The joys and dangers of Ebay pipes

[OC Richard]

... delivered by Air Freight ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDfn8I4Ooi8

Ha!

Notice that the sound was recorded in a recording studio and later added to the footage. (The pipes are close to the mic and there's no wind noise. Plus, they added a cat!)

There are (or were) a number of videos on YouTube showing people bungy jumping while playing the pipes...well, there's not much playing going on! They usually loose control of the instrument immediately. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaLCw06chTs

BTW it's a way to get your palate pierced with a foot-long spike! Which could be life-threatening. McCallum makes a flexible rubber blowpipe for the Middle Eastern mounted Pipe Bands for that very reason.

[Ninehostages]

Ha!

Notice that the sound was recorded in a recording studio and later added to the footage. (The pipes are close to the mic and there's no wind noise. Plus, they added a cat!)

There are (or were) a number of videos on YouTube showing people bungy jumping while playing the pipes...well, there's not much playing going on! They usually loose control of the instrument immediately. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaLCw06chTs

BTW it's a way to get your palate pierced with a foot-long spike! Which could be life-threatening. McCallum makes a flexible rubber blowpipe for the Middle Eastern mounted Pipe Bands for that very reason.

Is it designed to wrap around the camel hump?

Is it on "Alibaba" yet?

[OC Richard]

When you bounce up and down you risk a fatal injury when the blowpipe punches a hole in your palate, possibly severing an artery and/or piercing your brain.

So instead of a rigid wooden or plastic blowpipe, McCallum invented a flexible rubber one for this sort of band.

I'm not sure if they're using the new safety blowpipe here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoyGZ3nhZ68

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAi7dsv9SyA

[Ninehostages]

If you look at the first few seconds of the video just after the Sarge nudges him out of the hatch, you can see pretty clearly that he's actually carrying pipes. It's unknown whether he was trying to play them, though. Who needs a Sten gun when you're armed with the Great Highland Pipes, eh?

[OC Richard]

Just listed on Ebay, 1984 Kintail pipes, full ivory, in super condition for $700.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1984-Kintai...QAAOSwNA1gZL7d

I think they will be gone quickly.

Before bidding I would clarify that the seller means the entire bagpipe pictured and not just the chanter!!

Many times sellers don't know bagpipe terminology. The seller might not know the difference between a chanter and the entire bagpipe.

I've already messaged the seller about that, and also mentioning that (unlike other makers) Kintail stamps "KINTAIL" and the date in a visible place, just below the cord guides, on all three drones.

So if the entire set matches the chanter all three drones will be stamped KINTAIL 1984.

(For comparison/reference here are the stamps on my 1981 Kintail pipes. All three drones are stamped KINTAIL 1981)

[WalesLax]

I also emailed the seller with some questions.

How do you know they are ivory though?

Rob

[OC Richard]

How do you know they are ivory though?

Did you ever get a reply?

On close inspection of the photos I could see Schreger lines.

Besides, the only imitation ivory Kintail was using at that time was Catalin, which as we know looks strikingly different from real ivory.

No I never got a reply, not surprising because those pipes were snapped up quick.

I gave my Pipe Major an immediate heads-up, he plays a magnificent silver & ivory 1988 Kintail, and is always on the lookout for a great backup instrument. Hopefully he snagged them!

[WalesLax]

Just listed on Ebay, 1984 Kintail pipes, full ivory, in super condition for $700.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1984-Kintai...QAAOSwNA1gZL7d

I think they will be gone quickly.

Before bidding I would clarify that the seller means the entire bagpipe pictured and not just the chanter!!

Many times sellers don't know bagpipe terminology. The seller might not know the difference between a chanter and the entire bagpipe.

I've already messaged the seller about that, and also mentioning that (unlike other makers) Kintail stamps "KINTAIL" and the date in a visible place, just below the cord guides, on all three drones.

So if the entire set matches the chanter all three drones will be stamped KINTAIL 1984.

(For comparison/reference here are the stamps on my 1981 Kintail pipes. All three drones are stamped KINTAIL 1981)

Did you ever get a reply? I was told that the auction is for the full set of pipes - 'what you see is what you get,' but nothing on the ivory or the engraving/stamping.

Rob

[12stones]

An absolutely fascinating thread! I'm no piper and have no knowledge of pipes, but this has sent me down a YouTube rabbit hole that allowed me to watch some amazing craftsman make some beautiful pipes. A couple hours well spent.

[imrichmond]

About aluminium, I had a Dunbar set full engraved aluminium and you could see those gleaming in the sun all across the field! People would come up and ask "how did you get the silver so bright?" and I would show them the aluminium and let them hold the pipes to see how lightweight they were. People would ask "how often do you have to polish them?" and I would say "never".

The aluminum alloy that makers like Dunbar are using is really great. It engraves well, is light and, as stated above, never needs polishing. I had a set of pipes with engraved aluminum alloy ferrules, slides and drone caps for several years. I sold it to one of my students about 3 years ago when I decided I no longer wanted to keep 4 sets of pipes going. They are lovely looking pipes.

The shiniest pipes I have ever seen was a set of brand new pipes that Alex Robertson of Highland House in Woodstock, Ontario, had for sale for at least 2 or 3 years in the mid 1970s. He had them for a long time because there were a couple of problems with them. In the first place, they had full metal mounts: ferrules, slides, projecting mounts and drone caps, which made them very heavy. The main problem, though, was that all the metal had been chromed and so had a brilliant, shiny finish. The shine was enhanced by the fact that the metal was not engraved. When you entered Alex's shop, which was in the basement of his house and very well lit, you felt like throwing up a hand to protect your eyes from the glare thrown off by those pipes, which were always on display. I'm not sure if the pipes came that way from the maker or if Alex had the metal parts chromed at a local automotive body shop. He tried 2 or 3 times to persuade me to buy them, touting the fact that they would never need polishing, but I demurred. I'm not sure he ever did sell them; I certainly never saw them around the highland games in southwestern Ontario. And those were pipes that would certainly have stood out in any massed band! Indeed, on a sunny day, you could probably have seen that glare from the international space station!