This was hiding on the Highland Bagpipe Section of ebay… Anyone know who this maker is???
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7309229385&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT
Just been and had a look at this set.
Won’t be bidding myself. 
The chanter turning looks like Nick Whitmer to me.
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Don’t think it’s Nick Whitmer. The Ebay site says it’s at least 30 years old, the chanter being even older. Nick’s been making pipes since 1985.
Also the chanter doesn’t look all that much like his work:
[/img]http://www.lightlink.com/nwhitmer/index.html
The ebay ad mentions that it was modeled on a set by (Sean?) Reid and may even have been made by him.
I didn’t know that Sean Reid made pipes. I know he restored some sets. If the chanter was made by Sean Reid, it would certainly historical value.
By that I mean this guy was in my town and I went to him and had a look at this set. And a play. And I won’t be bidding myself. Geddit?
Sean Reid of Clare did not make pipes. Sean Reid was a Northumbrian smallpipes maker who made a set or two of union pipes.
Robert Reid made quite a few union pipes as far as I know, I have played at least three of them.
So which Reid are we talking about. Sean or Robert?
Robert.
Actually Sean Reid made Border Pipes too and probably experimented on other forms other than the 3 mentioned. Hes was really influencial in NSP and Border Pipe making think of him as the Taylor brothers of the NSP/Border world.
If you ask me, that leather looks awfully new to me… certainly not 30 years old.
What leather?
I only had 10 or 15 minutes to look at this set but I’m pretty sure the bellows were vinyl with very thin (plywood?) boards, the (quite small) bag felt like rubber - I could feel it stretching as I squeezed it. The chanter had a slight curve to it as though warped and looking up the bore I could see splinters inside from when the holes were drilled. The edges of the finger holes were very rounded and I wasn’t sure whether that was to look nice without any thought for tuning. All in all it reminded me of something made for the tourists.
The ‘30 year old reed’ was very short like a GHB reed, with a hipless bridle. It sounded but I guess it’d need replacing anyway. I tried my good reed in it but didn’t get the 2nd octave as it felt as though I was risking bursting the bag so couldn’t really judge tuning. The chanter air pipe was a different size to my Roberts so I couldn’t easily connect it to my bag to give it a proper blow.
What they call in the antique trade a ‘curio’, I think. :adminno:
Jay-eye you just made my day… Im trying to eat my breakfast and reading the last paragraph of your post right above mine I started laughing my a** off… I needed a good laugh… and that little thumbs down character is he on the Emoticons list. I guess Ill have to look…
You got to got to the view more emoticons bt he is on there. :adminok:
The chanter looks like greenheart. The warp seems to always be there in those chanters. I’d guess a Matt Kiernan or Alan Ginsberg. Matt would also have to be asked to put the Cnat key on, too. He made fully keyed chanters at one time, as well as sets with regulators, but preferred not to do the intricate work late in his life.