used bagpipes Ebay

[OC Richard]

At least with Ebay you have buyer protection and some recourse if something goes wrong. Buying from a private party outside of Ebay entails a bit more risk, though I will say that on this site and a few other sites I'm a member of I've never had a problem with buying or selling things.

A cautionary tale about Ebay though: if you buy something, be sure to thoroughly examine it right away. I bought a jacket once and just threw it in the closet when it arrived. A couple months later I went to wear it and I discovered that its condition was not as advertised. Ebay told me that too much time had passed and there was nothing I could do. I don't know what the time limit is, but I passed it.

About McCallum pipes yes there are people who make a big deal about pipes made by a lone craftsman working in a quaint little shop v "factory made" pipes. I visited a couple one-man operations in Scotland, a guy with one old lathe and everything covered in wood dust. One guy's pipes were horrible, one guy's were mediocre. On the other hand, three makers using modern workshops with multiple craftsmen, Naill, (neo) Henderson, and McCallum, make fine pipes which are being played in Grade One circles.

Then there are one-man operations which make excellent pipes such as MacLellan, Dunbar, Atherton, Kron, and so forth.

The thing about McCallum is that they've never been complacent with their product, but rather are always evolving it, finding ways to make it better.

Many people complained about their mounts falling off, saying that "real pipes" have threaded mounts. McCallum fixed that, and now thread their mounts. People complained about the plating on their nickel mounts eventually wearing off, so they changed to solid alloy. People complained about the brittle imitation ivory that McCallum (and most other makers) use, so McCallum switched to the tough stuff that Dunbar has long used.

McCallum drones, though rich in tone, had some stability issues, so in 2011 McCallum made changes in all of the drones "to be more like Willie McCallum's 1890 Hendersons" with bolder tenors, a more stable bass, and all drones easier to tune. (Information from Kenny McLeod.) That's their claim, I've not played a post-2011 McCallum.