FS - Skip Healy 10-Hole Bb Fife ** SOLD **

Irish Flute
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I believe the fife has found a new home. :slight_smile: Sometimes I get envious when my flutes/fife get to go wonderful places where I’ve never been!

I’m selling a brand new Skip Healy 10-hole Bb fife, blackwood with silver rings and slide; it is the Special Model with medium tone holes and I’ve only had the fife a week. I’m open to offers and or trades!

Well curiosity killed the cat, I must be a cat! I just wondered how a 10-hole fife worked. It works great! But I don’t, all the fingers fall easily into place, but the left thumb is just to far back (towards the player) on the fife. I’ve got squat fingers and it just isn’t comfortable for me. Keeping your pinkies down takes some getting used to. The fingering is fairly intuitive and I’ll include a fingering chart and schematic fingerings to the song the Mariner Cannon. The tone is great, not harsh nor shrill at all. The fife can even be played soft and mellow. This fife is fully chromatic and has an even tone through the scales.

Please send inquiries via PM.

Thanks for your consideration!

Jordan

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Jordan is a peach of a guy and a great seller/swapper.

Also, these 10-hole fifes are much fun. They only make your brain hurt for just a few minutes then it’s easy.

Anyhoo, just my two bits. Someone should buy this.

Doc

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:astonished: Wow! That’s a real work of art! Unfortunately, I can’t justify such a beauty with my playing–I’m still at the PVC level! :stuck_out_tongue:

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Mmmmm Fife.

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Oooh… can we have a few more details please: overall length, length from first hole to left pinky, and then from 1st right hand hole to right pinky?


And it’s nearly an octave higher than a d flute? but lower than a d whistle?

thanks,

Pamela

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Dear Pamela,

The fife is not to diminutive nor large. I thought it would certainly be a good size to try out, much easier than starting with a 10-hole flute.

The fife has a parabolic shaped bore inside the head and a cylindrical bore in the tone body (like a boehm flute). This is another reason I wanted to try this fife. I don’t know if Skip came up with this design or Chris Abell.

Here are some measurements from the Healy Fife: (I hope you are good at conceptualization!) :boggle:

O.A.L. = 373 mm (with tuning slide fully shut)

O.D. = 20.5 mm

I.D. = 14 mm (tone body)

Total Left Hand Spread = 63 mm (first finger to pinky, hole centers)

Total Right Hand Spread = 82 mm (first finger to pinky, hole centers)

The Thumb Holes appear centered between the 2nd and 3rd fingers on both the right and left hands.


Orientations of holes, Looking up the foot of fife:

The 6-tone holes are at 12:00

The Right Pinky hole would be at 10:30

The Right Thumb hole would be at 6:00

The Left Pinky hole would be at 1:30 (this appears odd in the photo, but my pinky falls right over the hole).

The Left Thumb hole would be at 7:30 (this is the one I would move to 6:00)

The information above is all approximate!

I’ve got squat fingers attached to big palms. I have to use a modified piper’s grip on my left hand playing Irish Flute. But, I still use the pads of my fingers.

Hope this helps!


All the Best!

Jordan

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Edit:

I should not post late at night.

Mr. Healy nice instrument with a rich sound.

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Hi Jordan -

please check your private messages.

regards,

Pamela