Tony Dixon Traditional Low G Whistle

[hoopy mike]

I've got a £50 Amazon voucher to spend, so of course whistles are the top of my list. I noticed that Amazon stock a Tony Dixon Traditional Low G Whistle (which doesn't seem to appear on Tony Dixon's own site). The hole spacing and size for the right hand looks a bit freaky - has anyone played one of these?

[Feadoggie]

Sorry, I haven't played one. I've owned a few of the tunable poly ones though and they are fine. Is this the picture you are looking at?

Not so incredibly freaky maybe. That's where the holes would be if the BH1 hole is smaller than average and the BH2 hole is larger than average. It is not uncommon to arrive at a similar size for the TH1 and BH1 holes or to see the BH2 hole a bit larger than the others. It may just be that the BH2 hole is larger than average. Who knows why they arrived at those hole sizes. Shouldn't be an issue half-holing the first octave Eb note.

Feadoggie

[hoopy mike]

Sorry, I haven't played one. I've owned a few of the tunable poly ones though and they are fine. Is this the picture you are looking at?

Yep.

Not so incredibly freaky maybe. That's where the holes would be if the BH1 hole is smaller than average and the BH2 hole is larger than average. It is not uncommon to arrive at a similar size for the TH1 and BH1 holes or to see the BH2 hole a bit larger than the others. It may just be that the BH2 hole is larger than average. Who knows why they arrived at those hole sizes. Shouldn't be an issue half-holing the first octave Eb note.

I was more concerned about the gap between B2 and B3....

[Sirchronique]

I will have one of these in low A tomorrow (got for 30 something dollar!)! I will be sure to post a review and give more info on it, as I'm sure it doesn't differ *too* much from the G.

The german store folkfriends has a video up on youtube telling about some of the new keys (low d, low g, low a, and Bb). They also have a soprano C now, too.


I think maybe the hole sizes are making the gap appear differently. Judging from my two G whistles here, it does not seem extremely unusual. I think the hole sizes just make them seem farther apart, perhaps. But, it's a G whistle, so it's not going to create a troublesome stretch , or anything.


Actually, to me that looks really similar to the hole spacing and size on my burke G. I am trying to imagine the picture scaled up to life size. When I held my G next to the monitor, it seemed the hole spacing on those holes was about equivalent. Maybe the bottom hole is a bit smaller on the dixon, I can't really tell. I'm sure there's some slight differences in hole size perhaps, but they look pretty similar with the layout. I didn't spot much unusual about it, from that photo.

I'm pretty optimistic about these new dixon trad whistles. From what I've heard, they are a really good sounding whistle, and they offer another "mid range" whistle in the key of G, which there aren't many options of, that I'm aware of. Susato is all that otherwise comes to mind. I'm really excited to try one of these tomorrow!


Please post on here and let us know what you think about it, when you get yours! From what I could hear on the video, the G sounded nice, but of course you can't really tell completely unless you have it there. Sounded breathy, but not overly so. The G seemed good though. I'm most interested in knowing how these play, though.

[david_h]

The proportions in that photo are very similar to the Dixon A in plastic (can't remember the 'brand name'). On that from the upper edge of BH1 to the lower edge of BH3 is the same (or less than 0.5mm more) as a Generation Bb and the B2 - B3 spacing is similar. It is easier to cover than the Generation Bb because the holes are smaller. So I wouldn't have though the G would be too frightening, as G whistles go.

[Inner Light]

It's the same with my Dixon Low D, which I received today.

For me, as a beginner, the spacing is a PITA but maybe I just gotta get used to it.
It feels very strange and uncomfortable in comparison to all other flutes and whistles I have.

I constantly miss B3 or have it half covered only.

It's a matter of practice, I'm sure.

[Feadoggie]

For me, as a beginner, the spacing is a PITA but maybe I just gotta get used to it. It feels very strange and uncomfortable in comparison to all other flutes and whistles I have.

I constantly miss B3 or have it half covered only.

It's a matter of practice, I'm sure.

Yep. So just hang in there. It will sort itself out in short order. The Dixon happens to be one of the friendlier low D's on the market to get started on. It's a good one to learn on. So just keep at it. You will get it.

I was more concerned about the gap between B2 and B3....

I had a bit of a visual survey (no calipers) of my Dixon whistles, including a recent low G - all are polymer by the way. The hole proportions on all the newer ones are similar to what is in the picture I posted earlier. On some of the older ones, low D included, the BH1 hole is a little larger than what I see on the newer ones. So on the newer whistles the BH1 and BH2 are marginally farther apart. But the stretch between the BH2 and BH3 holes has always been larger than on many other whistles. Since most experienced makers size their holes based on the strength of the tones produced, and I would include Tony Dixon as an experienced maker, he must feel that the BH2 needs to be that large to sound the F#. And I guess he feels that the BH3 hole that size is fine for the E note. So that's where they sit.

Anyway, Hoopy Mike, my new-ish polymer low G has the same hole layout as I see on the trad picture. Assuming a similar wall thickness on both they should play similarly. And this low G here is a fine whsitle IMO. I don't notice the stretch between BH2 and BH3 at all. I do play a lot of deeper pitched low whistles so YMMV.

Shouldn't be an issue half-holing the first octave Eb note.

Correction: I misspoke. That'd be the F natural in D whistle speak.

Feadoggie

[Inner Light]

For me, as a beginner, the spacing is a PITA but maybe I just gotta get used to it. It feels very strange and uncomfortable in comparison to all other flutes and whistles I have.

I constantly miss B3 or have it half covered only.

It's a matter of practice, I'm sure.

Yep. So just hang in there. It will sort itself out in short order. The Dixon happens to be one of the friendlier low D's on the market to get started on. It's a good one to learn on. So just keep at it. You will get it.

I will!

[Sirchronique]

Are these supposed to be tunable?

[Feadoggie]

Are these supposed to be tunable?

Yes.

[Sirchronique]

Are these supposed to be tunable?

Yes.

Yeah I thought so, nevermind that though. I just got mine today, and the head was stuck onto the body and wouldn't move. I just got home from work, and now it moves. Maybe the cold just caused it to stick. It was sitting in the cold in my mailbox for at least a couple hours before I woke up and went out to get it, and I'm sure that's what caused it. It's all good now!

I'll edit this post after I get settled in here, and tell a bit about it, and the hole spacing.


Edit- okay first, about the hole spacing on the A. It's not unusual or anything. It's a normal hole spacing that I'd expect. Hole spacing is about the same as the Burke A whistle, but with smaller holes. Hole spacing is much closer on the dixon trad, than it is the bottom three holes on a susato A whistle. Susato has much farther apart holes than the dixon trad, and I never considered the susato to have strangely distant holes, either. Hole spacing is about the same as a Sindt A, too. So... At least on the Dixon trad in A , there is nothing unusual whatsoever about the hole spacing. I did not think it looked different in the picture of the G, either.

I will share a bit about my impressions of the whistle so far.

I got this whistle in extremely good condition, aside from that headjoint thing that remedied itself when I came back to it later. This whistle reminds me very much of my generation Bb. I think it plays almost identically, as far as octave switches, etc goes. The volume on the A is not very loud. Not a whisper either, but certainly not loud. The main difference between this and a generation is that this is more of a breathy sound, and the generation is more clear. I think the tone on this is a bit more interesting.

Although, I think if generation made an A whistle, it would be *very* much like this, except for the a breathy part.

If you like the generation Bb, like me, then you will likely like this A very much. I would classify it as very similar, except I like the dixon a bit more, in both sound and appearance. They play about the same, except the dixon uses a bit more air. Not a problematic amount more, but it does use a bit more. But, that's the price of the difference in tone, I suppose.

For 30 something dollars, I definitely have no regrets buying the A whistle. I'm very happy I got it, and enjoy it very much.

Now, I think that the lower the key goes, the better these breathy qualities will mesh with the tone, so the G may very well be better than the A. The A is a good whistle. It wasn't anything that I was extremely amazed at, or shocked at how good it is. I was not one bit disappointed with it, though. I got it to replace my generation Bb as my "away from home/traveling/whistle I bring to work for lunchbreak" whistle. It will fill that purpose nicely, as I enjoy it more than the generation Bb, which again, I also like.

I hope I didn't get too off topic by sharing these things. However, the hole spacing was normal. Not a stretch, or anything I found odd. Just the type of spacing I'd expect on an A whistle, nothing that posed any difficulty.

Please share with us what you think of the G. It's possible the spacing is different on it, although I assume not. Since this compared to the burke A about the same way I imagined that G would compare to the burke G... which, I mean was pretty close in spacing, but with smaller hole size. Not a bad whistle if you like that "traditional" sort of sound (by this, I mean something similar to generation or other plastic top, metal bodies common whistles).
Also, the bore size is, I think, the same as the burke, but it appears slightly less becuase it is thinner-walled than the aluminum burke A. I have not measured the bore size, but I can say that the sindt A body would fit exactly into the body of this whistle, just barely. This is just big enough to go around the sindt body..

[hoopy mike]

Ok - I've ordered one.... (and a Dixon Trad in C and two replacement whistle heads cos the head that came with my Trad E isn't as nice as the head on the Trad D and I can stop anytime I want....)

[Mr.Gumby]

I think if generation made an A whistle

Their range extended down for a while. Can't remember if there was an A but there certainly was a G. See last track of Mary Bergin's first record.

[Thomaston]

I think if generation made an A whistle

Their range extended down for a while. Can't remember if there was an A but there certainly was a G. See last track of Mary Bergin's first record.

And you can still sorta get one through Jerry, who makes A and G tubes for Generation Bb heads.

[Sirchronique]

I think if generation made an A whistle

Their range extended down for a while. Can't remember if there was an A but there certainly was a G. See last track of Mary Bergin's first record.

Interesting, I would like to have the chance to try one, as I like the Bb generation a lot. I can only assume I'd like the lower ones they made, too. Did they use the same bore sizes as the freeman generations, or did the size of the head scale up along with the body, rather than using the Bb head?

I do like that the dixon trad doesn't have the carnival toy look, though :p ... not that it is really an important factor, but it's a plus, for me. The dixon trad in A is the only dixon trad I've ever tried. I want to try them out in other keys now. I think the sindt and dixon trad A are how A whistles should be, or the generation Bb. I think those "middle" keys really are best when they have this kind of sound and playability.

I'm excited to hear about the G. I'm thinking about buying either the low G or the low D. The only thing stopping me from wanting to drop a lot of money on one of the lowers, is that mine is just a tiny bit flat in both octaves. It's tuning is excellend if I push it in just a bit further than I have it, but I noticed today that if I push the head in more, it gets stuck and is hard to pull the head back out again! I don't push it in all the way now, because I don't want it to get stuck, then damage it pulling it back out. I am not sure if they are all like this, or if it's just mine that I got. I emailed dixon about it a few days ago, but got no response. I lubed it up with a bit of petroleum jelly, and it makes it slide more smoothly, but it still does that when it's pushed all the way in to where it's in proper tune. It's okay though, I don't mind it being flat by just a few cents, as I am not playing this with others currently.

I am wondering why they don't make a low F , though . That's the key I would most want one of these in.