Hello Folks. I am considering going flat.
I will hopefully be ordering a set of pipes in the not too distant future.
The question is B or Bb?
I love the flat set sound (I love the wide bore d sound too)
To B or to Bb that is the question 
I’d go with B.
I think i’ve already mentioned this today but B is definately the key to b… (in my opinion anyway), and if you’re manchester based we can always have a B session ( now there’s a thought…)
A thought…order a B set, and if you have anything left over, spend it ordering a Bb chanter. In this way, whenever the Bb bug bites you, you can always switch chanters and retune the drones. 
To B or too Bb that is the question
Whether tis nobler than concert pitch
To suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous reeds
or to take elbows against a sea of troubles
Willie must have been a piper
RORY
Bb is better for playing in session with GHB pipe bands
Best
I have B(een) swayed towards B. But Bb is calling soft and dulcet tones.
I will B in heaven with a B set. Anyone play a Williams B full set?
Seems like everyone’s getting B sets. Yeesh…I’m almost tempted to get a C set just to spite all of you (I’d be tempted to get a Bb set, but it just seems a little to big and cumbersome for my liking). Actually, one pipemaker told me that the absolute best is to get a 17-inch chanter a little sharp of B (like Robbie Hannan’s old Kenna chanter, apparently). This is supposedly where the “nyaaah” factor reaches its apogee. Of course, a 17 and 3/4-inch chanter that’s tuned to modern concert B pitch’ll do in a pinch…
Well, okay, actually if and when I do wind up getting a flat set, I’ll probably bite the bullet and get a B set. However, whenever I think about the thoroughly untraditional album I will someday make featuring classic 808-style beats, random electronic bleeping, and layer upon layer of flat-pitch pipe grooves, the music is always pitched in C…Maybe I should just get a C set after all…
But before that, I still need regulators for my D set…Hey! anybody got a spare regulator? Spare a regulator for the poor? Spare a dime so I can go down to 7-11 and get some regulators and a cup of coffee?
Okay, okay…I’ll shut up now…
KenR (Ken Ricketts) does I think. Maybe it’s a ¾ set. He posts here occasionally and has recorded some great tracks on Clips & Snips.
I’d vote for B. If you go with Bb, like Kevin Rietmann would probably insist, you end up in a debate over whether Bb is better than A. B just seems to zero in on the natural pleasantry of my hearing range. It’s getting to the point now, when I play (or hear) D pipes…it sounds to me like a baritone vocalist trying to sing in tenor. Straining.
Ben, do you know what a Bb set sounds like? - what a B set sounds like? Do you have plans of actually playing with other instruments? If you love a B or Bb, and have no need to play against other instruments, its really up to you which sound you prefer. Go for the one you’re likely to play the most. If your flat set will be a solo instrument, you have no-one else to please but yourself.
djm
I know what a b and Bb set both sound like. I love the sound of both.
Just wondering about the span of a Bb chanter
Here’s a picture tony posted for a side by side comparison. His address
on this pic is labled D_C_B_Bb so I think we can safely assume the
chanters are in this order.
Doesn’t look like a big stretch from B to Bb, but I cannot say the same for D to Bb…yikes. I have fairly large hands, and this looks like it would take a bit of getting used to.
It’s funny. I’ve got pretty small hands and fingers and often used to think that playing a flat set would be an uncomfortable stretch. Then I tried a B chanter and though it took a minute to get used to, I found it perfectly comfortable. Look at Tony’s photograph. The increase in distance from C to B to Bb seems pretty negligible. However, when I picked up a Bb chanter, I found the distance to be just outside the realm of comfortablility–particularly on the top hand. I could make the stretch and perhaps if I played it for a good long while, my fingers would acclimate, but I think I’d just sooner go with a B chanter and not deal with it…
Hya Ben… hows it going?
Go with B thats what I play and its a beaut.If ye are wanting to be playing a real “flat” set then remember that the pitch is Baroque which counts Bb out,and as was already pointed out the pitch is just a tad sharp of B on the older sets.
ps ..any more gigs??? 
Slan Go Foill
Uilliam
Hi Liam, No more gigs to pass on just yet.
Spent a week on Isle of Mull. Piping in Tobermory. Lovely 
I think I will go for a B set when I order. Thanks for all the feedback.
I had a great time there a few years back at the festival.Won a bottle of uisge and a quaich at a competition there and as I don’t drink I became instantly attractive to a lot of folk,we were stormed in and had to stay longer than expected ,which gave me time to get to know a wee lassie frae Fife… So does that mean we will see ye piping on TV’s Ballamory??? 
Uilliam
Unfortuatly they weren’t filming. I love Mull. I wish I could live there. Perhaps I could be the Piper in residence?
B’s for Me.
Had a fine bottle of Lediag (Tobermory) Malt.Didn’t last too long 
Ye would need loadsa dosh,a lot o sassenach incomers have taken the place over wi their blood money,even the Tourist Information Office is staffed by sassenachi.I plan to move as far north as I can get,Caithness will do,a wee croft . . .No leckie necessary,it will be a bit like the cottage(or should I say derelict pile) I had in Gort near Miltown,but I quite enjoyed the spartan life.Its amazing how quickly ye can do without modern convenience and actually thrive!!
Slan Go Foill
Uilliam