I want to tie my Rogge brass main cup further into the bag so I can reach the C regs notes F sharp, D chord and D, G chord.
What type of thread binding is used to tie up the cup. How would you do this and would it be easy to do or get a pipermaker to do this for you.
That’s an awfully severe solution. Could you not play around with the bag position? Perhaps lengthen the blow pipe from bellows to bag so you can pull the bag further back.
Its easy for others to say its easy to re-tie the stock, but if you f*** it up what will you do? You may want to get an experienced piper or pipemaker to look at your playing position, and take their advice about how to adjust yourself before adjusting the set. If you really think you need to shorten the stock itself, you would be best to go back to the original maker.
djm
I’m with djm on this one, it wouldn’t be wise to make alterations that cannot be unmade.
You could always buy another bag and and tie the cup in a higher position (near the top) on the bag. This may give you a couple of inches but it is also a costly venture…unless you can find good bag leather and make the bag youself.
Hi Fergus,
As best as I can make out from your picture (above) is that you have a “low tie in” currently. Many people, such as pipemaker Seth Gallager, Patrick Hutchinson, etc…, do this in order to have the drones and regs sit very flat on their lap. Yet in your photo you have the bag tucked up very high under your arm.
Seems you can’t have it both ways! Joseph is right that you’ll need a new bag if you want to play with the drones and regs on a sharp angle. Changing your position, as DJM point out, would seem to be the simpler solution - especially given that you seem to have a tie in that was made for having the regs sit flat.
Paul
…but that is an awfully small picture…
I turned the mainstock around until the bass reg plus brass part was at a higher position same as the photo below. I could not play the tenor/baritone regs as could not turn around to play. I was able to turn the bass reg and for the first time as I was able to reach the G, A notes on C bass reg with both hands on chanter
I think that I may need a new bag with the cup tied up higher for my Rogge C set like Robbie Hannon’s B Kenna set with Rogge B chanter photo below.
Fergus, if you make an inexpensive bag with vinyl you can cut and patch the thing to find the best location for the stock. After you find the best spot, transfer the dimensions to an uncut leather bag.
Fergus, it looks as though your man Robbie Hannon also utilizes a support strap for his main stock… I have noticed other pipers using these and perhaps this may be an even easier remedy to your issue…or combined with a new bag. Tony’s suggestion of a cut and patch vinyl template sounds like the way to go.
What type of knot do you secure the cup to the bag??? I need to make the bag to mainstock cup more airtight and a few lashes of hemp would do the trick.
Fergus
Get a hold of someone in Belfast who plays regs and get their “hands-on” opinion…Tom Clarke, Trevor Stewart, Robbie H, whoever you can meet up with…there’s an awful lot you could try before altering your pipes for good…[shoulderstrap length and position, movement of your shoulder and leg to bring the regs “up” to your wrist, angle of the regs in relation to the mainstock, etc]
so you need a player of experience, not a DIY attempt or [with respect] an internet opinion
If they think an adjustment is needed, I’d get Andreas to do it
Boyd
Utilizing the advice of experienced players is always advisable. Utilizing the advice and of a pipemaker and having them adjust things for you is also advisable…although it ‘may’ be costly and time consuming. The choice is yours to make.
I have always accepted the fact that playing these pipes also requires that one learns a great deal about their construction and up-keep (especially when it comes to reeds and bags) if one needs to have something adjusted or repaired. Like the fiddle, guitar and harp, there are some obvious things that one can’t or shouldn’t do…like any reshaping of the wood…to their instrument without the skills required to do so. Unlike the guitar or fiddle or harp, there are a lot of things a piper can do to remedy some pretty serious problems with their instrument…and for people like me, who can’t seem to keep their bloody hands off things or refrain from taking things apart, the pipes are an ideal instrument.
This forum not only hosts the opinions of experienced players, but also those of experienced and well respected pipe makers. Certainly, Boyd’s suggestion of following the advice of experienced players (in person) and having the work done by a notable pipe maker (like Mr. Rogge) is an ideal way to go, but sometimes it isn’t always possible to track them down when you need them, nor is it always timely. It is at such times that DIY, or the advice of ‘internet experience’ can be valuable. But you know this already seeing as though you are asking this list for ideas to correct an annoying problem.
living in Ireland helps 
Boyd 
I’ll bet 
. Living in Central Florida is kind of like living in a desert, every billion miles, or so, you come across an oasis of pipers…if you’re lucky…but it is often difficult to get together, given everyone’s time schedules and other responsibilities.
It’d be nice to jet over to Eire at the drop of a hat and tap into the knowledge and wisdom of the pipers and pipe makers there. Someday, when I am the richest man alive, I’ll be able to do just that. I just gotta figure out how to become the richest man alive first .
I mainly play my Rogge “C” without Bass reg as a 3/4 set with strap over the brass cup and bellows belt just above the trousers waist belt.
I tried the bellows belt higher up the body (felt uncomfortable) and was able to reach the low notes.
So it would look like I need a new bag with brass cup tied at highest position like Robbie Hannon pipes.
I will email Andreas Rogge to see what he think about this.
I currently strap my bellows about mid chest or so, but this is chiefly due to the ever expanding Guinness storage facility I seem to have developed over the years. I have gotten used to it though, and will most probably continue to bind myself thus, as there is no way in hell I’m giving up the Guiness!!!
Good luck on your quest Fergus.
I have tried the bellows again strapped up higher up the body and was able to reach the notes D, G chord with out bass reg, just about able reach the notes F#, D chord by moving chanter and leg a wee bit.
It will take me a few days to get used to having the bellows higher up the body but if I can reach the C regs his is the way I will play my Rogge C set from now on.
If all you need is to move the regs a few inches closer to you without adjusting anything at all in the way you hold or play your pipes, you’re right: just slide the cup into the bag farther. You’ll end up tying it into the brass and the hole will be fairly large, but it’s absolutely no problem at all to do this if that’s what you want. You can then slide the cup in and out by several inches to put the regs exactly where you want them.
Do a web search for The Pipe Major’s Handbook, which is a manual for setting up Highland pipes, but there’s an excellent section (by me of course) on cutting into a leather bag and tying in a stock. This includes all the secret “knotless” tying methods that allow the tie-in cord to be bound like steel as opposed to the usually rather desperate looking, floppy wrap-up I see on most uilleann pipes. It also has a good section on using waxed hemp properly, though on uilleann pipes, you need to go to cotton or flax thread to finish up the smaller wrappings.
Royce
