Anyone familiar with these pipes?

[Nighthawk]

http://www.sulshi.com/

They look decent, and have a good reputation. I was tossing around the idea of getting a set of pipes from them. Are they worth the $400?

[JS Sanders]

Familiar? - "yes". And under no circumstances purchase them.

There're ain't nothing but heartache written all over 'em. They're made in Pakistan.

Save your money for a quality set... something your piping tutor recommends.

Slainte,
steve

[Nighthawk]

Familiar? - "yes". And under no circumstances purchase them.

There're ain't nothing but heartache written all over 'em. They're made in Pakistan.

Save your money for a quality set... something your piping tutor recommends.

Slainte,
steve

So- what is it that's wrong with them (other than where they're made)? What should I look out for?

[JS Sanders]

<< So- what is it that's wrong with them (other than where they're made)? What should I look out for? >>

-------------------------------------------
Nighthawk,

Pakistani pipes are marketed to those who know no better. Take a look at ebay.com, or check out at a touristy-kitschy shop in Scotland.

Their construction is shoddy, and all the sets I've seen are practically un-playable. The chanters aren't tuned, the wood is often checked, loose fittings, and the leather bags don't hold air. I don't even like to contemplate their state of cleanliness.

IF they could be made play-able, it'd take just as much money to refurbish them as already spent. For decoratively wallhangers, there's none better.

Ask your instructor what he plays - that's a good start. A quality set can be had for about $900 and up. There are used sets out there, but it's like buying a horse - you better know what you're doing.

Don't enjoy bursting bubbles, but I have several people annually contact me with the same question, except they've already purchase the 'pipes'.

Best advice of all is to locate a piping instructor.

Slainte,
steve

[george7]

I got a set... our members use them for photo ops such as scuba diving. They're not even decent enough to use as decoration, but seem OK for distant and underwater photography.

[Nighthawk]

<< So- what is it that's wrong with them (other than where they're made)? What should I look out for? >>

-------------------------------------------
Nighthawk,

Pakistani pipes are marketed to those who know no better. Take a look at ebay.com, or check out at a touristy-kitschy shop in Scotland.

Their construction is shoddy, and all the sets I've seen are practically un-playable. The chanters aren't tuned, the wood is often checked, loose fittings, and the leather bags don't hold air. I don't even like to contemplate their state of cleanliness.

IF they could be made play-able, it'd take just as much money to refurbish them as already spent. For decoratively wallhangers, there's none better.

Ask your instructor what he plays - that's a good start. A quality set can be had for about $900 and up. There are used sets out there, but it's like buying a horse - you better know what you're doing.

Don't enjoy bursting bubbles, but I have several people annually contact me with the same question, except they've already purchase the 'pipes'.

Best advice of all is to locate a piping instructor.

Slainte,
steve

Really?!?! Holy crap!! Actually, I'm taking my first lesson in ten years tomorrow. I'll ask him about where I can get a good starter set. Thanks for the information. I am the guy who know no better and I know it- thats why I posted here, so you people (who do know better!!) could stop me from wasting $400!! Thanks a lot. I'll let you know how my first lesson goes. I taught myself the scale and have already started figuring out the gracenotes all on my own. Yeah, I'm excited. With my wife working again, we can afford to do things! I never got back to playing because I broke my chanter and I never was able to replace it- until a week ago.

Again, Steve, George- thanks for the advice!!

[SteveB]

That is the great thing about this board. TRUTH.
Now does anyone know of a tutor in the Boston area??. I do want to learn correctly from the beginning. Starting with the chanter. I am not looking at pipes until I get the chanter down right.

[JS Sanders]

<< I taught myself the scale and have already started figuring out the gracenotes all on my own. >>

Nighthawk,
Your first lesson probably shall consist of how to properly play the scale, which will differ from what you're doing now.

I ain't your guardian, but may be best just to lay the practice chanter down until that initial lesson. The less incorrect fingerings you acquire, the less you'll hafta unlearn then subsequently re-learn. You use your fingers as levers, quite different from woodwinds.

You'll be fine. If you have the deep inner burn to learn the Noble Instrument, nothing can stop you.

I'm please you're paying attention to the opinions provided. More than once, contrary to the advice of experienced pipers, I've read of non-pipers offering advice regarding self-teaching. And too often the novice listens to them over those who're accomplished experts.

Slainte,
steve

[Mr. Woolery]

Specific things that can be (and often are) wrong with Pakistani bagpipes:

-Poorly seasoned wood (means shrinking, which will often result in cracks, will certainly throw off the stability of the tuning)

-Inaccurate boring (so the pipes won't tune properly in the first place - proper relationships of drone bores are vital to a good tone and also a big part of just remaining in tune and stable)

-Hairy bores (wood fibers sticking up in the bore, which create turbulence that will interfere with the sound your drone is supposed to produce)

-Greasy bag (the hide bags could probably work fine if they didn't come with slimy grease oozing out of them - one set I saw last week had a plastic wrapper over the bag under the bag cover to keep the brown mung from staining the bag cover)

-Bad chanter (as already mentioned, even slight faults in the reaming of the chanter can play havoc with the tuning and the finger holes are often not in the optimal positions - very small differences in measurement make a very large difference in functionality)

So, presuming the drones were capable of being salvaged, a set of Pakistani bagpipes would set you back $200-400. A new bag (trust me, that grease is disturbing) is around $125 (hide, a synthetic will be more). Decent chanter will be about $150 new, but used chanters can be had for $100 fairly easily. All new reeds (the reeds with these sets are generally pretty bad) will be at least $100 (that's for one chanter reed and a fairly cheap set of drone reeds, but you can push it higher easily enough). Then, time spent smoothing the bores and oiling the wood will be needed. The stocks need to be retied into the new bag, the blowpipe valve will probably need to be replaced (another $5, not a big deal), some time with hemp to make the joints secure. And that all assumes your Pakistani drones work in the first place.

Grand total? About double the cost of the pipes alone (that's minimum - you can make these things cost more than a starter level Scottish pipe).

Compare that with a set of McCallum AB0 pipes from John Higgins (best price I know of at the moment) for about $900. Already set up and essentially ready to play. The Scottish Piper has Wallace student pipes for about $750. Also in real blackwood.

I'm not endorsing any particular brand or retailer.

Seems to me the Pakistani pipes should be possible to make a little better. There are apparently some companies capable of doing proper work over there. However, the results I have seen are rather nasty. It would be nice if someone could oversee quality control and turn out student pipes that would work for beginners for half the price of good pipes. Sort of like how Stillwater kilts can be had (from Pakistan) to make kilts a lot cheaper for poor folks. They sure aren't the same as a tailored kilt, but they work well and are exactly what they claim to be. Why someone hasn't done that with bagpipes is beyond me.

-Patrick

[Jack Daw]

There's no such thing as bargain-priced on bagpipes. I suspect even well-known maker pipes priced lower than $1,000.