http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150327921762
Ah…A real Surdulina with nice turnings, and it needs a new “Case-Skinned” Goat-Bag.
It’s not as “Trad” looking as the main style, the Zampogna of the 4 big Discs,
(on the distal ends of all four Pipes).
One Calabrian Zampogna of the Disc style has just was posted to Ebay,
and this particular Pipe is located in Long Beach, California. It is a Good Modern Copy, by Hector Bezanis,
of Giorgio Stella’s Zampogna that was brought out to Helper, Utah, in 1903.
I don’t have the URL in front of me, at this moment, sorry, you’ll have to look for it.
Good Luck with this Calabrian Cavalcade !!!
Sean “Cavalier” Folsom
A Surdullina with unequal-length chanters? 
OK, I’ll try to give up sytematical thinking, when Zampogne are concerned… 
Celtpastor: I too was confused by the pics as to why one chanter seems longer than the other. Could it be the camera angle and that the chanters have been put in the wrong holes in the stock (the bass chanter looks to be in the drone hole)?
Sean- regarding the disc vs. non disc surdulinas, I believe this comes down to regional differences in the pipe construction within calabria. I havent looke into this too intently, but from my observation the disc variety seems to be found in central calabria and the non disc variety is in northern Calabria (Pollino).
One chanter is about 1 1/2 inches longer than the other.
Neil
Well I’m kind of confused as to what exactly this pipe is. Seems like if it was a surdulina there would be more overlapping notes and the chanters would be equal length. If it is truly Italian made that it could be some lesser known non-standard variety. If it is american made that it could be a bastardization. Either way it is curious.
Sean- do surdulinas not have a thumb hole on the melody chanter? Also you state that the original 1903 surdulina that Hector copied was the disc type, than why is the Hector copy on your hot pipes (which states it was copied after the 1903 pipe) not a disc type? Was the 1903 disc or non disc, and do you know what part of the calabria the immigrant came from?
Giorgio Stella was from Acri near Cosenza, and the Disc type of Calabrian Zampogna (he never called it a Surdulina),
was the one that he brought over in 1903, and was by another maker.
In the 1920s some other “enthusiast” in Helper, Utah, wanted to buy a Zampogna, so Giorgio made
the one that is the model for MY “Surdulina” (see 3w. hotpipes.com). This potential Buyer never came back
for this 1920s “streamlined” Zampogna, so, Giorgio Stella kept it, up to his death in 1956, where upon, his
Widow stored them. Finally, one day, when his Grandson Francesco Stella, was visiting her, Francesco
was amazed to see his Grandmother put both sets (without bags, natch) into the side “Trash Burner”
of the old Natural Gas Stove (the type that we used to have,here, in the USA).
The shredded newspaper underneath these 2 sets was already blazing up when Francesco pulled the Iron Trivets
off the top of the Stove and scooped out both of the Sets.
As He was burning his hands saving the Zampogne, he said to his Grandmother, “Nonna ! What are you doing ?”
It seems that every time his Grandmother saw these Pipes, she would miss all the Good times she had with her
Husband, that she would never have again, and the sight of the Pipes would make her so Sad, that she wanted to
send the Zampogne out of this World and on to the World beyond.
Well, at that point Giorgio Stella’s Pipes became his Grandson Francesco’s responsibility from then on.
Back in 1988 I got both of these original Sets Bagged and Reeded, and Measured.
If anybody wants to buy the Disc model (made by Hector Bezanis) they are getting a very faithful copy
of the Calabrian Zampogna that Nonno Stella brought to the USA in 1903.
In plays in F major, whereas the 1920s Model, which has slightly LONGER Pipes, plays in E Major.
As for the Central, vs. North Calabrian styles, I really can’t comment on that, but I can mention
that G. Stella called the slender 1920s style that he made, “La Zampogna di Molise” identifying it as an even
more “Northern Type”, than any other geographic part of Calabria.
For David: There aren’t any of the Surdulina type Calabrian Zampogne
that have Thumb Holes, although the is Space for one at the top of the Chanter. You could put one in,
provided that they aren’t the Miniature Versions of Surduline, that I have seen, from time to time.
All-and-All this type of Zampogne was Very Popular at one time, seeing how many have just surfaced
(to my own knowledge) in the last year.
Whats not to like ? Compact size, Big Single Reeds, Big Finger Holes to pack Wax into,
Sounds Great, etc, etc. I would not worry about the “O’Horgan set”, I’d buy that Stella Zampogna in Long Beach !!!
Yours in Piping, Sean Folsom
my, my… there seem to be a lot of these turning up stateside…
the discs do look cool… 
kind of lends a certain air of mystery to the presentation (“what is that?”…says the audience…)
alas, Im already in a committed relationship with a zampogna…
I agree, If i were in the market for a surdulina I would deff go for the big disc variety.
Excuse me Charlie, At this point wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that your latest zampogna relationship is more of a threesome?? 
I also thought, the big advantage of collecting bagpipes was to get a perfectly legal kind of polygamy! (Uh-oh - hope this wasn’t a - for this part of the forum - forbidden political statement once again… 
)
Yes, yes!!! Quite so! Almost an orgy, counting DHL and the crate people.
Ciarameddaru’s expertise is truly indespensable in all matters zampogne… 
Sold. Thanks for the helpful comments on the board.
Neil
Ok, so the identification of the Zampogna has really been bugging me so I wrote an Italian Zampognaro who I thought might be able to help me place this particular pipe. Here is his response with my translation of it:
ho visto la zampogna e sicuramente è una piccola “zampogna zoppa” del Lazio,
ma mi sembra che sia quasi un giocattolo. Tuttavia le misure sono proprio
quelle. E’ una zampogna che si accorda come la zampogna a paro siciliana anche
se ha le due canne di diversa lunghezza. Questa ha il bordone piccolo non
funzionante. Monta ance doppie o singole.
TRANSLATION: I saw the zampogna and surely it is a little “zampogna zoppa” from Lazio, but it seems to be somewhat of a toy. However it has the measurements of [a zoppa]. It’s a zampogna that you tune like that of the sicilian a paro even if it has two chanters of different lengths. This has the little drone that doesnt function. You can mount it with double or single reeds.
Well I had considered the zoppa but didnt think it applied because at least from the photos there don’t seem to be enough “overlapping” holes. The fact that it has a back thumb hole (mentioned in description) rules out surdulina. On my sicilian pipes there are 2 finger holes on each chanter that are the same distance from the stock. However on this pipe there seems to be only one hole that is only slightly overlapping. Also there are no tuning holes after the last finger hole that are visible in the photos, which means that either there are tuning holes on the sides, or the last note has no tuning hole - This might work on the bass chanter but not on the treble chanter because there is to much pipe after the last hole.
Questions for the Seller (if you remember)
- Are there tuning holes on the sides of the chanters after the last finger hole that are not visible in the photos?
- How many reeds did the pipe have (you said some had fallen in the bag)? Were they single or double reeds??? Also did both the drones have reeds or was the little drone a dummy?
- Also I’d be interested to know if the “bells” on the ends of the pipe are hollow or if they are fake bells and there is just a simple cylindrical bore thought the whole chanter.
The lone Youtube video of the zoppa:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSkv_yrcqGk
Since I no longer have possession, I can only tell you my recollections. 1) I can’t recall seeing tuning holes, but I am not sure. 2) the buyer asked me to dispose of the bag for customs purposes. Since two of the reeds were missing from the stock (there were reed holes), I assumed that they were in the dried/shriveled bag. But they were not. Two double reeds did remain in the stock. It is possible that the other reeds were extended into the drones, but I didn’t remove them to check. Since there were reed holes for both drones, I would presume that the small drone was not a dummy. 3) I recall that the bells were hollow on the chanters but cylintrical on the drones.
I am an Uilleann piper, so I am out of my league with these pipes. But thanks for everyone’s comments and guidence.
Neil