The joys and dangers of Ebay pipes

[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

[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

[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!

[OC Richard]

Now here's a set I wouldn't touch Bot A Glove or with a 10-foot pole!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-R-G-HA...UAAOSwdThgZ7bM

This seller is notorious and has been reported to Ebay regularly for trying to avoid Ebay fees by including his contact information in each auction. He always lists these pipes as an auction, but tells people not to bid, instead people are told to contact him directly for the sale.

He has put up this very set of pipes multiple times a year for years and every time he gets reported and Ebay pulls the auction down.

This time he's using another approach, which I don't know is legit or not. Once again the auction is a front, and he's telling people to contact him. But I don't know if that "Ebay link" is actually Ebay-run, or a hoax.

He also puts up a super-valuable set of uilleann pipes all the time, with the same Ebay rules violations.

Every time he lists those two sets of pipes on Ebay it's under a new seller ID. He never uses the same ID twice.

No-one in the piping community knows whether or not the guy actually has these pipes, or if he's grabbed the photos online somewhere.

[WalesLax]

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!

Actually and interestingly, I bought them.

I had been looking for a unique set, with an eye towards full-silver, but ivory had also been on my list, especially since they are so rare (and lighter).

My previous pipe major peruses eBay like we do, and he had pointed them out and gave me a few questions to ask the seller. While I was waiting for those replies, I saw your post, so at that point, I had two solid data-points to go off of, and when the pictures came over, that was my third, so I pulled the trigger. I asked for additional pictures of the Kintail name/engraving and the ivory, and while he didn't send the name he did send the ivory pics which we believed to show the correct natural lines. My previous pipe-major said "make an offer - they definitely don't look like those cheap knock-off sets, and that definitely looks like ivory. As long as you don't plan on leaving the country with them, you kind of can't go wrong with them."

I am already budgeting for some repairs/refurbishments, and have two people in mind. At very least, I am going to soak them in almond oil for a bit since they hadn't been played in years.

Thank you for the guidance/advice though, and I will for sure post pictures when they come in.

Rob

[OC Richard]

Congratulations! Welcome to the 1980s Kintail club! That should be a superior set of pipes.

It's bracketed, one could say, by my Pipe Major's 1988 Kintail and my 1981 Kintail.

Both sets are superb, with big rich tone. My Pipe Major has won many solos on his.

Here's my Pipe Major's 1988 silver & ivory Kintail



Here's my 1981 silver & Catalin Kintail

[OC Richard]

I am already budgeting for some repairs/refurbishments, and have two people in mind. At very least, I am going to soak them in almond oil for a bit since they hadn't been played in years.

Who can say until you see them, but the vintage pipes I've owned over the years have needed either nothing, or little, in the way of repairs.

About refurbishing, I know it's popular in the UK to re-finish vintage pipes, putting varnish on the wood to make them look glossy. Personally I hate that!

The worst offender was a particular guy in the UK who would find lovely vintage pipes and send them to a particular pipemaker who would turn down the ivory mounts to get rid of the patina, and turn down the wood to get rid of the combing, then re-comb them, and slap thick shiny varnish on the wood. I thought it was criminal. (I accidentally happened upon the crime scene when in Glasgow, visiting a pipemaker, and saw two nice old Henderson sets on the workbench. The maker told me he was going to refurbish them, and later I saw them on Ebay being sold by ______. They were hideous.)

I like pipes to look honest, to look their age.

I got this set of c1905 Lawries from someone who had bought them in an antique shop in Scotland while on holiday in the 1970s, and hung them over their fireplace. When I got them they had been thus hanging for over 30 years. The metal was chocolate brown- I couldn't imagine what metal it was! And the ivory had a layer of ancient gunk. The wood was fine, but had no finish, no varnish, whatsoever...and probably never had! I think it's a modern thing to varnish pipes.

I spent several hours carefully cleaning the ivory, and several more hours polishing the metal. Eventually, through the deep brown, I could see a hint of brighter metal beneath! And eventually got down to gleaming silver.

Here's the set, which I played for many years. It had zero repairs and zero refurbishment other than cleaning the ivory, polishing the silver, and lightly oiling the wood inside & out.