i just like to hear some comment about Neil O Grady set from newfounland Canada
sorry for my bad english, i’m a french Canadian(i dont even know if i did some error)
Hello everyone. I play an O’Grady half set made in the spring of last year and I’m very pleased with it. I played whistle and various string instruments before I got the pipes from Song of the Sea (www.songsea.com) but had never played pipes before. I have played some other pipers pipes since then and come to realize that O’Grady makes a very enjoyable set of pipes.
When I first received them the reeds were a bit troublesome until BC Childress got them properly set up during his visit to Celticfest here in Jackson, MS, so you’ll most likely have to have someone experienced set them up for you.
I have had to retie both of my stocks and my chanter socket in the past year using Childress’ method, as O’Grady’s tying technique makes the pipes prone to leak (at least on my set). The side-piece on the chanter cap that fits into the bag broke off at one point due to weak soldering but I had a friend braise it back on. Not a big deal. Other than these two things though, there have been no problems.
The pipes play great and sound very good when tuned up. The drones work well too. I would suggest O’Grady’s pipes to anyone interested in piping.
Hi,
I’ve been playing an O’Grady half-set since September, and I love them. So far, I have had no leaking problems, and the reed has worked just fine so far. The set is very easy to play and, as far as I am concerned, sound very good. Even with the dry electric heating I use to battle our winter (I’m in Montreal), I have no real problems other than a slightly sinking back D.
Guess you have to say he’s consistant!
Loose stock, repaired
Broken chanter cap feed tube, resoldered
Stretched leather bellows straps, replaced
The chanter sounds really nice… guess the rest becomes normal maintenance.
I can’t be the only one with a vomit smelling bag, right??
I’m getting really nervous about the “chanter cap feed tube”. I have heard of a few instances of these needing repair. Mine appears to be soldered on firmly and I’m especially careful not to force it in any way. I padded my case with foam, and the chanter sits snugly in a foam groove with a special notch for the “feed tube”. Hopefully that is enough to protect it.
I would say my bag (pipe bag that is) has a peculiar / pungent smell, but vomit?!?!
Call it what you want…
I wil say the hide O’Grady uses is very thick and supports itself even when the bag is partly deflated. My other bags (though airtight) are thin soft leather that allow the drones to sag when the pressure drops.
I’ve said it before, it’s a matter of what you get used to as they all work.
hey maymay, could you elaborate on how you tied - retied your bag. i just made a new one and plan to tie in tomorrow, i would appreciate any suggestions.
tansy
hey guys,
I know that this may not be the most traditional way of tying in the stocks but I have found that zip-ties or sometimes called cable ties work great for tying stuff on the bag. They are cheap (bought a bag of them at Wal-Mart the other day for $.98 cents) quick to tighten, and very strong and easy to cut off or replace. If anything, you can use them to secure the stock to the bag and then tie the nylon string on in the traditional way. However, just only using one zip medium zip-tie I’ve found my bag to be air tight. I think the are great! Just a suggestion.
Joseph
Interesting about the inlet tube of the chanter top breaking off because the exact same thing happend on the weekend to one of the O’Grady loaner sets of our club.
The joint, after it is silver soldered, should in fact be stronger than the metal surrounding it. Perhaps he is not cleaning the joint properly before the soldering is done
In any case, it is now fixed and ready to go off to the next piper.
[ This Message was edited by: Greg Schnider on 2003-02-06 19:01 ]
I have posted my tying instructions as a new topic, as I thought that would be helpful to more people.
As far as the O’Grady bag smelling foul: my bag certainly doesn’t stink. Mine actually smells very good!
thanks,
mason
Greg, some of the other pipemakers run the feed tube into the chanter cap and solder it from the inside, this way the bond is greater.