ebay Bagpipes

**highlander_Daz** · 7th May 08, 09:32 AM

At a risk of repeating myself, the fledglings first port of call should ALWAYS be the local pipeband, the Pipemajor may do lessons and can point you in the right direction if he doesnt.
secondly a band will teach you to play for "peanuts" provideing you will play with them a few times, often they will loan you a decent set of pipes when your ready, its good to "buddy up" with another piper the same level as you to make good progress, the PM will often know of decent secondhand sets going for sale, and you can as the PM or another piper tocheck them out.

dont be afraid of apporoaching pipe bands, its a great and inexpensive way of learning.

**JerseyLawyer** · 7th May 08, 09:46 AM

I frequently forget how lucky I was to be a second-generation piper in a pipe band family (my middle brother, to my father's initial chagrin, became a drummer. But two more of us are pipers).

Anyway - yeah, ebay pipes are generally crap. Though my old man did manage to get a set of 1910 Hendersons for something like $900 a few years ago that he just loves. Which meant I got his full-mounted silver and ivory Grainger & Campbells, and my brother got my Gillanders & MacCleod... It all worked out in the end, though "pimp pipes" are heavy and I constantly fret over them during parades and afterwards. You won't find me throwing my pipes on the pile with the rest of the band on some bar table.

So, you can get pipes on ebay if you know what you're looking for, but what beginner really does? Many pipe shops will have secondhand sets, and if you join a local band, you might find someone who's giving it up or bought a new set and is looking to sell a set of pipes. If you're just starting out, you'll need someone to set them up for you as well (this includes if you buy a set that's advertised, for example, as "sticks only".), and that's not has hard as it used to be, though if you want a hide bag, you'll need someone who knows the art of tying one on, and has a roll of mason's cord and a strong metal object to pull it tight with.

So, this meandering post gets to this point - buy from a reputable shop, with a good reputation, whether for new or used pipes, and either have an experienced piper or a reputable shop set them up for you.

All this also presupposes that you've advanced far enough on the chanter to need and want pipes anyway.

Good luck!

**Dukeof Kircaldy** · 16th May 08, 10:12 AM

It seems I am better off hiring a piper for loads of reasons. One is that I live in a rowhouse in a City and my neighbours would kill me if I went about practising the bagpipes.

On the other hand, should anyone have any interest in eBay bagpipes, I would suggest looking at this piece by Andrew Lenz:
http://www.bagpipejourney.com/articl...-on-ebay.shtml

**auld argonian** · 16th May 08, 10:22 AM

Consider one of those Fagerstrom electronic chanters if you just want something to noodle around with and the neighbors might be a problem.

http://www.technopipes.com/

I'd love to get my hands on one of them and plug them into am Ampeg stack...

Best

AA

**jmercier** · 16th May 08, 11:10 AM

I purchased a Dunbar chanter from http://www.hendersongroupltd.com/ a year back, along with the college of piping tutor book 1, and havent yet had a chance to even do anything with it at all. It and a few sets of synthetic reeds are sitting on my desk collecting dust on the case and I keep kicking myself saying I should pick it up and start learning. The Dunbar chanter is very nice quality though and I recommend it.

**JerseyLawyer** · 16th May 08, 04:57 PM

The Dunbar chanters are quite nice. Lots of people have them, and are quite satisfied. Justin, I would suggest that you find a teacher, if you want to learn - you aren't going to be able to teach yourself properly, even with a good tutor book like the green tutor.

**SteveB** · 16th May 08, 06:38 PM

One of the major notes on the Henderson Group website is the notice with each of the chanters advertised. Learning the proper playing of the bagpipes and the chanter require good instruction from an experienced piper.

"Tip for Success: Even when they have these great learning tools, we strongly encourage beginners to work with a piping instructor. The bagpipes are complex, and you're most likely to make the transition to the bagpipes if you're working with an experienced piper."

**MacHummel** · 16th May 08, 06:46 PM

I have a very cheap set fo the purpose of just messing about with them I just used my Dunbar chanter in them and plugged the dronesas they suck real bad I painted them up to look real nasty and punk like and iplay them at school for the kids they think their cool, now for playing for real I spent the big bucks and got a set of 41' Hardies and they are magic, if ou want to play for giggle get a crappy set so long as you already have agood chanter to use if you want to seriously play buy a chanter and get lessons and wait till your ready .

**Dukeof Kircaldy** · 24th May 08, 08:51 AM

From: http://www.poorpiper.net/store/info.html

Sialkot, Pakistan is the "garden spot" of Middle-East Bagpipes. It is the home of MANY, MANY Bagpipe companies. The quality from company to company varies greatly, from complete garbage, to very high professional quality. Some of these professional quality companies actually sell Bagpipes and Bagpipe parts to some Scottish Bagpipe makers. Bargain-hunting merchants who sell many different instruments, none of which they actually know how to play, will purchase the cheapest Bagpipes they can find and sell them to you. All Bagpipes look pretty when they are brand new. To someone who does not play Bagpipes, cheap junk looks pretty much the same as high standard Bagpipes. So, quality is not an issue. Only price.

What eBay sellers say, and What they mean:

Say: Beautiful quality.
Mean: They're shiny & new.

Say: Comes with a bottle of seasoning.
Mean: We don't know how to season a bag, so we're just going to send you the seasoning & let you figure it out.

Say: Comes with 2 sets of reeds.
Mean: We have no idea what good reeds look like, so we're going to give you 2 sets & hope that one of them works.

Say: Never been played.
Mean: We have no idea how to set these things up and test 'em. You do it.

Say: .....Long page of hype & glitter, pictures of their store, .gif animations, fancy colours and graphics.
Mean: Don't bother looking for any sort of actual description. We have no idea what we're selling, we just want you to buy it.

**JerseyLawyer** · 24th May 08, 10:48 AM

That's pretty much right on. If they had any idea what they were selling, the description would say, "Mass-produced Eastern bagpipes. For display only, not playable unless you are a masochist. Reeds and bag provided for show only."

By the way, since they usually send you cane reeds, you might need more than two sets to find ones that work.