The joys and dangers of Ebay pipes

[JPS]

This obviously Pakistani bagpipe has got 19 bids! Stop the madness.

The first telltale things are the bag-cover and the cords (note the rubber O-rings). But it could be a legit set with the Pakistani dressings, right?

I don't think I've ever come across that; it's extremely unlikely. Because in Pakistan they do make quite nice cords and bag-covers and the ones they sell separately are like that. The wonky sort seen on this Ebay set are the kind that come on the cheapest Pakistani pipes.

So for a legit pipe to have the cheapest sort of Pakistani dressings would mean shifting them from a cheap Pakistani set.

Much more common is the other way round: Pakistani pipes which have been dressed in higher-quality things.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/25549524229...ndition=4%7C10

Are you certain? In the third picture, I could swear I can make out "Dunbar" in the cord guide.

[DCampbell16B]

I also do see Dunbar. And the mouthpiece looks like some variation of an Airstream. Concur on the cords though.

[imrichmond]

If these are Pakistani, they would be the first set of Pakistani polypenco pipes I've ever seen. The Pakistani makers just don't use polypenco. Even Hakam Din, arguably the best of the Pakistani makers, uses only African blackwood (poorly aged) and sheesham (which the Pakistanis misleadingly call rosewood). This is clearly a set of Dunbar polypenco pipes. Aside from the Dunbar stamp in the tenor cord guide, the single scored line in place of combing below the shoulder on the drones is virtually a guarantee that these are Dunbars. This set is identical to the set of imitation mounted polys shown on Dunbar's website. The mouthpiece is an Airstream, but the blowpipe is Dunbar. If someone can get this set for around $400-500 US, it will be a real bargain. Used sets of Dunbar polys are typically going for $750-900 US.

Why the seller would have dressed these pipes up with Pakistani cords and what could well be a Pakistani bag cover is anybody's guess, but I have seen this done with a couple of other sets of pipes in recent years. A few years ago, I purchased on behalf of a band mate a lovely set of 1970s Gillanders & McLeod that the seller, a piper in Germany, had fitted with Pakistani cords and bag cover for the posted photos.

[OC Richard]

I'm sure you gents are correct.

I didn't see the Dunbar.

It's the first time in 45 years of doing this that I can recall seeing somebody take both the bag-cover and cords off a cheap Pakistani set and put them on a legit bagpipe, but there it is.

[OC Richard]

Stamped Henderson set, opening bid $1200.

People are paying much more than that all the time for new pipes, which this old Henderson might outplay.

Of course like all pipes Hendersons did vary, and who can say what this set sounds like.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/23458715584...EAAOSwIYFipjlg

[OC Richard]

Really low $400 opening bid on catalin Grainger & Campbell set.

Pipers may scoff at pipes like this but my old Pipe Major played a silver & ivory set that had identical profiles projecting mounts etc and that set always got high marks for tone by judges.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/16555055926...oAAOSwpbFiucT5

[OC Richard]

This set is probably made by either Sinclair (Leith) or Hugh MacPherson (Edinburgh).

Due to both makes oftentimes being made by the same men they can be difficult to tell apart.

I messaged the seller asking to include a photo of the drone tops.

For a Sinclair set this is a great price, and I wonder where it will go.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/37416455403...QAAOSwSONiwvF2

From what I read, William Sinclair opened in 1931, though some say 1933. The pipes were classic big-bore pipes with a big sound.

In 1946 Hugh MacPherson (a Highland clothier in Edinburgh) began selling Sinclair pipes stamped "Sinclair-MacPherson".

I'm told that in 1947 the drone bores narrowed, a common thing with post-war pipes as we know.

In 1957 Sinclair was sold to MacPherson, and Sinclair employees William Sinclair Jr, Willie Bryson, Jimmy Tweedie, and Jimmy Frame all went to work for MacPherson. The pipes were now stamped MacPherson Edinburgh.

In 1962 Sinclair reopened his own business will all new narrow-bore tooling. Bryson and Tweedie remain at MacPherson.

In 1965 Tweedie returns to Sinclair.

Around 1995 Sinclair widens drone bores.

So as you see much depends on when and where the pipes were made, and by which turner.

[OC Richard]

One of those "grab some popcorn" pipes.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/29508737663...Bk9SR_auls-9YA

They look uncannily like an old set of Lawries I used to own.

I don't see hallmarks on this Ebay set, just as there weren't any on my Lawries. The reason being that the mounts weren't Sterling Silver, but were "German silver" or nickel-silver or cupro-nickel.

The thistle pattern is the typical Lawrie pattern. The Pipe Major of a band here, who is a silversmith by profession, told me that those Lawrie mounts weren't engraved but impressed into the metal by a roller.

I don't know nearly as much about Henderson pipes as I do Lawries, and for all I know Henderson did those same mounts.

BTW this seller does the typical Ebay seller thing of providing numerous photos of the drones all taken from the same angle. There have been many times when I've pointed this out to a seller and asked them for an end-on photo of the tops of the drones.

UPDATE:

I advised the seller to provide measurements, and informed him that pipes were made in various sizes, one size just slightly smaller than fullsize. I didn't want him to have a disappointed buyer if the pipes were 3/4 size (which are actually just a bit smaller than fullsize).

He did, they're a fullsize set, and the bidding has got to around $1,500.

It's quite possible that these could go in the $3,000 range.

UPDATE: Yes indeed they went for a bit over $3,500.

[WalesLax]

For all of your entertainment, I wanted to share what is evidently the greatest pipe-bag ever created....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/163185492421?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110 006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200 818142401%26meid%3D9ff257fb548949f1a90ddd539d33345 9%26pid%3D101124%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D265708 536111%26itm%3D163185492421%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26 pg%3D2563228%26algv%3DDefaultOrganicWeb&_trksid=p2 563228.c101124.m2109

....based on the 3k GBP price tag, which I thought might have been a mis-type, before noticing that 173 have already sold! It's probably still just a mis-type.

[WalesLax]

I also came across this set on eBay.... https://www.ebay.com/itm/29514089589...oAAOSwN89i7uur

I'm mostly looking to learn from the group - to me, this looks like a cheap set of pipes, particularly because of the color, the color of the wood under some of the wear-spots I think I see, the cords that may be nice but have a 'knock-off feel' to me, the color of the metal, and the pattern on it, which looks similar to so many cheap, knock off pipes I see.

I was surprised to see seven bids so far though, so from a learning perspective, I am curious of what you all thing, and curious to learn what I may have missed.

I did e-mail the seller, but am not expecting much, as they are a mass-selling Goodwill.

Thank you all,

Rob