OK, I’ll try this again. ahem
Hello, pipers! Anyone out there have info abt. Ginsburg pipes? I was recently adopted by a 30-yr old a flat set pitched in C, purportedly made by Alan Ginsburg (sp?). I’ve checked out his website but it’s pretty spare. Anyway I’m primarily a fluter, and this is my first (first? scary) set of pipes ever, and they sound pretty good to me, and some of my piper friends have also responded favorably to its tone aside from the ribbing (“a flat set? That’s pretty antisocial” -heh). Well, it’s full of leaks, the regs need tweaking, and I have yet to wade into reedmaking and such arcana, but I love playing them. Or rather, there are these wild mood swings between pure delight and a firm conviction that the UPs were invented by Cthulhu or his spawn…
N, in thrall to the Tentacled One
[ This Message was edited by: Nanohedron on 2003-01-02 15:45 ]
I have an old Ginsburg chanter in ebony and it has quite a nice sound (at least after I re-reeded it - The original reed barely functioned). I can’t speak towards the quality of his old flat sets, but I can tell you if you send him detailed photos of the set he can most likely confirm if/when he made it.
Thanks for your help, folks. Yeah, I figured that I might probably need to send a photo of this set to Alan. A potentially thorny problem lies in the ivory fittings; it seems to me that if ever I were to take this set overseas, verifiable documentation would be needed to vouch for the set’s age (and so avoid confiscation over the ivory issue). With any luck Alan can provide that. Again, thanks.
N, on a mission
Registration is easy to get. I had to get my old set of James Center, pre 1907 Highland pipes registered so I could take them to Japan and not have the ivory questioned. There was no cost, no real need of documentation for age and I got a gig out of it when I played the customs agent’s wedding the next fall. Right now I think they look more for weapons than they do for ivory anyway, but get them registered just to be safe.
Marc
Thanks, Marc. Weapons, indeed…sooo tempting to remark to the airport personnel that it all depends on who’s playing 'em…but we all know what sort of reception that sort of smart remark would get! BTW, how do I go about registration?
—N, armed and yet to be dangerous
Try calling your nearest international airport and talk to their customs agency. They should be able to give you all the relevant information. I was lucky to be near the Michigan/Canada border. I just took the pipes to the bridge and talked to the customs agents there. This was in 1995, so things may have changed since then. Once you have your certificate, you may want to stalple it to a page in your passport so it doesn’t get misplaced.
Good Luck,
Marc
Hey! You bought that set from me remember? I’m glad to hear you still enjoy them. I had a hard time letting them go. Call Tommy for my ph#..I’d be happy to help you with any leaks. The regs will take some tweaking…as I recall the bari and tenor were sounding..but out of tune..and the bass was miserable and needed an entirely new reed!
I BELIEVE the set was made in 1979…I can double check with the original owner if that helps.
Tell me how someone, and I can post a pic. of the set in question! It’s a different looking old set, but it has a charm all it’s own…and I quite enjoyed it’s tone! That was NOT easy selling it!
Please..if you are having issues with it leaking and what not, give me a call!
Davey, the picture file has to be stored in a place that can be linked. Geocities and Angelfire block such linking operations. If you don’t have a place, send me a private message and I’ll give you my e-mail so I can upload it to my website.
To post an image you type the following as one long string without any spaces:
myfiles can be any URL where the image is stored and img.jpg would be the name of your image… just substitute your website and file name in your post.
Davey!! pipers’ secret handshake --As far as leaks go, I’m planning to go about corking all tenons on this set. It’s a pretty straightforward operation, and I’m not bad at craftsmanly stuff when the call arises. If you have any advice (and this includes anyone), please offer yer pointers pro or con. Anyway, that should be a start per the leaks thing; I’m given to understand that corked sets are not unknown. BTW, Dave, I DO know that it was a tough thing for you to part with that set, and now that it has got a grip on me, I have an idea as to how tough. I’ve got your phone number; be warned that I may bug you about sessions! -Hope the family is well and your holidays are happy.
N, with regards
Cthulhu is one of the Great Old Ones, unnatural alien (pipe) beings who ruled the Earth before humanity formed, as attributed by some misguided people. It is said that he will return, causing worldwide insanity and mindless violence before finally displacing humanity forever (the Alien Pipe Rennaisance).
“By my own observation, there’s two types of uilleann pipers, regardless of expertise level, with each piper falling somewhere in the spectrum: the piper who fiddles about with the instrument constantly, and the piper (usually with the luxury of a reedmaker nearby) who loves to play but hates fooling around with ‘The Octopus’” -Paddy Keenan
how many people are there, i wonder, playing his pipes? if he’s been around as a maker for the last 30 years (even if only part-time) there must be a lot of his sets out there.
Lorenzo, you’re a stitch. Re: the Keenan quote: I would rather play. Period. Still, the fiddling around stuff will be a good occupation while working on my technique (you know, stopper up the ol’ stock cup and voila! an ad hoc practice set). It may be a while until I feel right about playing for others (besides my cat). Yeah, I’ve wondered at the lack of mention of Ginsburg’s work; perhaps hermit pipers are more drawn to his sets? Surely with esteemed makers named Rogge and Froment, such an un-Gaelic name cannot be at issue…let us not even go there. teeth on edge Anyway, all the best; gotta go strap in now…
N, making cat noises
OOPS. It’s spelled GinsbErg. Me and names; it ain’t pretty sometimes. Now I have to re-draft the letter I was ready to send him and all for the sake of one letter. I will go now and kill myself.
—N, lame
Alan promptly replied to my inquiry and placed the set at around 1975. He mentioned that there was no identifying name stamp on the set because the Dutchman for whom the set was built needed to convince customs that HE built the set, and so avoid tariffs and such.
UPs as contraband! A delicious if arguable irony…and a cool bit of history to boost the craic at sessions, too. Ya gotta love it.
So, I have an apparently anonymous flat set with a criminal record.
Hmmm…interesting! The FRENCHMAN that I bought it from told me he had been the only owner. He sent along 2 “bootleg” cd’s of recordings he had made while at Ginsberg’s shop with the set (in fact you can hear Ginsberg, this fellow, and Robbie Hannan all chatting in the background)…the mystery deepends..hmm! I had no idea this set had so much odd history to it…I want it back!
Hmmm…of course, it was all of an “if memory serves” category…the owner probably was French. After all, Alan hadn’t laid eyes on the set in almost 3 decades. Heck, I have trouble remembering what I did yesterday.
Dave, have you made reeds for this set at all? I’d like to see what li’l gems could be conjured up by yer bad wizard self.
I’ll be in touch; believe me, I forget to call my mom! many many fingers being shaken at me
BTW, how do I go about registration?
