In my experience, The lighter the handle on the peg, the higher pitch it will produce. The Heavier it is, the lower it will be. I make all my strikers on a 5/16 peg, or slightly smaller. Handles are around 3in in length, and 3/4 diameter. Different wood species will make different pitch's also. Purple Heart, Zebra wood, Hickory and a few other hardwoods produce some great sounds, but I really like Diamondwood, and most of the strikers I make are DM. Hope this helps.