Chiff and Fipple Forums

There is cane of various degrees of hardness. Bassoon players like harder cane for their wet-blown reeds. David Daye has used Rigotti cane, as do many GHB reed makers. It is the softest of the European cane. I have also sold cane to Mr. Daye, so he does not only use bassoon cane. Many bassoon player...

I find making by measurement to be very useful. I do pay attention to cane hardness and adjust for it. Using my soft cane I gouge to about 1.0mm or 0.040" at the center. When I am gouging and find the cane to be harder, I gouge to around 1.2mm or over 0.045" so the scrape will be deeper an...

Store the cane in plastic bins with the lid loose so air can circulate. If using a cardboard box, put the tubes in a plastic bag as cardboard can contain acid which will spoil the cane at the contact point. Line the box with a plastic bag and leave air to circulate. Let it sit for 3 years and you sh...

Bassoon cane reportedly gets harder the longer it is stored to become unuseable after a few years. With the soft cane I cut here, I find 25 year old cane to still produce great reeds. Geoff Wooff is still using cane he got in '89. He reports no degradation. Other California cane is reported to harde...

Looks like Arundo from here. Drying cane is not a problem. Curing it is another matter. Cut green, the sap must undergo being broken down within the tubes by viruses and bacteria. This process takes around 3 years. One can quickly dry cane by using heat, but the sap in the cane will be cooked and ha...

I see from the photos that you are using brass tubing staples. The bore for the staple I propose is around 3.6mm bore, which is a touch more than 0.4mm smaller in dia. than the 3/16" o.d. tubing it looks like you are using. Many CP bass drone reeds don't do well with these staples but require a...

The problem with stock brass tubing is the lack of choice. As a starting point, I like about a 9/64" diameter bore for a CP bass reg. staple. The available K&S tubing in inches are just over 1/8" and just over 5/32" bore. 9/64" is about midway between these two diameters. I d...

With the extended range, low bass drone and ability to play stacatto, it's darn nearly an uilleann pipe, but louder. Are regulators next? I like it!

I too have a couple of non-tunable 1980's D Susatos with cedar plugs. They had glued on thumb rests which I removed, as they were in the wrong position for me. I much prefer them to the newer models. I wish he would make them again.

I have a tapered bore high D with a square cross section a guy gave me at a flea market. He gave me one because I was the first guy he heard get a tune out of it. He was making them to sell but had no idea it was possibly useful as an instrument. Will post a photo when my camera is repaired.

You did not ask for staple i.d.. I like 9/64"for that.

If it is leaks you need stopped, I can do that. I don't make chanter reeds. Will not be home until the 20th though.

I use the cross-legged position when I need to take a leak.

Thanks to all who participated in the tour and left feedback. As an up and coming new maker, Alex has shown himself to be responsive to his customers wishes and will do what he can to accommodate them. As Greg pointed out, Alex makes several types or models. This was a new type to me, a robust whist...

I have an early Oak D from the early 1980's. Still a favorite. I tried a few Oak C whistles over the years, but was disappointed. Not the same animal as the D.