Frugal Corner Pipes (review)

[Erisianmonkey]

Okay all, I had no idea where to put this review. I settled on "Kilt Accessories" as pipes are something a lot of people assume we have.

The good:These pipes are absolutely gorgeous. The metal fittings are engraved with knotwork, and are polished beautifully. The bag is airtight. The drones slide easily into place, and they adjust along their tuning fittings just fine. The flap on the blow tube seals tight. The bag cover is beautiful, made of thick tartan.

The bad: The reeds are not the greatest. That's it. Really. I couldn't get sound out of the chanter at all because the reeds weren't quite right, I think.

The other: I was surprised at the weight of these. They don't look quite as heavy as they are. These things are substantial.

I haven't got the air power to play the bagpipes. I know this. I managed, however, to get the drones to sound at one point and they sounded beautiful- the full beautiful sound that I associate with pipes. Of course, then I couldn't keep them playing and the bag inflated because of my lack of lung power and made a noise that my wife said sounded like a sick cow.

Final judgment: These are great for people like me who want to play around with pipes and maybe hang them on the wall, but will never be serious players. I also think that these would be great for serious players who just don't have the cash to invest in expensive pipes yet. I am disgusted with anyone who says that bagpipes must cost a certain amount otherwise they are crap. There should not be a dollar amount that people have to be willing to invest to play the pipes, and those who say that you have to spend x amount of dollars will forever in my mind be dubbed "pipe snobs." I will probably invest in good reeds at some point to play around with these pipes more, because despite the fact that I know I don't have the lung power, I had a lot of fun. These are a great value for the dollar amount that Frugal corner is asking.

If these pipes are "crap" then good pipes have got to be incredible.

[Skweres]

price?

[Erisianmonkey]

Mark gave me these. Their pipes run from $115-185.

[Bob C]

I am disgusted with anyone who says that bagpipes must cost a certain amount otherwise they are crap. There should not be a dollar amount that people have to be willing to invest to play the pipes, and those who say that you have to spend x amount of dollars will forever in my mind be dubbed "pipe snobs."

Hear, hear! Expand that concept to kilts, sporrans, sgians dubh, kilt hose, dirks, etc. and I'm in your corner.

[cessna152towser]

Sounds like very good value. The "cheap" pipes which I used to own were assembled from parts by the proprietor of the shop where I bought my Cunningham kilt, now retired, and had a sheepskin bag with a red corduroy cover to match the kilt. They were good enough for my limited playing abilities of a few simple tunes. They cost around £250 at the time ($500) and although the serious pipers around there regarded them as "**** pipes", nonetheless one of the local bands was willing to buy them from me for training their juniors and willing to pay me what I had paid for them ten years earlier. If I get myself another set of pipes to play around with I'll probably get them mail order from Frugal Corner.

[McMurdo]

Thanks for the open-minded review. I would think after reading this that if I were to ever try to learn the pipes again I will consider picking up my first set from Mark.

[Tattoo Bradley]

I don't know anything about these pipes. But, one thing that jumps out to me is the mention of not being able to get the chanter to play. It may not be the reed. You're gonna have to have PRETTY good air in order to even consider getting the chanter to squeak. Drone stops are a pretty good tool when you don't yet have the air.

[Kiltedfirepiper]

the first set of pipes I owned were" pakistani" pipes from " mideast manufacturing corp"

for alot of pipers its not so much the price, it's the quality......historicly pakistani pipes are of (way) below what you'd concider "quality workmanship"

I paid around $300 for my set and invested about 250 more to get them playable. for what I spent,( i didnt know at the time ) I could have gotten a set of Dunbar P1's and been playing from the getgo!

I had to replace the Bag, chanter, drone reeds, and chanter reeds to get them playable, and even then I couldnt play with anyone else cause I couldnt get the drones to tune to where the other pipers were tuning.
that and the "silver" kept falling off and I had to repair it.

I dont fault anyone for getting pakistani pipes, but if they asked me before buying I would suggest a polypenco ( plastic) set for playability, and ease of maintenance..

just my .02



ok that was just wierd.....I'm home with the kids today, and their watching Mr. Rodgers neibourhood (sp) and all the sudden I hear bagpipes!!!

they were in the world of make believe and one of the puppets was playing pipes ROTFLOL what a cowinkydink

kfp

[beloitpiper]

Give us another review in a year. I'd like to know how they hold up.

[thescot]

Thanks for the review, erisianmonkey. I got a cheap set recently myself, and I'm going to be anxious to see if I can make them play.

Like Beloit, I'll be interested in the long-term playability.

I'm probably going to pop for a set of Dunbars if I ever get the time to learn how to play.