Just what does it mean when a whistle is called a ‘trad’. Does this have to do with the bore size… or the sound…
I’m asking because I was looking at some Dixon whistles (I love his whistles 
) and I can’t seem to understand the difference between the regular high D’s, and the "trad " high D’s.
Thanks
The Dixon Trad follows the same basic design as the modern “traditional” Generation whistle and its look-alikes: a simple brass or nickel tube with a small moveable plastic head. As opposed to other Dixon designs with different materials, longer heads, tuning slides, etc. That’s all, really.
The Dixon Trad D inside bore is slightly larger (13 mm) than the Generation D bore (12 mm). But they’re both roughly 1/2 inch.
Which is a shame really, the generation tube is a tiiiiiny bit too small to fit the dixon head on comfortably. It’s possible to play with the dixon head on, but it sits loose and will move in your mouth. Hmm, maybe it’s possible to temporarily tape it stuck with some masking tape or something.
Also, the dixon trad tube is louder than the same head with a generation tube.
I only have one dixon and a few generations so that’s the only thing I can compare it to
Sure, you could use some Teflon (PTFE) tape around the top of the tube to allow the Dixon head to fit snugly on the Generation tube.
But the other problem is that the Gen tube is 15 mm longer than the Dixon, and the Gen mouthpiece is 15 mm shorter than the Dixon mouthpiece. So you’d have to cut the Gen tube for that combination to work with proper intonation.
I’ve also noticed that the Gen D tube actually fits inside the Dixon tube. So for the other combination (Gen head on Dixon tube) you could probably cut a piece of Gen tube to serve as an extension and tuning slide.
I wonder if anyone has tried either of these possibilities? Not me. Dammit Jim, I’m a whistler not a metalworker.
well I’ll be damned. The tubes fit very nicely actually. Excellent for cleaning out the dixon tube, hehe 