David Daye practice set (not cheap):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2523518567&category=308
Must be the box and the tutorials.
I checked eBay this morning and didn’t see that auction. Going back to see why… it was listed as Irish Bagpipe.
not a bad price for the chanter, bag, bellows and case. so not cheap but not rediculous either.
Not now… the seller reduced the opening bid. Less than 24 hours remain in this auction.
I’m seriously interested in a practice set, and asking for advice. Could I reasonably expect this David Dayne set to be a good bet. As I have been shopping for a practice set, and have wasted money on a (Uillean) chanter, I agree it is a good price.
olehan, welcome to C&F !
Sorry your first attempt with a Uilleann plastic practice chanter didn’t work out. The current eBay ad could be a good deal considering the instruction tapes and books included. However, in the last few hours of bidding the price may jump above what buying everything new would cost. eBay buyers tend to get into a frenzy this way.
You have other options on low cost practice sets.
Patrick Murray (The Pipers Cut) in Massachussets for $500 includes a Delrin chanter and synthetic bag.
http://www.thepiperscut.com/
and
Davy Stephenson (Bagpipeworks) in England sells a practice set kit for $495US shipping included, This includes a wooden chanter and leather bag. (bag and bellows assembly required)
http://www.bagpipeworks.com/other.htm
Write on Tony!
The wooden Stephenson chanter will allow you to keep building a set…add matching drones and regs sometime later. Many people get discouraged because of poor equipment, or a maker that seldom responds to reed problems. Some people end up buying 3-4 transitional practice sets before learning that getting an excellent chanter from the maker direct, in the first place, would have been cheaper, and would have been much more rewarding.
Thanks for the welcome & the advice! Building up a set is indeed my longer-range goal. My chanter (no bellows or bag) was a woden pakistani-made model. With a petrol hose fitting. it takes more sustained air than my lungs can produce, and the plastic reeds are attrocious. Came from another ebay auction-should have saved my money!
I’ll investigate the makers that have been suggested.
No one has to mentioned the synthetic UP practice sets from Ralph Hepburn in Scotland. He’s working on modified model now, adding brass (windcap) and possibly set up for a drone. Kind of like small pipes with a bellows and UP chanter.
Site:
Bagpipes Galore
$140 Sterling, runs about $20 Sterling(?) shipping. Case is extra.
Thanks for all the help.
This is the first I’ve seen of these pipes.
http://www.bagpipe.co.uk/
Video sample is here:
http://www.bagpipe.co.uk/mpeg/uillclip.MPG
I still think a blocked wooden chanter from a reputable pipemaker will take you farther down that long road of piping.
Olehan,
I own a David Daye Penny-Chanter and am pleased with it. I bought the kit from Daye and put it together. I took some extra time staining the wood on the bellows, finding nicer material for the bag cover, and having an upholsterer sew a strip of binding onto the hem of the vinyl bag.
I’ve only had a few problems, but I attribute those to the reed, and changes in temp and humidity as I am trvelling constantly between Tenn, Fla, and N.O.L.A. in my job and always carry my pipes. I hear good things about the Stephenson sets too.
Daye is a gentleman and has preformed a great service to those of us that can’t talk our wives into 1,200 - 1,500 for a practice set. I recommend it.
Tim
It’s a shame no one was willing to pay more than $200 for that set. If I hadn’t already ordered a Patrick Murray set I probably would have been willing to pay at least $350 for it. All that stuff probably goes for more than $400 when bought new from David Daye (hence the seller’s original starting price).
-David
My spirit was willing, but it went off too quickly! I, too, suspect It was hand-assembled from a kit. Thats an unknown quantity.
The fact that my wife needed new glasses is beside the point.
The set didn’t meet the reserve and was relisted with a higher starting bid (go figure) it’s currently at $425US and one day left in this auction.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2525421720
There is a reason why nobody has mentioned above!!Actually thats not true I did in a previous post I tried a plastic Chanter etc at the World Piping Championship at Glasgow last year and the second octave needed a lot of work on it maybe it has been sorted by now I don’t know but remember this you generally get what you pay for
Slan go foill
I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a bid on this new auction just because it’s now listed with “uilleann” in the title. Before it was just “irish bagpipe” or something like that.
-David
yeah…before the old one ended I posted a “question to seller” and suggested that he relist at his original price with “uilleann” in the title. That’s my good deed for the year 
I can’t vouch-safe quality, but in his latest note to me, Mr. H mentioned they’ve been modified-the old practice sets were prototypes-and now the modified chanter, with bellows and bag, is expected to be shipping this week. I can easily understand that the plastic or delrin chanters and sythetic bags, etc. might seen as inferior by tradition-concious players.
I know that’s the opinion of a GHB-playing friend.
Is this a common opinion with UP players?
Surely theres an old thread discussing it which includes Daye’s penny chanter. I love the true tuning of my composite whistles, but there’s nothing like the warm tone color that wood imparts, and the sound of a cane reed (I imagine) over a plastic reed.
There are any number of fine UP makers (highly-skilled craftsmen, dedicated to preserving piping tradition, I’m sure) that have all the orders they can handle.
I’m looking at the Hepburn set as an entry-level instrument, and a stepping stone to the Real Deal, if my meagre skill develops that far.