A friend has a set of bellows constructed by Michael Dow that is still for sale. He is now asking $350. This is an excellent price for a bellows that are nearly new. E-mail me at glands@comcast.net if interested and I’ll pass along the inquiry.
I would second that opinion. Michael’s bellows are exquisitely made and at a price like that, you really cannot go wrong.
Is there a pic somewhere to see why they are worth so much? Do they have a metal hinge or something? Are they hand-stitched?
Thx,
djm
a) yes they’re handmade, like all UP bellows
b) they’re airtight
c) they usually have a stout leather hinge instead of a metal one -very light action and easy to use
d) the inner side of the bellows that rests against your side is lined with sheepskin with some foam padding behind it. Very comfortable and handy if you’re gonna spend hours and hours with a bellows around your waist.
They’re just very well-made with some nice features that make them easy and comfortable to play for long periods of time.
Does this one have leather straps, or synthetic straps?
Leather straps. All the leather is brown in color…not black as depicted in the photo above. The pads are excellent. These bellows are airtight and most efficient. They sell for $500 new. I used to have a Dow bellows but sold them to one of my students as I have two excellent bellows by David Quinn and they are brilliant. Of course, I don’t need two…
I don’t hear many folks putting the emphasis on the functionality of he bellows. I have learned that the bellows are an integral part of the instrument. They must be of utmost quality and airtightness to maximize their efficiency. I see so many people at tionols with horrid bellows and just know their command of the instrument would improve greatly with a good bellows. Also, the approach one uses to employ the bellows must be sound or your piping will suffer greatly. Benedict Koehler has a eye for spotting those, even experienced players, who fail to use the bellows properly. Seek his counsel if you are not sure whether you are unintentionally hampering your abilities by the way you inflate the bag of your pipes.
Along with the price of pipes bellows prices have gone up too. A friend of mine recently had a bellows made that cost as much as a full set would have twenty years ago.
Patrick.
Have any of you ever seen a pipemaker construct a set of bellows? It can be a full days work to do it properly with all the work on the clappers, cutting and preparation of the gussets, drilling for the handstitching, actual handstitching, construction of inlet valve and blowpipe, etc? By the time one accounts for the costs of materials and the taxes levied by the Imperial Federal Government, the pipemaker isn’t left with much money at all for his labors…especially when you consider some of the guarantees that the maker provides that ensure a significant likelihood that he will work on the bellows as a courtesy at some point in the future.
There has been no interest in the Dow Bellows at $350.
Price is $300.
Check your p.m.'s
There were three parties interested. I passed on the contact info for the first potential buyer who contacted me to the owner of the bellows. I suppose the deal will go through. Thanks for your interest.
If a maker can do a stitched bellows from start to finish in one day, he’s gotta be flying. David Q’s article on the subject in the Pipers’ Review is turning out to be a four-parter, read it and see what I mean.
- Bill