What are the purposes of a hollow drone stock. Advantages and disadvantages? It would be great if anyone could help me out on this.
; i’d venture to say (and upon conversing about this at length P. Hunter & B. Koehler) it might be out of convention as opposed to accoustics etc. i.e. to make room for the elder drone reeds (or goose quills) or whatever was around at the time. Early on, spanish (or french) drone cane would not have been nearly as plentiful as chanter reed size tubes. Loads of usable Elder would’ve been around…and still is in Eire & the UK
Interesting you think BK might think this, as I have my communications with DMQ have not suggested that he concurs; I believe DMQ attributes their use to acoustic considerations. The elder drone aspect seems dubious to me; cane quills can have just as much wax/weight on the tongues. The solid stock on the other hand has some practical advantages when dealing with bass regulators, although hollow stocks can and have been made for bass regs (for instance by Coyne and Harrington). Egan and Taylor seem to have favored solid stocks.
explorationfriendly, you might find something of interest in my article on hollow stocks.
the hollow stock is a great place to stash your weed, dude. The man won’t think of looking there 
It has been claimed by various sources that hollow main stocks help keep the drone reeds in better tune with each other due to phase-locking, since they are all vibrating in a common cavity.
I have played both solid and hollow stocks with the same drone/reed combination and I don’t know if I see any additional stability with my hollow stock vs. my solid one - My drone reeds still wander a bit until things settle in regardless. Keep in mind that potential benefits of the hollow stock in this regard could be limited by my poor drone reed-making abilities.
But I definitely see an improvement in the tone quality and balance of my drones when plugged into the hollow stocks, and on a good day you can actually feel the stock resonating quite a bit. Grabing the stock with your hand can dramatically inhibit this (I don’t have a bass regulator bolted to it either, which would probably inhibit things as well). This behaviour was also noted by Ken McLeod with at least one old hollow stock from a Kenna set (see the SRS II). There seem to be very few intact and functioning hollow stocks from that period with which to make comparisons as far as I can tell. It would seem that the hollow stocks of old did not weather the years very well
- Bill, do you know of some other examples of old sets with intact functioning hollow stocks?
Oh, and the hollow stock makes your set much lighter on your lap 
Cheers,
John
I believe DMQ attributes their use to acoustic considerations.
But have you asked him which he prefers (hollow vs. solid)? I won’t speak on his behalf here, but I did once, and his answer was not what I expected to hear. In fact, it really surprised me. Care to guess what he said…?
Well, there’s Geoff Wooff’s intact Harrington C. I think Ronan’s Harrington B has an original hollow stock but I can’t recall for sure at the moment. There’s Gay McKeon’s Coyne C body, and the Busby Coyne that Nollaig was presented by NPU; also the Kenna D ‘legacy set’ that Ronan is playing, As far as I know, any Kenna or Coyne original mainstock will be hollow. Ross’ Kenna has a hollow mainstock of course, as would any of the old “stock plug” types from the late 18th century.
There are many museum examples that are not currently available to be played or heard.
Lots of sets have had mainstock replacements, for instance the Clancy Coyne B had a mainstock replacement when it was converted from lefty to a right-handed set; the original was hollow, not sure about the replacement.
Can’t think of any old concert pitch sets with hollow stocks though - maybe there are some.
Bill
What about the Holy Grail - the Ennis Coyne?
Haven’t gotten that close to it 
I have my doubts though; I seem to recall that a good bit of work was supposedly done on it by, Mulchrone? or maybe it was Brogan… my mind is a bit fuzzy on the details ATM. In any case I think it was in bits when James Ennis brought it home so the mainstock may have been one of the things that was reworked.
According to Neiligh Mulligan’s website, it was John Brogan who restored James Ennis’s Coyne set.
Does anyone have good photos of the Ennis Coyne? It’s only ever seen from a distance. The best photo I’ve seen of it is in the Master’s Touch, and even that’s not too clear.
Bill - It’s not that I “thought,” or came to that conclusion out of thin air. In a conversation w/Ben comparing experiences we’ve had in the making of elder drone reeds; the idea (about the stock) was expressed no more than 1/2hr before I responded to the topic!
Also, If I’m not misunderstanding you, you are saying that wax/weight on a tongue could somehow be similar in shape to a bent elder twig regarding the amount of socket space it consumes… That’d have to be a mother load of wax …
for those not familiar with elder: It is rarely..or never perfectly straight. More often there is a substancial curve to it. Peter Hunter makes his stock sockets with a reverse taper to accomdate elder bend should the reed be used. Nice one P! I reckon a hollow stock would provide the same latitude.
post disclaimer:
I know how these posts get out of hand and 100% misunderstood. Right so;
Does what I wrote somehow imply BK doesn’t think there are any acoustic attributes to hollow stocks? No. Does it mean I’m right and you’re wrong? No.
That’s all folks
Yes, I’ve seen that much wax in use, particularly on “overblown” drone quills. I’d also say that the amount of curve on elder quills needn’t be huge - some quills are relatively straight. Having more wiggle room in the stock is helpful of course, but I don’t see the difference between elder and cane as a key one here.
Best regards,
Bill
What a horrible thing to do to a beautiful left-handed set of pipes…If anyone felt like donating this set to me, I’d be happy to switch it back…
the hollow stock is a great place to stash your weed, dude. The man won’t think of looking there
No but the Man’s dog would. Don’t try this one if plan on flying anywhere. 
No but the Man’s dog would. Don’t try this one if plan on flying anywhere
Dude, no worries I don’t need a plane to fly, and dogs love me!
Actually, you would probably get in more trouble if the TSA thugs found that you were trying to hide your tooth paste and shampoo in your hollow stock. Automatic trip to the gulag, you piping terrorist!
John.
