Ima-usa Scottish military bagpipes

[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

[TheBrus]

That's the spirit!

[English Bloke]

That's the spirit indeed! Like it!

If you are after a practice chanter (P/C), get a long one rather than standard size. The holes are positioned roughly the same as a bagpipe chanter and makes the transition from P/C to pipes proper, that bit easier. There is no issue with getting Polypenco (plastic, also known as Acetyl) as a first buy rather than Blackwood. In beginner terms the poly chanters are virtually indestructible and pretty much maintenance free which means you can cart it anywhere without fear of it breaking and get more practice time, and you can always upgrade to Blackwood later if you wish.

My P/C is a Long Bannatyne without sole (the sole is the foot-piece on the end rather than my inability to play it well). It's polypenco, good quality and it works for me but there are also numerous suppliers of quality piping kit on your side of the Atlantic. Have a look at these chaps (Henderson's) in the USA for ideas on prices. All of these listed makers produce quality products and you can always enquire to the manufacturers direct...

A very good, easily portable and inexpensive tutor book to start on is Logan's Complete Tutor for the Highland Bagpipe by Captain John MacLellan. It's a bit dated now but it has all the basics you need for mastering the P/C and contains loads of tunes as well which you can carry forward to the pipes at a later point. (Previous knowledge of music notation is an advantage but not essential).

You will however find it beneficial to obtain proper tuition as you progress and if you stick at it and you do make the transition to full pipes, instruction is probably a must. Have a scout around your area for pipe bands that are happy to recruit beginners. If you're pushed to find an instructor there is tuition available online (click for an example but there are others) or at a push there is quite a bit of one-way bagpipe instructional clips available on You-tube. (Google's your friend).

Either way, it is great fun but it isn't easy.

I also have a set of Custom made McCallum Poly P1's (with a bit of extra shiny bling). I bought Poly pipes as a first set because again, I need them to be sturdy and light on maint for how I intend to tackle them. They are a smashin' set of pipes too but I think I have jumped the gun a bit as I'm still not ready for them yet. Consequently I'm still plugging away on my P/C for now. Commitment of time is my problem. You really do have to practice... alot!

My dream pipes would be a set of hand made, plain turned MP01's, by Doug MacPherson. Their simplicity blows me away. His prices are also not unreasonable. The set I have in mind are in Blackwood with a few Mopane tweaks in place of the imitation ivory on the standard set and I have tentatively contacted Doug regarding prices, I must say, I was amazed at the value he offers for a set of handmade pipes of such quality. Not inexpensive but not unaffordable, depending of course on both your desire and definition of affordability. As a maker he his very highly regarded in piping circles.

You don't have to spend a fortune but my only recommendation is, if it's very cheap, it's generally rubbish and you'll be wasting your money... Spend a portion of that $200 getting a decent P/C and have a bash first! You'll be glad you did.

[castledangerous]

<snip>
My dream pipes would be a set of hand made, plain turned MP01's, by Doug MacPherson.

I have three sets of GHB and I am always eyeing those MacPherson's, too. He does some beautiful work

[piperdbh]

Now that the OP has his answer, I don't mind threadjacking this into a discussion of those MacPherson 'pipes. I never thought I'd write this, but I really likes the looks of "Mr. October." (That's the featured 'pipes on Mr. MacPherson's site.)

[Aspiringloser]

You can buy a cheap practice chanter and not be disappointed. When you progress to the pipes and decide to buy a set, my advice would be don't buy the cheapest set you can find. I would urge you to buy the nicest set you can reasonably afford. If you're on a really strict budget go for a poly set hands down. If you can afford African Blackwood I'd say go for that instead. You don't have to buy the silver and engraving, all of that is decoration and will not affect the tone of your drones. I would recommend getting a poly chanter with your African Blackwood set though. Get several different chanter reeds as well. Don't be afraid to experiment with sanding and tweaking to get a decent reed. If you get a reed that goes right into your chanter and plays in tune and to the strength that you like, then consider yourself lucky. I have found that that rarely happens. I'm only about a year in myself and probably got my set way too early but I'm glad I spent the extra money for a wooden set. I got a set of Gibson 110-D's and I'm happy with them so far.