I was lucky enough to visit a friend yesterday who just received a half set from Seth Gallagher, and we compared it to my David Daye penny chanter.
The construction of her pipes was in ebony and nickel silver. First off, the Daye chanter is MUCH heavier due to all the brass tubing. The drones weren’t as heavy on the half set as I thought I remembered them being.
Tone on the Gallagher set was a bit louder than my Daye chanter (which was just re-reeded for tuning and volume reduction) but MUCH MUCH more in tune than Dayes. The drones were a perfect match in terms of volume, and intonation.
All in all, my Daye chanter seems to pale in comparison to Seth’s work - but when one compares the difference in price between the two DAVID = $450 AND Seth = $3500 it as one would expect.
You generally get what you pay for (IF you do your maker research). Exceptions, being, of course lucky finds in antique stores and lucky finds on ebay or through private sale of used sets. Have your friend join the C&F board. We can always use more opinions/thoughts.
All in all, my Daye chanter seems to pale in comparison to Seth’s work - but when one compares the difference in price between the two DAVID = $450 AND Seth = $3500 it as one would expect.
B~
Brian
In all fairness, the comparison seems to be apples to oranges. Which components did you order from DD? If you have the brass chanter, then it will be a different animal than an ebony. When I ordered my set (actually my husband ordered it), a custom blackwood chanter was requested. I have zero complaints with my chanter and reed. But, I do live about 30 miles as the crow flies from David, so there’s a bit of an advantage with the climate factors and stability of the reed.
Let me explain the basis for my comparison a bit further:
As Teri pointed out, my chanter is brass tubing, with black delrin plastic for the outer cover. The chanter I compared it to was ebony.
The reason I even wrote this post, is that the biggest influence I had when I ordered, was all the folks who told me David’s chanters played JUST like the expensive makers, and that they often used his as a ‘travelling set’ that if needed could be easily replaced.
I only wished to express that in my own personal, and I might add limited piping experience, this has proven to not be the case at all. They are very different in almost all respects.
As for tuning, my chanter has NEVER played very well in tune, either with itself, or with others in my session group etc. I have asked David about this, and tried all methods of taping holes, rushing the bore, using bits of curled paper/plastic in the bell end, pipe cleaners on the reeds, having completely new reeds made from completely different makers etc. etc. etc. and it still is a tough chanter to play as a rule.
Stephanie’s Gallagher set was a bit louder than mine as I mentioned before, but was about as solidly in tune with itself, and it seemed to my ear another whistle, concertina and guitar as one could hope. I can only guess that it was a combination of reed/chanter dynamics that helped it to sound more truly than my set does.
And for the record..DANG!!! Drones are SO cool when you don’t have any yourself yet!
Dear Brian, this may seem a silly question and I mean no disrespect: Are you sure the bag and connections for your Daye chanter are airtight? Leaking air could account for lots of tuning problems. Just wondering.
Marc
I haven’t yet sent the chanter back to David, as once again, everyone said his work is top notch and so I have just figured it’s all due to my lack of experience with pipes, vs. whistles.
But now, after playing Seth’s set, I am forced to wonder if this is truly the case, or if I have in fact got a bum chanter. I have checked, re-checked, tied and re-tied all the stocks, and fittings, and I can assure you they are all airtight.
They do tend to work loose after a time though, and so I’m stuck re-tying some of them again and again. second octave E is still my biggest problem note, and in all fairness, even Seth’s chanter sometimes poo pooed out on that one. But my back D, as well as bottom D, and A in both octaves seem to be too squirrely to manage consistently playing with others.
(see “how tuneable is a chanter…really” thread)
Anyway, I hate to do it, as I feel like the ultra-picky customer, who due to his own ineptitude is never satisfied with a product, but I don’t know that there is much else do do. Suggestions? (Apart from the obvious, kill Steph, hide the body, and ron off with HER pipes! he he he he)
I’ve had several pro’s have a go at the chanter, and all have commented on the tuning. I thought it was just the reed, and as such tried to keep plugging away.
The guy I had make the new reeds also mentioned that tuning it was a bit harder than his usual chanters, and in the end, even with tape/rushes etc. he wasn’t completely satisfied. (he GAVE me the reeds though, so still not too bad a trade I thought!)
Then send the chanter back to David and explain your feelings. Give him a chance to work on it as NO pipemaker likes it when another pipemaker works on his instruments.
Brian, you can’t keep complaining about this chanter without addressing the problem with the guy who made it.
Brian, say yes, say “OK Tony, I’ll box it up and send it back to David”
But after three reeds and the same issues, and an offer from an experienced reed-maker to help, I would have been foolish not to try. They were free reeds in the end anyhow.
But as much as I don’t want to, I’ll say "Yes Tony, I’ll ship the chanter off to David soon…
i am new to the messsage board and new to ups. i am currently working on whistle.
i have ordered chanters from both of these makers and i expect totally different things. (i have a dow bellows which is awesome and i have a bag and fittings on the way from M. MacHarg).
from DD i expect a short delivery time and a chanter which give a UP sound and allows me to practice fingering, steady blowing, octave changes, and the general feel of the instrument. i will not be upset if the tuning could be better or the high e is squirly. if the DD chanter does not have these problems, i will be even more pleased. in any case, the DD chanter will be infinately better than the mouth blown UP practice chanters, which everyone agrees really disappoint.
from seth i expect a beautiful instrument which i will (about 18 months from now) be in a position to appreciate and which i will upgrade over the years.
i don’t think that DD ever saw himself as putting other makers out of business with a product which is one tenth the cost. i am also sure that if DD put his mind and resources to it, he could compete in the high end market. instead, he is offering something not readily available from other makers. i think we should appreciate both these american pipe makers for their contributions to piping on this side of the ocean.
And David never went so far as to say he was directly competing with the “high-end” makers. But from what I heard from many who own his sets, he was claimed to.
I guess it’s my fault for living in relative seclusion, and not going to tionols etc. to try many different sets first, but I did the research I could and tried to make an educated guess.
I only hope others don’t expect what I did, and then end up feeling disappointed.
