OK, another question, would I have to send or bring a chanter to a reed-maker
Ideally, yes.
But again, that would involve touching the reed, as I obviously would need to sit it in the top of the chanter.
You would be handling the staple, not the reed (head).
Once the reed settles, there isn’t much regular tuning needed. If you take the chanter to a different environment, play it outside, stuff like that, then sure you’ll probably need to move the bridle a tiny bit in some cases, often less than a mm.
Yup, this is what I did for my first chanter, but I was able to drive to a pipe maker.
Do you have a teacher that can help you fix your reed? From all the reading I’ve done over the last several months, it seems to be the consensus that beginners should leave the reed handling to the teacher, and that your teacher should teach you how to keep everything in tune.
Jerry
Sadly no. Which is where a lot of my issues come from haha. If you like being taught and can afford a teacher I highly recommend it. Because yes, if a teacher or more advanced person could insure everything is set up correctly, that’s a huge advantage. As a beginner you really dont want to be trying to set anything up because you don’t know what playing well is yet.
Another new guy here - albeit with nothing to add except my thanks for the helpful information in this thread in particular. I’ve got a Dirk Mewes set on order which will arrive in stages: practice set, drones, and then a couple regulators - all spaced out between 7-14 months. Another Wisconsin piper suggested buying a new set from an accessible maker who will be available for post-purchase situations that will arise. Of the makers I reached out to, Dirk was the only one to respond - and my dealings with him have been only positive.
I must admit that I was surprised by the degree of individualization possible with with these pipes, and the stark difference in reeding in contrast to the Highland pipes. I’ve got a lot to learn here.