Yes, their invention of the 12th fret completely revolutionized musical instrument construction & setup.
Before that, no one really knew for sure where to put the bridge, to get the correct intonation. That was why mandolins always played out-of-tune.
But after the 12th fret was invented and patented, bridge placement was no longer vague guesswork. Because of that, we now have mandolins that always play in perfect pitch.
Mr. Dixson (or Dixon, if you prefer) was pleased with that, but his business partner Mr. Mason had higher aspirations which led to the discovery, improvement, patenting, and copyrighting of "harmonics". The world has benefited greatly from this, because when the newly-created harmonics were utilized in conjunction with the aforementioned 12th fret during the design and setup of musical instruments, the result was that all music worldwide became much more in-tune & better sounding.
Unfortunately, as brilliant as those two inventors were, they weren't the sharpest businessmen and they allowed their patents to expire, whereupon their arch-nemesis Gibson immediately began incorporating those revolutionary features into the new line of Gibson instruments.
I did some research on the internet; (if it's on the internet, it has to be true, right?) Here is the story that I came up with on a Gibson acoustic message board:
"According to several former Gibson employees, there was a short-lived employee at Gibson, in the late 50's, who worked in Product Development. Some seemed to remember him as 'Dixon' while others recalled that he was known as 'Rick' or sometimes 'Dick'. He was kind of a slick-talking, middle-aged guy who generally worked during the overnight hours because he had some sort of government job during the day. In late 1959, after a long fight with Gibson executives over a new instrument that he was developing, this guy (who was apparently VERY gifted as an instrument maker) cleaned out his office in the middle of the night, and took his plans for the new instrument with him. Fortunately for Gibson, extra copies had been made two days earlier. On the day after his clandestine overnight departure, fellow employees began to posthumously refer to him as 'Tricky Dick'. The one thing about 'Tricky Dick' that the Gibson company did not find out until some time later was that the gifted instrument maker was working for Gibson under an assumed name, (apparently to allow him to keep his government job, while working for Gibson at the same time). Shortly after leaving Gibson, this employee began to make instruments under his assumed name of 'Dixon', to help capitalize on the respected false name that he had developed while working for Gibson. One day, in late 1960, some Gibson executive was reading the newspaper on his lunch hour. On the front page of the newspaper was a large photo of President Eisenhower making a speech somewhere in the mid-west. As the Gibson executive began to take a sip of his coffee, he suddenly spit and spluttered his lunch all over the table. When nearby employees questioned him about the reason for his action, he pointed to the photo of the president and said; "Look at the guy standing behind Ike, it looks like that guy Dixon!" It was only then did everyone realize that the former Gibson employee who was now making mandolins was not Rick Dixon . . . but actually, Richard Nixon.
As Paul Harvey used to say: "And now you know, the rest of the story".
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
Here is another 'survivor' that Gibson missed:
https://hartford.craigslist.org/msg/...541688495.html
This thing's gone up over $300 now ... a shame someon's going to spend that much on a plywood mandolin; evidently, many believe the crazy legend. Maybe even the seller believes it. It's been posted around the internet for a few years, that this Dixon fellow left Gibson, went to Japan and ... yadda yadda yadda.
Maybe Dixon got the plans after being beamed up in a close encounter on a spaceship. Shame on Gibson for stealing his designs, forbidding him to make them, and running him out of business.
WWW.THEAMATEURMANDOLINIST.COM
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"Life is short. Play hard." - AlanN
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HEY! The Cafe has Social Groups, check 'em out. I'm in these groups:
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Actually, aerodynamics are an extremely important but little-known aspect of mandolin design. Dixon mandolins were carefully tested in state-of-the-art wind tunnels to ensure the most efficient aerodynamic mandolin design possible.
When a mandolin becomes airborne, either on stage as part of the performance, or at home as a result of player frustration with either the instrument or the playing (or various combinations thereof), it is extremely important that the mandolin maintain proper pitch, as well as yaw and roll, in order to ensure that the trajectory is such that the mandolin arrives at its intended destination (for instance, an open window leading to the outdoors).
Dixon mandolins were designed with the player in mind. If, for any reason, the player desires for the mandolin to assume a certain trajectory, the player may rest assured that the mandolin's in-flight behavior will be just as exhilarating and satisfying as every other aspect of the instrument's design and performance.
* Dixon mandolins have optional precision attitude control systems available at extra cost, using spacecraft-quality gyros and thrusters to ensure a predictable, safe, and satisfying mandolin trajectory. The attitude control system components are contained in special Dixon-designed patented impact-resistant enclosures to prevent damage during end-of-flight activities, and the entire navigation system can be uninstalled from one mandolin and reused on another mandolin, thus ensuring that the player's investment is maintained should a mandolin become inoperable.
I think that you're getting it confused with the lesser known Dixon banjo?
This may be literally true for Mark Wood's electric violin models...
the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world
Lol, and this other artist's electric Stroh-look violin too - airborne instrument at 2:43-2:48
(or direct link)
with a pencil
With two pencils and a perfect quote.
WWW.THEAMATEURMANDOLINIST.COM
----------------------------------
"Life is short. Play hard." - AlanN
----------------------------------
HEY! The Cafe has Social Groups, check 'em out. I'm in these groups:
Newbies Social Group | The Song-A-Week Social
The Woodshed Study Group | Blues Mando
- Advice For Mandolin Beginners
- YouTube Stuff
Final cost; (including shipping) . . . almost $500.
Amazing.
I guess Gibson really drove up the bidding on that one.
WWW.THEAMATEURMANDOLINIST.COM
----------------------------------
"Life is short. Play hard." - AlanN
----------------------------------
HEY! The Cafe has Social Groups, check 'em out. I'm in these groups:
Newbies Social Group | The Song-A-Week Social
The Woodshed Study Group | Blues Mando
- Advice For Mandolin Beginners
- YouTube Stuff
There really is one born every minute....
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world
Why the embarassment and negativity? It's just entertainment. I thought it was amusing and cleverly scripted. It's also a refreshing departure from the usual 1950s/1960s TV westerns (plenty of those on upper cable TV channels) in that Ms. Stirling's video features female leads who do stuff (take out badguys with sci-fi music weapons! lol) instead of just playing the usual gratuitous sidekick or token girlfriend/wife role. But, to each his/her own, apparently.
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