iccolos are available in a choice of two woods: grenadilla and cocus wood. Both woods have fine grain, are
dimensionally stable and resistant
to moisture. Since the wood provides both the acoustic and mechanical foundation
for the piccolo, we are extremely selective about the wood we use for each Keefe
piccolo.
Grenadilla wood (Dalbergia melanoxylon), also known as African Blackwood, produces a rich, dark sound. Cocus wood (Brya ebenus) is the reddish-brown wood from the Caribbean. Many players find cocus to be more resonant and slightly brighter than grenadilla.
We build all our piccolos with the Bridged Mechanism. With this mechanism, there are no pins in the main-line keys and bridge rods are used to transfer motion between the keys. The principal advantages of the Bridged mechanism are lower friction and easier maintenance.
Our new C# trill mechanism (U.S. Patent 7,394,007B2) simplifies a variety of trills on the piccolo. For details click here: Keefe C# Trill Key
The split E mechanism or the insert in the tone hole under the lower G key are available for players who wish to improve the response of the high E.
The high G# Facilitator, also known as the half-closing thumb key, improves the response of the high G# without the addition of the second and third fingers of the right hand.
Cork pads are always used on the keys below the water line (the trills,
thumb and G#) while the main-line keys are padded with felt. Cork padding
on the main-line keys is available as an option.