Who makes a good plastic High D flute/fife these days?

[TapTheForwardAssist]

I own a Sweetheart High D fife/piccolo/band-flute made in quality plastic, but it appears Ralph no longer produces.

Image I posted on Reddit: https://i.redd.it/9gw95rbsmbc61.jpg

Can anyone recommend a good alternative product that's of comparable quality and ideally reasonable price?

[Sedi]

Does it have to be plastic? David Angus makes them from aluminium:
http://shop.fifeanddrumshop.com/epages/ ... ium2pce%22
Also -- Walt Sweet still offers them:
http://wdsweetflutes.com/umbra.php
And there is Ron Peeler, who makes them from resin:
https://www.peelerfifes.com/product/peeler-resin-fife/

[Steve Bliven]

Musique Morneaux makes a nice wooden piccolo http://musiquemorneaux.com/contemporary-fifes/ (scroll down to the bottom). Jos. took over the shop after Ralph Sweet's passing. I don't know how the prices compare with the others that have been mentioned but the Morneaux instrument plays very nicely for me.

Or you could cast about for one of Jemtheflute's plastic piccolos,also a good instrument and at a bargain price. Problem is that he doesn't make them any more but perhaps someone here has one that's not being used (that's how I found one).

Best wishes.

Steve

[TapTheForwardAssist]

Steve and Sedi, some great suggestions thus far. I'll consider mentioning those by name in the "winds for sailor tunes" section, and might add some to the listing of makers in my other sub r/fifeanddrums. The resin ones are awfully swoopy looking!

I will note though, Sedi, that the Umbra is listed as out of production, which is too bad because it seems almost the same as my Sweetheart plastic, and the Jemtheflute Steve mentions, also out of production, is also relatively close.

The Dixon "Piccolo" (a plastic High D fife) is only $20, so I need to read up on if those are decent: http://www.hobgoblin-usa.com/local/sale ... d-piccolo/

[fatmac]

Tony Dixon does both one piece & two piece tunable ABS piccolos, also 'Duo' with both whistle & flute heads, aluminium Duo with ABS tunable head, & used to make them in brass with ABS tunable head too.

[kintailpipes]

Musique Morneaux makes a nice wooden piccolo http://musiquemorneaux.com/contemporary-fifes/ (scroll down to the bottom). Jos. took over the shop after Ralph Sweet's passing. I don't know how the prices compare with the others that have been mentioned but the Morneaux instrument plays very nicely for me.

Or you could cast about for one of Jemtheflute's plastic piccolos,also a good instrument and at a bargain price. Problem is that he doesn't make them any more but perhaps someone here has one that's not being used (that's how I found one).

Best wishes.

Steve

I have one of these Irish Piccolo by Jas Morneaux and it's a great little flute, also have a Peter Worrell which is excellent as well.

[Stev0]

I bought a tony Dixon DX026 "duo" for my daugher for christmas. I was trying it out for a while before I gave it to her.

The "piccolo mode" had a decent tone but took a LOT of air, especially to hit the seond onctave. It is molded rather than machined and I had to use a nail file to remove some mold lines. I also sharpened the emouchure hole as it had very rounded edges from the molding process. I had to move the tuning slide out almost as far as it would go and still stay together in order to get it in tune.

The "whistle mode" was a whole different story. It took hardly any air, didn't need any tweeks and was easy to tune. The tone was very "plasticy" however.

They were both still fun to play though, well worth the $45 for the pair.

[rykirk]

I have a one piece Dixon piccolo in D. It's the only piccolo I've ever played so hard to compare, but I find it quite easy playing and it has a mellow sweet sound in the first octave.

[Peter Duggan]

Or you could cast about for one of Jemtheflute's plastic piccolos,also a good instrument and at a bargain price. Problem is that he doesn't make them any more but perhaps someone here has one that's not being used (that's how I found one).

Yes, if Jem was still making these, the answer would be obvious. If you can find one, snap it up!