I have a lovely Kohler/Quinn 3/4 set in C as well as another makers half set. I recently sold a Williams concert pitch half set. All three sets fit so very different, the Williams was the best fit, the drones stayed where I put them, leather bag, The other set has a vinyl bag and the drones want to move forward until there is no room on the knee for the chanter.
The C set behaves as far as the drones and regs not sliding off the knee, leather bag again, but the position the regs take is so the top three pairs of keys are in reach and it is anything from a struggle to impossible to reach the bottom two pair of keys while playing. While I have had this set for more than ten years, I am just now making serious effort to play the regs.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to try a friends full set. While I am over 6’ tall and slim, my friend is the opposite. His pipes fit him great, and surprisingly fit me well too, a slightly longer neck and the D/F# would have been within reach and I could touch all the other keys easily.
I was guessing the set would be somewhat tailored to suite the piper, but I am less sure of that now, can anyone enlighten me of things to do to get the regs within reach?
I play with the bag tucked as high under my arm as I can get it, as does the owners of the set I played yesterday.
Hi Meuritt,
You could try using a shoulder strap and adjust the height until you find the best position. You can also try carefully twisting the stock in the bag until the reg keys are at the most comfortable angle for you.
Maybe the tube connection between the bag and bellows is too long or too short for you? This also affects how the set will fit you. Also the bag neck length can make a set more or less comfortable, and often different for many pipers.
I recently got my new B set and was having several problems with fit when I first got the set. The bellows were extremely uncomfortable to play as they would get pushed down my arm with the pad would resting against the bone in my elbow. I looked back into my tiny reptile brain and recalled that this also had happened with my D set and the solution there was to shorten the hose between the bellows and bag. So I gradually shorted the hose eventually removing I think around 6". The set fits like a dream now and no more elbow pain. The regs are easily in reach now.
One tip I’ve found with the regs is to really sit forward on your chair. Make sure your chair is the right height. You can use a combination of dropping/raising the shoulder and the knee to reach the regulators and not just move your wrist around. I use a chair that is just slightly high so my knees aren’t quite at 90 degrees. I sit with the right leg forward and can then more that foot forward to drop the set making the uppers keys easy. Pulling the left shoulder back, I don’t use a strap, brings the lower keys into reach.
I’m sure others have different methods and tips as well which I’d love to hear.
I think uilleann pipes really need to be hacked to fit the individual. I don’t think there is a one size fits all solution to the pipes. It seems no one ever talks about this. I really think the pipes have to be modified/fitted to suit the individual. This is a pain in the a**, but it’s the uilleann pipes, so this is par the course I think the individual really has to facilitate this, or get fitted at the pipemaker’s workshop personally. I don’t think it is the pipemakers fault that some things don’t work out. Things like stocks that can be adjusted and oversized blowpipes that can be cut to length by the player would certainly help out. When we get new players in our club, I am always messing around with the set to get it fitted.
I find it both sad and funny when I look at pictures of pipers with the wrist way too high up on the regs, or the stupid straight bass reg bar pushing the set down painfully towards the floor at a sharp angle. Whats the point if you cannot play them or the thing is at an angle that makes the set uncomfortable and awkward to play. Some sets seem to have ergonomic problems from my superficial layman’s observations.
When I got my b set, I was the 3rd owner of the set. I freaking love this set; but, the set was not set up for “me”. The sets bass reg bar pushed the set down at an angle that just did not work for me. I will confess in my limited experience, I HATE straight bass reg bars. I have visions of hacksaws when I see them. A curved bar solved this problem (Thank you Taylor Bros!). Next problem my wrist was too high on the regs. I am 5.9’ with a 32” waist. I went down to the home improvement store and bought a PVC pipe. This was notched and tied into my bag after figuring out the proper length for the stock cup. I put some pics of this in the post. My stock now goes into my bag and my wrist sits where I can hit all the regs. I now find it easier to hit the regs on my B set then on my concert pitch set (Brad Angus is the man!). The bag on the set was way too slender. Slender bags have always hurt my arm, being I am skinny. I need a bag with some girth and nice padded bellows for my bony hip and arm. A new wider bag solved this and my rotator cuff thanked me. I think players with larger waistlines may prefer a bag with less girth? I also fitted a new blowpipe, cut to a length that fit me. This was quite a bit of work, but in the end totally worth it. My set now is comfortable and fits me perfectly. I am sure if someone else where to play it, they would find things that would not jive with their personal anatomical characteristics; but, for me, my set is perfect!
It would be nice if there were some general guidelines to fitting a set. Though people are all so different, I feel this would be really be difficult. I think the individual, has to come up with some personal solutions to problems with the fit of their set.
Meuritt, I think your C set may need a different stock cup to get the regs in place. Maybe a trip down to the home improvement store for a PVC stock is in order You could glue rings of a larger length to the PVC stock, if you don’t have a lathe to notch it. Below is what worked for me.
I like your story a lot and I agree with you that the pipes are more standardized than being made to fit the individual person but then again…it’s not thát easy.
I recognize some of the problems you describe though such as the wrists to high on the regs. I am not a very ‘regular’ (no pun intended) regulator player but I like the sound of it. If I try to press my regulators I have no problem to hit either the bass or tenor regulator + baritone, but all three together? with much pain and trying to. it doesn’t sound then. I still have to figure out how to position myself and the pipes to play this without the trouble. I’m not in a hurry though. Guess i’ll find out sooner or later
Below are two photos I managed to find on my computer, of another PVC stock. These were made by my friend Eric Wilson, craftsman/piper extraordinaire, for another Angus B set in Arizona. Note the different length from my stock above.
I have played around with blowpipe length before and thought I had tried long enough, what may have happened was that since I wasn’t playing the regs then, but trying to move the bellows farther back, I never paid attention to where the regs were.
I long ago realized the bellows needed to be more forward and have found a comfortable position for them. I got a new blow pipe, 1 foot of it and put in on the bellows. I blew up the bag then moved it until I had a better position for the regs, put the bellows where I wanted them and marked the blow pipe. It is just too obvious.
This made the regs easier to reach, somehow dropped the bag position a small bit, I don’t feel like I need to jam it up under my arm so high, It seems like the angle of the bag may have changed because the point where the chanter and bag come together isn’t pinched anymore, I was able to relax my grip in the chanter and get less squeaks.
That’s what I noticed in an hour of play after the repair.
Thanks again for the insights.
Mike
soon to be in the Sacramento Valley cursing low humidity
I think the individual really has to facilitate this, or get fitted at the pipemaker’s workshop personally. I don’t think it is the pipemakers fault that some things don’t work out. Things like stocks that can be adjusted and oversized blowpipes that can be cut to length by the player would certainly help out. When we get new players in our club, I am always messing around with the set to get it fitted.
