ok guys, finally after all the questions and research, i finally bought a chanter from David Boisvert, the man i wanted one from originally. it took me a while to save up this money, but now i need some bags and bellows. and advice for a good tutor book/cd would be great too. thanks.
For bellows, you have a few options.
CJ Dixon - his bellows kits seem to be well priced and easy to assemble.
David Daye - he offers bellows kits but I’ve heard nothing (either good or bad) about them.
Jonathan Warner - he offers bellows for a reasonable price. I bought one recently and so far I’m very impressed. I want a little more time to go by before I give it the thumbs-up, but so far so good (http://macwarnerbellows.tripod.com/)
For bags, I’d recommend Nick Whitmer (http://www.lightlink.com/nwhitmer). I’ve two sets and both bags were acquired through Nick.
thank you very much PJ, would you advise Dixon’s over Warner? i have no idea what to look for in bellows. Warner’s seems more professional looking, but i just cant tell which would be better.
I’m afraid I can’t give you a view on which would be better.
I’ve no personal experience of CJ’s bellows or his bellows kits. I’ve bought other items from CJ, including a chanter and they certainly didn’t disappoint me.
I’ve only recently acquired my Warner bellows and wouldn’t be comfortable giving a recommendation of that until I’ve had a little more time with it (but so far so good).
ok, thank you
If you have a chanter, and no bag or bellows yet, please resist the temptation to blow the chanter by mouth. You will ruin the reed(s)!
I bought a CJ Dixon kit, to see what the competition was up to, and it came with very detailed construction notes, was easy to build, and is airtight. It helps if you have a workshop, with holding vices, etc, rather than trying to assemble it on a kitchen table. It is better to sew the gusset (inside the hinge) with a saddlestitch of waxed hemp and an awl, rather than the needle and thread that is supplied with the kit.
As for a bag, I think you can purchase them from most pipemakers. David Boisvert, Chris Dixon, Michael McHarg are among many makers that come to mind.
You will need to consider stocks for the bag, and consider the size of the chanter stock for the swan neck in addition to the size of the connector stock that joins the blow pipe to the bellows.
Here are Jim’s bellows. Jim is an incredible craftsman:
http://mysite.verizon.net/littlems1/bellows/
Miki