I bought a Dixon Flute Whistle high D Duo from Harp and Dragon together with a C body. The C whistle flipped too easily into the high register. I emailed Tony and his response was that the head and body were not a matched pair, so he is sending me a complete new C whistle at no cost to me. I am so impressed with this level of customer service that I thought I should post this. Incidentally the D whistle is fabulous and I am ordering a Low D and a low G from him.
He is just awesome, isn’t he? Definitely knows how to make happy customers.
I just have to add my 2c here.
I emailed Tony regarding my Soprano D tunable whistle which had suddenly gone out of tune (i.e. was no longer in tune with itself) and he sent me a new one - no charge.
Just about the best customer service I’ve ever received.
Way to go Tony!!
i have seen the dixon low d whistle/flute duo at the whistle shop. does anyone know if it sounds like an irish flute or remains sounding like a whistle when you change the head?
I have a tunable Dixon D. When the lower octave D is in tune the upper octave is way sharp, no matter how softly I play. Everything I play sounds like Mozart’s musical joke. I’ll contact Tony.
On 2002-08-22 10:47, cramer wrote:
i have seen the dixon low d whistle/flute duo at the whistle shop. does anyone know if it sounds like an irish flute or remains sounding like a whistle when you change the head?
It definitely sounds different, but how much like a proper wooden flute I couldn’t say. I have one, but my fluting skills are at about 2.5%. I hope to get my girlfriend to try it out more soon, she used to play silver flute, so it’ll take a bit of adjustment, but she’s closer to getting a good tune out than I am.
I got it for fun, and though I haven’t used the flute head much, it’s always there if I need it. I have a piccolo head for my high D too - now there’s a challenge!
On 2002-08-12 23:41, Stang wrote:
I bought a Dixon Flute Whistle high D Duo from Harp and Dragon together with a C body. The C whistle flipped too easily into the high register. I emailed Tony and his response was that the head and body were not a matched pair, so he is sending me a complete new C whistle at no cost to me. I am so impressed with this level of customer service that I thought I should post this. Incidentally the D whistle is fabulous and I am ordering a Low D and a low G from him.
Over the past couple of years I’ve read a surprising number of posts very similar to this one about Tony Dixon, and everyone seems to agree that his customer service in response to problems is fabulous.
But to me it seems there is a parallel conclusion to be drawn, which is that he sends out a high proportion of defective instruments.
To put it another way, I don’t know why you all find it so amazing that he is prepared to replace whistles that don’t work properly. And I don’t know why you don’t question his quality control. Seems to me that Generations might have a better record.
On 2002-08-22 11:26, StevieJ wrote:
To put it another way, I don’t know why you all find it so amazing that he is prepared to replace whistles that don’t work properly. And I don’t know why you don’t question his quality control. Seems to me that Generations might have a better record.
A better record of quality? No, I think that Gens are SO bad, that we just don’t expect much from Generation any more. If I sent back all the bad Gens I’ve bought (five or six before I gave up), you think they’d replace them all with good ones? I doubt it. They make so few good ones, they’d be busy for days trying to find enough good ones to replace the ones I sent them.
To put it another way, I don’t know why you all find it so amazing that he is prepared to replace whistles that don’t work properly. And I don’t know why you don’t question his quality control. Seems to me that Generations might have a better record.
Steve, I had my Dixon for close to a year. It was fine up until recently, but then for some reason started to go out of tune. When I wrote to Tony I really did not expect him to replace it, just to give me some advice on if there was anything I could do to fix it. He offered a replacement.
After all we’re dealing with a relatively inexpensive instrument here so the fact that he is willing to replace it seems to me to be a good gesture on his part. If he told me that there was nothing he could do I would have just put it aside and thought nothing more of it. I believe he went over and above what was necessary to resolve the issue.
StevieJ, I couldn’t disagree with you more.
I think the reason some people mention that they have problems with their Dixon is because Tony actually fixes or replaces them. It is obvious that some Dixon whistles ship with problems indicating that perhaps he does have some quality control issues that needs some work. But, the fact that he consistently goes the extra mile to ensure his customer’s satisfaction is noteworthy.
Despite the fact that people with a “good” Generation seem to be fanatical about them, Generation’s quality control is by all accounts nothing less than abysmal. Having to try a barrelful of Generations at some music store whilst trying to dodge hepatitis and a host of other nasties in the hopes of finding a “good” whistle is a foreign concept to me. Just a short time ago I actually did buy a Generation high G for my youngest son who was learning to play whistle (his little hands were too small for a D) – it was so horrible that I had to apologize to him for buying such a piece of crap. I don’t blame the vendor I bought it from. In fact, I never mentioned this to him although I wonder why he carries Generation at all if this is a representative sample. But, I’m not likely to buy another Generation. So I’ll buy my son another G whistle from a different maker.
I mentioned it in another thread but I’ll do it again. My tunable Dixon D (w/ brass tuning slide) is simply wonderful – by far the best playing and sounding whistle I own. I’m planning on getting few more from Tony shortly. Its a shame Tony doesn’t make a high G.
Based on what people said about Tony’s customer service, I did e-mail him. Yes, he’s good to do business with, I’ve discovered.
What is it, I wonder, that makes certain whistles just suddenly ‘fail’? Its not wood, its pvc or metals, and, uh, I don’t get the sudden failure thing.
That earlier comparison to Generation was a bit unfair. There’s absolutely no comparison quality wise. If you stacked up a Tony Dixon soprano D against a typical $100 product, I’ll bet 99.9% of Irish music lovers wouldn’t know which was the more expensive instrument. Could that be said of Generations?
Question: I’m interested in a low D. Tony’s soprano D has close finger holes. I’m assuming this would be true of the low D too, making it easier to play. True or false?
Tony is all about service, and he makes excellent whistles, period. I own a Dixon High D, a low G and a three piece rosewood flute. All have been fanstastic values, both in terms of quality and price. When I ordered my high D duo, I asked if he would make it with his new brass tuning slide (something he wasn’t offering at the time). When I received the package, he included two bodies with the brass slide, rather than just the one that the high D duo usually ships with - no extra charge. Perhaps this is not standard practice, but it was certainly a nice gesture to go along with the rest of my order, which included a box he customized at my request for the flute. I have exchanged numerous emails with Tony regarding flute and whistle questions, and each time he has responded with thoughtful replies - even though its been long since I have ordered from him. I have seen two other whistlesmiths recently make complete asses of themselves while insulting the C&F community on the board. Customers rave about Tony because he represents just the opposite. He appreciates his patrons, and he does what it takes to make them happy. Get a Dixon. You can’t beat the value and service.
Cheers,
Matt
On 2002-08-23 07:09, E = Fb wrote:
That earlier comparison to Generation was a bit unfair. There’s absolutely no comparison quality wise. If you stacked up a Tony Dixon soprano D against a typical $100 product, I’ll bet 99.9% of Irish music lovers wouldn’t know which was the more expensive instrument. Could that be said of Generations?
Well the mention of Generations was something of a joke, actually. But the number of stories I have read of Tony readily replacing defective instruments (including a number that were apparently badly out of tune) makes me wonder whether it really is unfair.
And to answer to your question: a couple of years ago, when I had bought a Sindt and a Burke brass “Session Pro” and was a little disappointed in them, I conducted at least three blindfold tests with various friends and groups of students. Each time they picked out my Generation as having the nicest sound. Admittedly it was a whistle that I had picked out of a box and tweaked somewhat, but picking and tweaking is really not hard to do. (And does not in my view expose you to a risk of hepatitis.)
Anway, starting a comparison between Dixons and Generations wasn’t my intention. I just wanted to point out that I have read a large number of stories like the initial post above on this board and its predecessor - I’d guess at least a dozen and perhaps 20.
Steve,
I really do think you’re off base with this one. My experience with whistle buying over the last three years (150 or so) leads me to believe that most makers of hand made whistles let whistles with problems get out the door more often than one might at first think.
However, I believe (based on many off board conversations with others who have had problems with whistles) that people are not very likely to jump on the message board and post “Hey, I got this - fill in the blank with expensive big name maker of choice - that was horribly out of tune, fell apart and smelled bad too, but guess what? I wrote to Mr. Big Name and he replaced my whistle for free, how cool!!”
See that’s just not going to happen too often, not beacause these makers and all the rest don’t turn out duds now and then, but because the whistles are expensive and prestigious enough that people don’t feel comfortable making those sort of statements here on the board - and in fact we saw and example of that in another thread recently, when someone mentioned being unhappy with a certain big name whistle, but didn’t feel comfortable mentioning the name here on the board. Often these folks just return the whistle for a refund and don’t say anything.
OTH, when someone buys a relatively inexpensive whistle, like a Generation or Dixon, A person’s expectations are lower to begin with, and if there’s a problem with the whistle it’s often not worth the time, money and effort to ship it back. So, one is more likely to just shoot off an e-mail, or do nothing but gripe on the board and then let the whistle rot in a drawer, or pass in on to someone else. If however the maker returns your e-mail saying “No problem, I’ll just ship you a replacement - don’t bother returning the old one” Well, your going to shout about it from the rooftops, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that this particular maker turns out more duds than anyone else, see what I mean?
In the end Steve, I think we’re just seeing that A) People talk more openly on the board about bad experiences with less expensive whistles and less established makers, B) People feel that, when talking about inexpensive whistles, a maker will be helped more than harmed by the stories of replaced “problem” whistles" and C) (Keeping A and B in mind) Tony Dixon simply provides superior customer service when it comes to his attention that a customer received a bad whistle. Personally, I think he deserves Kudos for this. Sure, he turns out a some Turkeys, but I have reason to believe that the quality control of some “Big Name” makers of MUCH more expensive whistles is far, far worse.
Loren
Steve,
I mentioned this under another topic; but, it also applies here. I’ve had 7 or 8 Dixon tunable regular D’s. I’ve never had a problem with Tony’s products.
The only problem I’ve had is keeping them. I keep an extra around so, if I break one or (as is more likely) lose one; then, I have a replacement handy. What’s happened on at least 4 occasions is: I take both of them somewhere; a whistler tries one and asks were he can get one; and, before I know it, I’m contacting Thom at the whistle shop for another whistle.
I also think the fact that Tony is so quick to replace a whistle isn’t a reflection of the quality of his work neccessarily. It appears, he doesn’t care if the whistle was damaged in shipping OR being played by a whistler not used to his intonation OR if someone took several apart for storage along the way and put them back together wrong OR the whistle is being played at altitude 10 thousand feet above were they were tested OR anything BUT getting the music into the hands of his customers. He focuses on fixing the problem not the blame.
Actually my statement above that I’ve never had a problem with one is not 100 percent acurate. I had a problem with one of Tony’s whistles. I had one that the tuning slide got loose on; however, my solution was not to sit on them as often because it eventually knocks the barrel tube out-of-round. I suspect that if I’d just sent Tony a note saying I was having problems with it’s tuning slide he would have sent me another whistle.
Everything I’ve heard says his focus is putting instruments in the hand of folks that will play them. I suspect he knows its all about how you …
I am a lot more forgiving of receiving a problemed instrument and having to exchange it if I didn’t pay hundreds of dollars for it. One reason I pay the multiple hundreds is for superior quality from the get go. Thanks for bringing this up, Loren.
Five years ago I bought a Tony Dixon plastic flute from either House of Musical Traditions or Hobgoblin’s US store; I don’t remember which. I paid close to 70.00 for it. When I received it, I was very disappointed. The head joint was terribly loose. There was some masking tape on the body like we put teflon tape to snug up a whistle head. There was also masking tape to snug the fit of the end plug. I already had Olwells and was getting a nice tone out of them, but I wanted to try a plastic flute that would be less susceptible to temp. and humidity change. The lower half of the lower register of this Dixon would almost not sound; I mean it was much quieter than my Hoover narrow bore’s. I sent it back for a refund because 70.00 was a rip-off for a plastic toy instrument that didn’t play.
After reading the first post, I now realize I probably got a mismatched headjoint and body and the shop tried to compensate with masking tape. I didn’t know back then to contact Tony. I’ve been biting my tongue through all the glowing posts about Dixon, and if I had spoken up, I bet someone would have told me about the possibility of a mismatching on the part of the retailer . . . .
This is an example of the beauty of the free-flowing nature of this forum.
Lisa