http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3700042296&category=16226
dave boling
mmm’ I see the chimney sweep has left his brush stuck up it. 
nice chanter for the pub . It rocks the house , and why be shy (?) , then people at the far end of the pub can hear it . That blasts out the ball game .
. Nice open tone holes , gives room for tuning the beastie. In Rousomes tutor , it mentions using a wire for the regulators , AND the chanter for tuning . Good to see a pic of the reed too .
tom . taking up harp till my arm heals , .
Stew, just looked at the pictured on e-bay. What are you on about? It’s a mystery to me.
The rush is fairly obvious inside isn’t it? Also note the typical Howard tiny e hole. No problem if you never plan to play an off the knee E.
It does say its an older model. My experience of Howard chanters is that they play a perfect E off the knee. If this one has a problem Im sure the maker would endevour to rectify it.
I can’t understand the continual critisism of Howards pipes. There are several sets round here from the older models to the latest developments, and they all sound pretty good to me. In fact the’re better than my Rowsome set and the back-up that Mr Howard gives to his customers is absolutely brilliant. I for one am saving up for a set of my own, so if anybody wants to make me an offer for my Rowsome (Leon) half set I’ll place my order straight away. I understand he keeps chanters in stock!
That last bit explains a lot 
Seriously though, is remarking on the very small hole there something like ongoing critisism? I played Heather Clarke’s chanter once and it blatantly refused to play an E off the knee. It’s very simple, this is a very wide bored chanter with very big holes, you need a fairly strong vibration to drive that, suddenly there’s this tiny hole which just refuses to sufficiently vent the vibration inside the chanter. Has he rectified it in his later design, fair play to him but don’t make it sound like remarking on this is a campaign of unjustified critisism.
Well the Rowsome pipes might not be very good, but they were the best i could afford. As far as the E hole is concerned surely off the knee would vent just fine through the bottom of the chanter. I’ve heard Heather Clarke’s wide bore played fine off the knee, but then again reeds sometimes do not always perform at there best. As far as I know, this design hasn’t been in production since 1984, but as far as I’m aware MR Howard’s policy would be to sort it if it wasnt right. I just feel sorry for the seller who now has a “suspect” chanter whith no evidence other than it looks like it may be out of tune. This may put off a potential buyer of a perfectly good instrument.
You might notice Mr Laban’s 1744 posts.Just can’t stop.Even if it’s to call him Motormouth!
What we say here has little or no effect on eBay auctions. Take for example, the number of middle eastern sets that get resold.
What comes out of the mouth of Mr. Laban is experience. If you don’t believe me, start a poll and ask the folks on C&F if they appreciate his input or not.
jesus Tony look at your postcount, you’re even more suspect than I am
I think what’s said here occasionally has a direct impact on ebay sales. Though of course there are exceptions.
How much are you selling your Leon Rowsome set for? I’m sure there’d be someone interested..
Dionys
Well, I was going to avoid making any comments seeing how I am the one selling the chanter in question, but…
When I orginally bought the chanter it had a plastic reed that worked very well - for a plastic reed. Alan B. was kind enough to make a reed for me without ever having the chanter in his hands, and it played great right out of the box, even better after about 10-20 hours of playing. Many thanks to him.
Benedict Kohler added a bit of thread to the bottom of the staple to bring the reed out of the instrument a little, and the “chimney sweep” rush at a tionol last year at Glands house (thanks for having us, can I come back? ). It brought the chanter into good tune and hasn’t changed since.
As to off the knee playing, I have no trouble getting the low E to speak clearly coming from just about any note including from on-knee to off-knee combinations. Keep in mind that I have only been playing about 18 months, so some jumps (on or off the knee) still don’t always work, but I haven’t found one yet that I could blame anything other than my technique. As to the level of sound, it is a wide bore chanter but after a minor bridle adjustment six months ago, it wouldn’t quite merit the coveted title of “banjo killer”.
Every stick should be a banjo killer..
Anyone ever play dueling pipes?
Dionys
Hey, like it or not, I understand exactly what you’re talking about, and particularly trying to roll an off-knee or even on-knee chanter with a tiny E-hole is pretty feeble sounding. Those who don’t immediately grasp what you’re driving at probably aren’t ever going to.
Royce
20 bids, reserve met, winning bid: $481.56