how often do you see used alain froment sets for sale? an 11+ year wait for a new one isn’t exactly ideal.
Every now and then one does become available. But given the amount of time waiting and $$$ spent upon Alain Fromment’s work, it is understandably not a common event. Those who have 'em are most likely going to keep 'em for a good long time… at least as long as it took to wait for them. 
I have a set that I don’t play by Alain, maybe it’s time to pass it on? … or no… wait that’s not me at all. Sorry about that.
Patrick.
… you savage… 
I really know somebody in France who has a Froment set that he doesn’t play ! He doesn’t want to sell it for some mysterious reason…
an 11+ year wait for a new one isn’t exactly ideal
It would be if you were the maker
Do some research and you’ll find there are some great makers out there that are making similar Rowsome style chanters. Lorcan Dunne in Kerry and John Mitchel in Cork are copying Alains chanters. They even look similar.
Tommy
How do Rowsome style chanters sound different than other styles?
How do Rowsome style chanters sound different than other styles?
Thats a good question. Especially since most modern makers use Leo Rowsome chanters as their templates.
Some makers seem to model Leos desing closer that others too. Like Alain, K+Q, Martin Preshaw, Kevin Thompson, Mark Hillman maybe? Mark can correct me here. I’m sure theres more too.
Tommy
You might also want to check out Brendan Ring’s work. Visually, his aesthetic seems close to Alain’s (stainless steel, boxwood mounts, and scallopped fingerholes). I play a half-set by Brendan, made about seven years ago, so his style may have changed (I think I read somewhere that he switched to brass instead of steel). He’s sometimes on this forum, maybe he’ll comment.
-Frank
There are a select few makers who are not afraid to break away from the ‘traditional look’ to produce superb instruments with a unique look and sound of their own. An example would be Cillian O’Brian
Basically the advice is look around and try as many different makes as possible
Lots of makers are claiming “Rowsome design” or “Rowsome influence” or some kind of relationship; however there seems to be a pretty big difference between these recent vintage chanters and authentic Rowsome chanters of 1930’s/1940’s vintage.
The original Rowsome chanters often tend to run sharp (but not always). Different makers deal with this issue in different ways. Also, some makers are content to make a “Rowsome copy” that in fact only attempts to duplicate the throat and bell dimensions of a particular Rowsome, and not the leetle bumps in the bore. Tonehole sizes and spacing among these various Rowsome-inspired chanters also vary a lot, so it sort of begs the question of whether anyone at all is really making accurate copies of anything Leo made.
That’s not to say that these modern chanters are not good - only to say that there is no agreed upon standard as to what one must do in order to refer to one’s instruments as “Rowsome” derived. Newcomers to the piping/pipemaking scene, or folks who have very limited contact with real Rowsome originals, should be mindful of this.
It seems that the original Rowsome instruments still have the edge in some respects over all the contemporary copies I’ve run across. They also have their own distinctive warts.
best regards
Bill