Ima-usa Scottish military bagpipes

[kilted hillbilly]

IMA-USA.com has Scottish military bagpipes for $199.95.Can anyone here tell me anything about them(the bagpipes)? I'm thinking of getting them just to play around with, but if they are just junk I wont bother. Theyre surely not high quality,but maybe not to bad.Thanks. Forgive me , I misspelled Scottish in the heading.DUH!

[piperdbh]

If this company has a good returns policy, as in "money back if not completely satisfied", and you're willing to let go of a couple of hundred simolians, then I'd say go ahead and buy them, then take them straight to a good 'piper and have him/her test them, and then make a decision about keeping them. At best, you might wind up with a playable stand of 'pipes. At worst, you have a $200 ornament to go over the fireplace.
It's interesting the the website does not mention which military these 'pipes allegedly came from, nor does it mention a maker, but it does use up a whole paragraph describing a scene in a movie. That raises some red flags, right off the bat.

[castledangerous]

Don't, under any circumstances, waste you money on those pipes. They are obviously South-Asian made. Not to mention, you don't buy bagpipes to learn bagpipes. Do a search on innumerable discussions on this topic, both here and elsewhere on the web

[kilted hillbilly]

They have an exellent return policy.They also say on some items that "this product does not meet our strict quality measures so we are offering at a low price, etc." On the pipes they dont say this. I will never learn the pipes. I have no musical talent whatsoever. I dont want to spend great amounts of money on something I'll never be good at. But if these are not complete garbage I'll be satisfied.Thanks for the replies.

[beloitpiper]

I will never learn the pipes. I have no musical talent whatsoever. I dont want to spend great amounts of money on something I'll never be good at. But if these are not complete garbage I'll be satisfied.Thanks for the replies.

There are two types of bagpipes: well-made pipes and garbage pipes. There really is no in-between. If you're looking for a set of pipes to hang on the wall as decoration, then I'd say buy these pipes. If you're looking for something that you might be able to learn to play someday and hand down for generations to come, then you're going to pay at least $1200.

[kilted hillbilly]

OK, so I wont get them, I called IMA, they said made in middle east as far as they know. O well, u get what u pay for, I shoulda known they where crap. I did a little research and found out some info about constuction,materials,etc, and these pipes met really none of the criteria. Maybe I'll get a chanter and aggravate the heck out of my wife?Thanks

[ohiopiper]

Ditto what castledangerous said. If you want to learn the pipes, go buy a practice chanter, called a PC for short. Expect to spend a minimum of several months on it learning the basics. Only then will you be ready to move on to the pipes. A decent set of pipes can be had for about 800 bucks if you go with poly pipes from a reputable maker like Dunbar or Macallum. Pipers Choice also sells poly for a reasonable price, but I've not personally heard a set. A PC will only set you back between 50 to 100 bucks, go poly for you first, ABW (African Blackwood) later if you choose to.

[EagleJCS]

If you haven't found it yet, there is a sticky thread under the Celtic Musicians sub-sub-forum that has a lot of information about what to look for when you get started. Here's the link.

English Bloke got you a good start, but read through that thread for lots more. I know there's 5 pages of posts, but it's a lot of good info.

[OC Richard]

I of course agree with the other experienced pipers here: don't waste your money on Pakistani pipes, which are not really musical instruments, but ISO's (Instrument-Shaped Objects).

Sadly 100% of inexpensive new pipes are Pakistani. There are thousands on Ebay every day, all junk.

The least expensive new pipes are polypenco/delrin pipes by Dunbar in Canada and McCallum in Scotland, around $700. These play great.

For around $1000 to $1200 you can get basic blackwood pipes from any of a large number of great UK and North American makers.

Here's a list of good makers nowadays, in Canada, the USA, Scotland, England, and Northern Ireland:

Atherton
Booth
Colin Kyo
Crisler
Cushing
Dunbar
Dufion
Fletcher
Gellaitry
Gibson
Henderson/Hardie/St Kilda (the same company selling pipes under three names)
Inveran House (Tweedy)
Kron
Marr
MacMurchie
MacLellan
MacPherson (Doug, not to be confused with Hugh)
MacLeod (Glasgow, not to be confused with Forfar)
McCallum
Murray
Naill
Shepherd
Sinclair
Soutar
Strathmore
Wallace
Walsh
Warnock
Warmac

Buying vintage pipes is a bit tricky even for those with decades of experience buying and playing vintage pipes... but there are tremendous bargains all the time on Ebay, for example today a 1970s set of Lawries, decent Scottish-made blackwood pipes, going for well under $500.

One can snap up, nearly every week, on Ebay, excellent blackwood Scottish-made pipes made in the 50s through the 70s for well under $1000, often for around $500. The vintage pipe market is very low right now and there are bargains to be had.