry Dixons, for some reason I’ve never understood.

6

I agree that the Susato ‘A’,is a bit of a bugger to play if you have small hands,or like me, skinny fingers - it’s that b£@@#y whopping great bottom hole! also, i find the tone a bit (oh no-here we go)‘recordery’! I haven’t played a Dixon ‘A’, but i do have a low ‘f’,which i have been playing earlier today, with great pleasure.The hole size and stretch are quite easy,and the sound is mellow and ‘flutey’,though fairly quiet. I imagine that the ‘A’ MAY share these characteristics,which should make it a good whistle if you don’t take part in noisy sessions. hope this helps.

7

I love my Dixon! It is a high D, though so it may be quite a bit different than the A you are looking for. I love mine because of the sweet, clear upper octave… the upper octave plays very easily. House of Musical Traditions carries Dixons I think… try http://www.hmtrad.com

8

Personally, I would buy them straight from either The Whistle Shop or Tony Dixon himself. http://www.tonydixonmusic.co.uk/

I’ve got two Dixon high D’s and a Dixon A (which is packing for its trip to California! :slight_smile: ) I like them but have been playing my metal ones more lately - hoover, laughing, meg. Mostly because I find I like the metal sound better, but also to spare my neighbors the volume. :smiley:

9

I have a Dixon F. The bell tone is VERY quiet and takes some real getting used to but the tone is buttery and rich. With regret, it is phenomenally off key.

My hands are small, I have no problem with the reach, but then I have no problem with a low D reach either, as I use a piper grip on nearly all my whistles.

10

Buttery and rich tone? I like the sound of that. Thanks for all the feedback. A Boise whistler has generously offered to let me test-drive her Dixon A, and I’ll see how it goes. It’s all the fulfillment of WHOA and none of the risk!

11

I have Dixon non-tunable high and low D’s, tunable soprano D(brass), C, Bb and G. In my humble opinion the Bb is the best of the bunch in terms of tone. It has a warm, resonant, wooden flute-like quality which I realy love, and which suits much of the music I play that is written in the keys of Bb and Eb. If you’re looking for warmth, this is the whistle. If you are looking for a brighter, thinner, tinnier sound you won’t like it.
Ian

12

The reason why I do not love Dixon whistles is that every whistle I have tried was way out of tune. I have tried to return a whistle just to receive one that was far more out of tune. So I got back to my Susatos.

13

I have 2 Dixon sop. D and have problems with their being just a wee bit out of tune with themselves in the upper octave. The first was replaced by Tony(thanx),the replacement is better but still a bit off. On the other hand,I have a Dixon low G..sweet,almost woody tone. Spot on tune. Low wind requirement and a reasonable finger reach. It’s one of my favorites.

14

I bought a Dixon A through Shanna Quay last week, and I’m very happy with it. If there’s any out of tuneness, my ears can’t detect it, or maybe I’m able to adjust my breath to get it in tune enough for my hearing.

I play using normal grip, but when I go down to an F whistle I have to use piper’s. This whistle also fits in my rucksack without poking out the top - so a good travel whistle for me!

I like the breathiness & lower tones, I expect to play this a lot on my travels with a whistle.

Now to find a double bass which folds smaller.

15

Martin, I haven’t heard any problem with my F Dixon being out of tune with itself, but I was pretty much halfway between an F and F# when I was doing the volume experiment. It was so off that I would have believed the problem was with my tuner, except that every other whistle played true.

Though I’m disappointed in that, it wouldn’t stop me from considering another Dixon. I love the sound, it is pleasant to play, and for all I know its a fluke, or something about the key.

16

I have tunable DIxons in D (brass slide and normal), C, Bb, A, low G, low F so I feel I am qualified to comment.

Dixons sound woody, mellow and slightly chiffy - very nice. Brass slide D has a purer/cleaner type of sound (not my personal preference in tone, but it’s my most responsive D whistle)

Volume level - generally moderate to mod. soft.

Range - DIxons I find have a range that ends at the 3rd octave of the bell note. Nothing higher than that works reliably. This is usually not a problem becoz it is likely you won’t need notes in the 3rd octave.

Tuning: excluding the low F whistle, tuning is generally fine, with one caveat. You may find in some whistles that the 3rd octave bell note and maybe the last note of the 2nd octave (C# fingering) are flattish unless one blows very hard (and LOUD - ouch!).

Someone has posted a tweak here for sharpening 2nd octaves without affecting 1st octaves - something abt bevelling off the outer edges of the hole in question (increasing size of hole on the outside) without changing the size of the hole on the inside surface of the barrel (ie, funnel shaped holes?). I’ve tried it with some success on my low F.
Dixon plastic is soft, and a file works.

My normal D had the F# very slightly flat (wasn’t really noticeable). Just to see if I could, I used a small file to make the hole slightly bigger, and it’s now completely in tune. Very easy to work the Dixon plastic.

My normal D, C [THIS ROCKS!], Bb, A [great!]and G [great!] are all wonderful to me.

My F is quite bad, in tuning and volume (and over sensitivity of the lower notes). From the comments here, it would appear thatI’m not alone. I have improved the tuning somewhat with my trusty file, but I’m still not happy with it. It’s just too soft.

I think the bore diameter of the pvc pipe Tony uses is too small for a low F. Dunno.

However, since Tony gave me the low F for free with my brass slide D, I can’t really complain too much.

I appreciate his generosity in all my dealings with him, and perhaps [just a thought??] he was clearing stock while he worked on new designs for his low F?

Conclusion - I like all my Dixons except for the low F. They’re a good buy for the price.
You can easily rectify slight flatness with a file. Unlike metal barrel whistles - obviously harder to enlarge holes without proper tools.

17

oh yes,

fingering reach is easy, and breath requirements are low. My Bb Dixon is so much easier to blow (and sounds better) than my Gen Bb.

18

I’ve got an A and a Bb Dixon and like both, with a slight preference for the Bb. The holes seem a bit larger and are easier for me to cover for some reason( I have small thin hands so this doesn’t quiet make sense).

19

I’ve got 2 tunable D’s a C body and a Low A. All Dixons. The only problems I had was with my first Soprano D leaking on the fipple. Tony sent me another D to use while he fixed it, then told me to keep the D when he sent my whistle back as he wasn’t sure he had sealed the leak permanently. I adore the Low A. Ghostly, haunting and the rest. The high D. My first D is sweet and hits high but the second isn’t the same. However the D’s are tuneable so that solves any problems of being slightly out of tune. :slight_smile:

20

I have a tunable D, C, and Bb. The D and Bb are wonderful – I rarely play any other D whistle anymore – but the C wasn’t as good. There was nothing wrong but it just didn’t have that something special. All of mine seemed right on key.