Chiff and Fipple Forums

Just wondering, chanters made by Sam Lawrence are often advertised for sale as Hunter chanters.Are chanters made by Sam Lawrence the same as chanters made by Peter Hunter ?

RORY

Hi Rory

If I remember correctly, Sam was Peter Hunter's apprentice and he took over the business.

Yes, he still calls the pipemaking business "Hunter Pipes." He says the following on his website: "I still broadly make to his designs, though I redid the regulator designs and still tweak elsewhere when I feel it is needed."

Is there any way of knowing if you buy a hunter chanter ,if it was made by Sam Lawrence or Peter Hunter. Do either have name stamps?

RORY

No stamps at all so no real way of knowing I don't believe. My half set (well the drones at least) are dated 2000 and Sam stated that would have been Peter. If you have a set in question Sam has always responded quickly to my emails/questions.

No , it's just that we see so often with the old sets , the question of who made them . Is it a Kenna or a coyne ,Egan or Harrington and so on . I reckon the future generations will have ten times the mysteries of the maker of pipes that we have now. Is it a real O'Brien,is it a real hunter ,is it a real Froment or is it a clone ? Maybe it's not important or is it ?

RORY

It was 2007 when I ordered my first ever chanter—a 7-keyed Peter Hunter B chanter made from the last piece of his rare Sri Lankan ebony. At that time, I had a goal and huge ilusion to eventualy become a flat-pitch Davy spillane, and those 7 keys would help me in that goal I sat on the plane and flew to England to pick up the chanter personally. Chanter was already fully made by Sam Lawrence. Sam invited me, and we both went to visit Peter at his house. Peter inspected the finished chanter one last time (the shapes, the keywork, the tuning, the tone from all aspects, the timbre, the finish, everything). Then he insisted that Sam play a few tunes, using all the strange old fingerings possible, to see if Chanter could do everything. It was very clear that he was a good teacher, but even more clear that he got the best student. And the story about perfect students is that they eventually overcome the teacher. After 16 years, I am sure it has already happened. A name stamp with Lawrence would be a nice addition, but I am sure Sam has perfectly reasonable reasons why he still uses the Hunter name. I was so stupid to sell the chanter, as I didn't know what I had in my hands. Anyway, while it might be important to know if the O'Briain or Froment you buy are real, in the case of Hunter, IMHO, you will only get a better deal if Sam's hands and ears were used in the process. My 2c.