I’ve been looking at info about various sets from various makers, and understand that the “standard” material used in most pipes is brass, while “custom” or “deluxe” sets will use Nickle Silver with Sterling Silver keys…
What I’d like to know is, does the choice of metal used in a pipe set (specifically in the tubing of the reedcap and the drones) have any affect on the overall SOUND QUALITY & DURABILITY of the instrument?
The metalwork on the earliest known sets is still in working order so I wouldn’t bother about the durability. Metal generally lasts longer than wood.
A pipemaker worth the title wouldn’t use metal for drones other than the little bends in the bass drone and the old makers and the best of the current crop use wooden reed caps. This is other than so called budget sets and you wouldn’t want a budget set made with sterling silver.
Now, if you’d ask about the material and type of springs on keys, things could get interesting. Some pipemakers’ springs, as someone put it in conversation last week, ‘are legendary’ (ducks and runs).
But you’re looking for a half set so we can leave that one in peace for another while.
Sorry just to clarify my remarks. I doubt any self-respecting pipemaker in the late 60s would attempt something like the Doran set so Felix found a metal worker, who happened to be German to do the job. No offence meant to Germans or metalworkers of any other nationality.
Thanks Ken… I figured the metal used was pretty much for “looks” only, but wanted to get some thoughts from others…
So essentially, the type of metal used in the small amount of tubing in the drones and/or reed cap does NOT affect the overall sound of the instrument.
Thanks for the clarification, I just didn’t understand.
From the looks of the picture, the mechanisms look quite… “bulky”, for lack of a better term.
And, are the regulators and chanter all metal tubing, no wood? (It’s a bit difficult to tell)
So, in that instance… I wonder if THAT amount of metal in the instrument would affect the tone quality or not.
There is some confusion about who made what. From what I can gather, Leo Rowsome made the original silver set, which seems to have been ebony with silver plating. Alf Kennedy’s name is clearly engraved on the stock of what is now referred to as the Silver Set and which is pictured above. So who was the German engineer and what did he make? I raised this in another thread recently and didn’t get any clear answer.
Felix had a set made by Rowsome with silver metalwork with “Felix Doran” engraved in the mainstock. He got somebody to cover the regs in silver. That is the set that Alphie Mulligan has the regs and mainstock from. Neilidh was playing it many years ago on a Comhaltas tour when he showed me the set. The drones from the set appear to be paired up with the chanter and regulators made by Gorker the German engineer. This set was probably put together on a Kennedy mainstock. Dave Williams did a bit of research after visiting Felix’s widow to trace Gorker and wrote up an article for An Piobaire. See vol 2- 26 (July 1985).
So whit is so legendary aboot a feckin spring?it doesna break?OK. It is not so strong that ye need Herculean stregth to play it?OK.Yer hand doesna hit the ceiling after pressing it?OK. They play the regs themselves without any interference frae yoo… now that would be legendary…
Uilliam
