The joys and dangers of Ebay pipes

[OC Richard]

A great bargain on a wonderful African Blackwood set by Dunbar (St Catherines, Ontario, Canada).

Some small nicks. Those things don't bother me a bit! All of my vintage sets have nicks.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/23448568987...YAAOSw4K9iOT9K

And a Gillanders & MacLeod set in seemingly great condition for a reasonable price.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/23447389887...4AAOSwXUxiNiYu

Who knows how high the bidding will go on this R G Lawrie chalice set.

The late, great Alastair Gillies played a set like this, which sounded amazing in his hands of course.

This led many pipers to covet owning such a set, the idea being that chalice-top Lawries had a special magic that standard-profile Lawries lacked. AFIK all Lawries made at that time used the same specs and all are excellent pipes.

I wouldn't be surprised if, due to the Gillies effect, these sold for significantly more than a standard-profile Lawrie of that period would.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/28471391935...sAAOSwxutiN2hG

[Jock Scot]

A great bargain on a wonderful African Blackwood set by Dunbar (St Catherines, Ontario, Canada).

Some small nicks. Those things don't bother me a bit! All of my vintage sets have nicks.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/23448568987...YAAOSw4K9iOT9K

And a Gillanders & MacLeod set in seemingly great condition for a reasonable price.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/23447389887...4AAOSwXUxiNiYu

Who knows how high the bidding will go on this R G Lawrie chalice set.

The late, great Alastair Gillies played a set like this, which sounded amazing in his hands of course.

This led many pipers to covet owning such a set, the idea being that chalice-top Lawries had a special magic that standard-profile Lawries lacked. AFIK all Lawries made at that time used the same specs and all are excellent pipes.

I wouldn't be surprised if, due to the Gillies effect, these sold for significantly more than a standard-profile Lawrie of that period would.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/28471391935...sAAOSwxutiN2hG

Purely out of interest, at a guess(I won't hold you to it. Promise!)what sort of figures are we thinking about here? $'s or £'s it matters not. Low hundreds? High hundreds? A thousand? Thousands?

[OC Richard]

Purely out of interest, at a guess (I won't hold you to it. Promise!) what sort of figures are we thinking about here? $'s or £'s it matters not. Low hundreds? High hundreds? A thousand? Thousands?

It's so hard to predict the "used bagpipe market" because so much depends on the timing, on what specific instruments specific pipers are looking for at a certain time.

Speaking generally, bagpipes from the 1940s through the 1980s, from known Scottish makers, if mounted in Catalin (the stuff that looked sort of like ivory when new, but as it ages turns to a strange burnt orange) go from anywhere between $500 and $1,000 US.

It's because many pipers have a strong aversion to that look.

The same sets if mounted in real ivory will go for much more, around $2,000 perhaps, though many pipers will avoid ivory pipes due to them being illegal to take across International borders. In the USA it's illegal to buy, sell, or possess any item made of ivory. (There's a de minimis exception for musical instruments.)

If a set has Sterling Silver mounts the price goes up too. Sets with plain silver mounts will go for around $2,000 or more and sets with engraved silver mounts might double that price.

The other factor is the maker. Classic Henderson bagpipes will go for considerably more than similar sets by other makers, for example.

[OC Richard]

Those are general things. But about those chalice-top Lawries on Ebay now, perhaps this set will only go for $700 to $1,000.

But I can guarantee those pipes, if sold at the time that Alastair Gillies was making a splash in the piping world playing an identical set, would fetch perhaps twice that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9yZj2IZIis

[Jock Scot]

OCR.

Thanks for that OCR, very interesting. The prices are about what I thought. I am not ever going to venture into the pipe market so I am not likely to be another "player" in that market. I do keep an eye on the antique furniture/silver and rule 11 market and have a fair idea of current prices for those, but musical instruments are way out of my ken.

[OC Richard]

You're welcome!

The chalice-top Lawries have passed $700.

There have been 43 bids, which is an exceptionally high amount of interest.

Of course you only need two interested parties to drive the price through the roof.

With a dozen hours left we shall see if the bidders have cooled off, or if it will heat up towards the end.

Hard to know but I'll guess it goes for a little over $1,000 which is a bargain for a quality instrument. A comparable new set costs more than that, and probably won't work as well as that vintage Lawrie.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/28471391935...ndition=4%7C10

[OC Richard]

Pipes by McLeod Forfar for around $400 no bids.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/18537079292...ndition=4%7C10

Robert "Bert" Gillanders opened his pipemaking shop around 1930 in Dundee.

It became Gillanders & Son (Forfar) in 1959 with the addition of son Robert "Bob" Gillanders.

With the addition of Iain McLeod in 1972 the firm became Gillanders & McLeod.

Bert died in 1977, Bob in 1997 and I see that these pipes are stamped "McLeod Forfar".

I don't know what year "Gillanders" was dropped.