Has anyone tried one of those?

[hydromel89]

Has anyone tried one of those pipes :

Practice set
Practice set
Half set

Any hint on how they are... you should have guessed by now I'm an absolute beginner and I am inquiring for potential new equipment.

Thanks in advance.

Pascal.

[Boody]

Read the sticky on Pakistani pipes. The first one and the third one are both made in Pakistan.

[mayo_piper]

It says they are made in Pakistan...know for very nice wall decorations.

So if you want a wall decoration - go for it! otherwise read the FAQS and go to uilleannobsession.com and look under pipe makers or their classified ads....

Good Luck!

[AaronMalcomb]

The second practice set is the Bagpipes Galore set.

Has anybody ever put a cane reed in one of those chanters and plugged into a hide bag with a wood and leather bellows?

I know popular opinion is less than favorable but I have seen at least one knowledgeable person post that the chanter is serviceable.

[Nanohedron]

The second practice set is the Bagpipes Galore set.

Has anybody ever put a cane reed in one of those chanters and plugged into a hide bag with a wood and leather bellows?

I know popular opinion is less than favorable but I have seen at least one knowledgeable person post that the chanter is serviceable.

I know there's one such floating around somewhere in the Twin Cities with a cane reed in it...dunno if the bag and bellows were changed for the better, though. I'll make a call later in the day to see what fate it has come to. As I recall, it was indeed serviceable if not ideal.

[billh]

The second practice set is the Bagpipes Galore set.

Has anybody ever put a cane reed in one of those chanters and plugged into a hide bag with a wood and leather bellows?

I know popular opinion is less than favorable but I have seen at least one knowledgeable person post that the chanter is serviceable.

I've seen one set up that way. I wouldn't go so far as to call it serviceable. Not worth it IMO.

[Nanohedron]

The second practice set is the Bagpipes Galore set.

Has anybody ever put a cane reed in one of those chanters and plugged into a hide bag with a wood and leather bellows?

I know popular opinion is less than favorable but I have seen at least one knowledgeable person post that the chanter is serviceable.

I've seen one set up that way. I wouldn't go so far as to call it serviceable. Not worth it IMO.

Better listen to Bill than me. It was a few years and pints ago when I last heard the thing.

[PJ]

I have had time to look at and tweak a 1/2 set like no 3 above.

The first thing was that every joint was loose. The ferrules on the chanter and drones were literally falling off the set. The mainstock wouldn't stay in the cup and the chanter wouldn't stay in the chanterstock. The air pipe kept popping out of the bellows stock and the bellows valve kept falling out. Obviously, a lot of extra binding, some teflon tape and some time solved these problems.

Next the drones - none of the cane reeds worked. In fact the cane was extremely stiff and the tongues of the reeds could only be lifted from the reed with great difficulty - no amount of manipulation could get the reeds to sound. The drone switch was stuck open. The only way to close it was to take off the drones and pry the switch up. Not that it would make any difference anyway because the mainstock has been drilled all the way through, so the switch was, to all intents and purposes, merely decoration.

The chanter reed, which was of cane (surprise), was completely useless. It didn't have a bridle and leaked down the sides. I fitted a reed I made and with a little adjustment got it to play relatively in tune in the first octave. The 2nd octave was a little flat.

Finally the bellows: firstly the valve was too loose and kept falling out - more binding solved this problem. There are several leaks along the seams - I didn't try to season the bellows. I don't know if seasoning would have helped. Most importantly, the bellows didn't have a hinge, so it was completely unusable - you'd press with your elbow on the back half of the bellows, the front of the bellows would billow out and no air would go into the bag!!! A cobbler could provide some tough shoe leather which would work as a hinge, but with all the other problems, the bellows was a dead loss - just fit for the bin.

To summarize, the pipes, as delivered, were utterly unplayable. It took about 2 hours and a new chanter reed to get it to the point where the chanter was reasonable in the first octave. The bellows and drones were a dead loss. The $500 plus shipping paid (not by me, you can be certain) was money wasted. The buyer would have been much better off with a Daye practice set or a Sky budget practice set, either of which would have been perfectly suited to the beginner's needs and would have kept their resale value for when the piper wanted to move onto a 1/2 or fullset.

[tommykleen]

The second practice set is the Bagpipes Galore set.../I know there's one such floating around somewhere in the Twin Cities with a cane reed in it ...

Aw thats beautiful...just beautiful!. Don't you know the implications of this!? When people are deciding on their winter getaway, and it's a tossup between Orlando and the Twin Cities, there gonna go "Oah, gosh...da Twin Cities? I dunno...[sharp intake of breath] I heard dey got one of dem dere Bagpipes Galore sets in dose parts. With a cane reed in it even like. I done wanna chance it: no sirree Bob!"



t

[billh]

The second practice set is the Bagpipes Galore set.

Has anybody ever put a cane reed in one of those chanters and plugged into a hide bag with a wood and leather bellows?

I know popular opinion is less than favorable but I have seen at least one knowledgeable person post that the chanter is serviceable.

I've seen one set up that way. I wouldn't go so far as to call it serviceable. Not worth it IMO.

Better listen to Bill than me. It was a few years and pints ago when I last heard the thing.

'

Since I went ahead and made that comment, I suppose I really should explain what I mean. The chanter, with a cane reed, did play from bottom D into the second octave, up to at least A as I recall. I don't think there was a hard D on it, and tuning was rather suspect, but the main issue was that it was not very satisfying to play - you could squeeze the notes out, and I presume that for a rank beginner, tuning would not be a serious concern. But it would surely only be a stopgap/temporary measure, and the tone was unpleasant with that reed or any I tried - playability was not what I'd call good, though it was set up fairly "light" which at least was a good thing.

If someone just wants to have a laugh and "try on the pipes" for amusement, this would probably do it - a bit like a plastic ukelele, I guess. But for someone in any way serious about the instrument, it would seem a waste of money no matter how cheap, since resale value is zero unless you have air mattresses that need inflating. And where are you going to get a proper bag and bellows, and a good cane reed, in the first place?

This "set" retails for £225, or €336. For $170 USD, or less than €120, you can get a finished Penny Chanter with cane reed which, while not any prettier, is at least a fully functioning, reasonably musical sounding pipe chanter.

Bill

[Joseph E. Smith]

I know there's one such floating around somewhere in the Twin Cities with a cane reed in it...dunno if the bag and bellows were changed for the better, though. I'll make a call later in the day to see what fate it has come to. As I recall, it was indeed serviceable if not ideal.

That chanter used to be mine. It does play with a cane reed and not too badly. Needless to say I was mildly amusedf by that. I think I donated it to Tom Dahill who in turn passed it along to someone else.

Be that as it may, I would advise any and all beginners to purchase a practice set that comes from a well known or respected maker. Any other purchase is basically tossing your money to the wind and hoping for failure.

[hydromel89]

Many thanks for all your comments.

It looks like I should avoid those sets like plague.
I will then save money for a decent practice set from a well known maker.

Pascal.

[Nanohedron]

I know there's one such floating around somewhere in the Twin Cities with a cane reed in it...dunno if the bag and bellows were changed for the better, though. I'll make a call later in the day to see what fate it has come to. As I recall, it was indeed serviceable if not ideal.

That chanter used to be mine. It does play with a cane reed and not too badly. Needless to say I was mildly amusedf by that. I think I donated it to Tom Dahill who in turn passed it along to someone else.

Be that as it may, I would advise any and all beginners to purchase a practice set that comes from a well known or respected maker. Any other purchase is basically tossing your money to the wind and hoping for failure.

Yes, the bellows was much cause for amusement with its camping-functional design and hazard-warning yellow sides (what IS that bit called? Garvin's book doesn't help me here, and it's sure not leather). We disussed the possibility of putting yellow diagonals on the bag, just to make the ensemble complete.

[Ceann Cromtha]

Yes, the bellows was much cause for amusement with its camping-functional design and hazard-warning yellow sides (what IS that bit called? Garvin's book doesn't help me here, and it's sure not leather). We disussed the possibility of putting yellow diagonals on the bag, just to make the ensemble complete.

Is it called the gusset(s)?

[Nanohedron]

Is it called the gusset(s)?

Gussets!! Yes.

Thank you. My mind is laboring far too hard today.