Chanter questions

[Macman]

My father recently gave me his PC, which he bought in the mid-80's as well, but in Scotland. It came in a black box inscribed with "Grainger & Campbell Ltd" and came with a book and cassette too. Mine does say "Made in Scotland" on it, so I'm assuming that it was. I didn't know Pakistan was making them back then.
My dad never played it, but it sounds pretty good, and the reed it came with is fine. My only complaint is that it's not a long chanter. It could be that you've got a decent one.

[SteveB]

I have two long chanters, one blackwood and one polypenco (plastic)
The blackwood is from Kilberry Bagpipes of Edinburgh, the tube is rough in places on the inside, the finger holes are straight drilled and I find that the spacing gives my D and E fingers an opportunity to clash, the blowtube is clean through, and seats well with a medium amount of hemp (remember this is wood!). The reed seat is well milled and little hemp is needed to firmly seat the reed.
The plastic chanter is from McCallum Bagpipes of Kilmarnock, and has a nice smooth bore, the finger holes are tapered and appear (feel) the same as on a bagpipe chanter, it also has a well finished blowtube, and seats with only a little bit of hemp. The reed seat is well milled, and reeds seat easily with very little hemp.
I have found that my playing experience on both to be the same as far as the noise emitted. With a lot of wind from me, I can get sound to come out, that is not in tone with any known musical instrument. I have experienced very brief encounters with low G and low A. Many times the reed simply shuts tight as I try to move up the scale, or a really horrid screech comes out the end that sends my neighbours running. I now have a rodent and cat free area around my house.
For the record, I am not a piper, and do wish to learn, but the best suggestion is to find a tutor. I need to find one before I proceed any further as I do not want to learn bad playing methods. If anyone knows of a tutor in Boston, or nearby, I need to contact them. I do not have a set of pipes and will hold off purchasing them until I find a tutor that gets me through the chanter stage, and can recommend pipes that are suited to my playing. If the tutor recommends other than the chanters I currently own, the additional chanter will be invested in. The important thing to me is to learn how to play the pipes properly, and so that I can do so with enjoyment.
To play the pipes poorly will not only hurt me, but the reputation of the bagpipes to others, that would not be right.
Off soap box, end rant, breath deep.
Slainte

[ChromeScholar]

It's wood. The mouth piece, etc., are hard white plastic. They are threaded on, and the threads are wound with hemp, sort of like using plumbers tape on pipe threads. The finish is very nice. Everything fits nicely, and it appears to be smooth inside and out. It does seem to be hard to blow through, though, which doesn't seem right to me.

[JerseyLawyer]

My father recently gave me his PC, which he bought in the mid-80's as well, but in Scotland. It came in a black box inscribed with "Grainger & Campbell Ltd" and came with a book and cassette too. Mine does say "Made in Scotland" on it, so I'm assuming that it was. I didn't know Pakistan was making them back then.
My dad never played it, but it sounds pretty good, and the reed it came with is fine. My only complaint is that it's not a long chanter. It could be that you've got a decent one.

Grainger and Campbell is now out of business, but they were, in their day, one of the well known pipe makers. In fact, the set of full-mounted pipes I got from my father are Graingers.

[JerseyLawyer]

It's wood. The mouth piece, etc., are hard white plastic. They are threaded on, and the threads are wound with hemp, sort of like using plumbers tape on pipe threads. The finish is very nice. Everything fits nicely, and it appears to be smooth inside and out. It does seem to be hard to blow through, though, which doesn't seem right to me.

Not to be pedantic, but the teflon tape, if you use it, goes over the hemp. It's a replacement for using waxed yellow hemp for the outer layer.

For the record, I am not a piper, and do wish to learn, but the best suggestion is to find a tutor. I need to find one before I proceed any further as I do not want to learn bad playing methods. If anyone knows of a tutor in Boston, or nearby, I need to contact them. I do not have a set of pipes and will hold off purchasing them until I find a tutor that gets me through the chanter stage, and can recommend pipes that are suited to my playing. If the tutor recommends other than the chanters I cuurently own, the additional chanter will be invested in. The important thing to me is to learn how to play the pipes properly, and so that I can do so with enjoyment.

The Tuloch Ard pipe band in Boston was very good, and had a lot of quality players, but I don't know if they're still in existence. I'll ask around. I'm not too familiar with the other bands in the area so I can't recommend anyone, but again, I'll ask and let you know if I hear anything.