Has anyone else played one of these? I just bought one and really like it. Great craftsmanship, easy to play, and sounds great. (I have no commercial interest in these.) Here’s Ron Peeler’s site if you want to see some photos…
Ron Peeler has been offering a D fife for about a year now. It looked to have the same bore as his Bb fife, and had an easier bottom “D” than the Bb. I tried one out, and I would have kept the fife, but the holes were too close to gather for my left hand. Closer together than an oak whistle, and closer together than Sweet’s older style of fifes. My fat fingers just could not properly cover the holes consistently despite trying for a week.
As you said, great workmanship and it sounded lovely.
I too can vouch for Ron’s craftsmanship. Nice, solid, strong fifes. He is also a personal friend of mine, and I’ve bought two of his fifes: A Bb Model-F (?) copy and one that we affectionately call the MPF - “Manly Pink Fife”, which is basically a Cloos clone, but in lovely pink ivory. The latter was a Christmas present for my daughter, and Ron engraved her name into it, along with its serial number: 666 (I kid you not. I tell folks it’s really 999, but I know better).
I’ve played his D’s before as well (I always toot at his booth a bit at musters), and they do squeal (Hence the “Peeler Squealer” moniker) quite nicely. The holes are pretty close together, but I can handle them with a little practice, and I have large hands, though skinny fingers.