Quote Originally Posted by siva011 View Post
Sorry I should have been more specific.... I'm looking for a practice chanter to start with. Thanks for all your advice, as I may have been looking toward the blackwood, and will focus on the poly now.

So if the standard is shorter than the chanter on actual pipes.... what would be the reason for getting that as opposed to the full size? Wouldn't that just make the switch to pipes that much harder?
Yes, poly definitely.
I never understood why buy a short chanter. Everyone eventually switches to long that I know of.
I will second the Gibson. The comment that the practice chanter doesn't matter is not really true. If you decide to join (or are in) a band, you want your chanter as robust as possible. Sound quality makes a difference as well. You don't want the "kazoo" sound. Buy a Gibson long.