Well, all of the cheapies I have tried have been clearly of middle-eastern origin. In other words, I believe all of them were made in Pakistan. I don't want to make the mistake of coming across as promoting these products without disclaimer, but I've played several Pakistani practice chanters and not been anywhere near so disgusted as many pipers who don't seem to have even played one.

I have given away the Pakistani chanter I upgraded from, but at $15, it was a good value and well worth having for the first year or two I was learning. I got it from my teacher who buys from John Rosenberger, who has a long relationship with a particular manufacturer in Pakistan. My teacher's first set of pipes was Pakistani and worked fine until they were stolen several years after she learned to play. (Trivia- her first kilt cost the same as her first pipes: $40.) She's sold those Pakistani chanters for a couple of decades and it can be a cheap way to get someone started who isn't sure he/she wants to fork out too much early on to learn this instrument. It is probable that her supplier has the cream of the crop from his supplier and that many of the chanters on ebay may not be as well sorted for consistency. But I don't know for sure.

Most folks do upgrade in a year if they stay with piping. The scale is acceptable, but the tone is rather thin and uninspiring. Still, the cheapies play and get people on the pipes. And isn't that the important thing?

My GH pipes are McCallums and the CNC work doesn't seem to have hurt the sound or tunability of them. I'm not sure what the beef is with McCallums, but I've seen several folks poo-poo them. Thing is, I've heard more than a couple pipers who play for money (maybe not a living, but it is hard to make a living this way) say they play McCallum pipes over the more expensive makes for a variety of reasons. And nobody can say that with a quality setup they sound bad. The choice of drone reeds seems to make almost as much difference as the brand name of the drones does.

-Patrick