Actually, I would suspect it’s the great quality of the instrument that commands the prices. And if you’d bother to compare their prices with those of other makers, they are not “great”, but rather quite reasonable.
it’s very clear you have an axe to grind here. and I’m fairly certain that It makes little sense to the readers here as to why you keep harping on this topic. Leave a great pipe making shop be and worry about your own gear. As K. wrote-it’s the great quality parts/purchase costs, technique, depth of knowledge, and workmanship that commands the price.
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I only meant to agree with Brazenkaine once. A glitch occurred when I posted.
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We have seen and tested a number of chanters from dozens of makers including top names in the reedmaking workshop in Miltown Malbay. There were a number of Hunter chanters around and the general consensus was that they are among the best.
All Hunter chanters were admired by their tone and craftmanship. And they were quite easy to reed.
Each Hunter chanter is a piece of art.
The only problem with the Hunter workshop is that their capacity is limited to a degree that is a problem for the Hunter fans. The Rogge workshop, for example, has a much bigger capacity to produce top quality instruments that are (nearly) as good as the Hunter pipes.
I used to live very close to a pipemaker and had the previlage of trying a number of different makes of chanter including a ‘genuine’ Hunter.
It certainly played well but was loud and coarse - good for sessions but not so good for solo playing or practising.
My personal preference is for a softer sound.
Part of the charm of our instrument is that it is made by individuals (yes there are a couple of companies churning them out) and each of these make the instrument in their own way with their own individual tone quality
As I said before this is what Sam should be doing and making a name for himself, especially if he aims to make a living at it. Doing a ‘Hunter’ copy is not IMHO the best way forward
Break out Sam and look for some innovation to make your chanters distinctively yours
John
Then you can have a Hunter C or B. They are sweet and beautiful.
I have no problem with “individual manufacturing”, my problem is with the long waiting times.
There are some real naive misconceptions being perpetuated here.
- there is the list-old idea has been parroted from one inexperienced piper to the next. It goes like this: " that Chanter is loud." That usually comes from someone who’s not reed maker and if, so not experienced one. I’ve seen/heard “loud” chanters sound soft, I’ve seen/heard chanters made by the most reputable makers not work at all, sound mediocre, along with hearing them outperform any instrument in the room, I’ve seen/heard instruments made by “non-reputable makers” work just fine. Barring instruments that contain a malfunction; bore issues, shrinkage, modifications etc. one needs to look “under the hood” i.e. the reed. The big variable here is the reed! READ THAT AGAIN!
If you don’t know how to adjust a reed or at the very least, understand what adjustments do to a reed and how they manifest themselves in volume and tone etc., then not only will you be jumping to erroneous conclusions, but you need to make the time to understand this part of piping( IMHO).
When someone says,“The Hunter chanter is too loud,”(fill in any brand name actually)… That tells me either you don’t like concert sticks, you couldn’t adjust your reed to suit the volume you are comfortable with, you couldn’t make a new reed to suit the volume/tone/response etc., or all the above. Can a narrow bore instrument be too loud? Sure! Would anybody want to play it? Probably not (for a number of not so obvious reasons, too).
#2. this idea of, “go out on your own and discover your own design,” further demonstrates the perhaps well-meaning, but nonetheless misinformed, or " axes to grind," etc. mindset. All of the top makers are basing their design on an “original.” Some do exact copies of Crowley, some on Rowsome, Egan, Kenna etc. another, has taken exact measurements from a historical instrument and has produced an amazing reproduction. There is lots of value in all of this because guess what you get? You get a great sounding instrument. For people to sit around and nitpick design innovations borderlines on activities for armchair musicians, those who have more cash to buy instruments than desire to play music, or… lets just leave it at that.
One of these top makers told me, “I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel.” Another told me, “when I heard ( fill in historical name) I try to go for that sound exactly in my construction…” these of are the best makers in the world!!!
Although this isn’t meant to be the proverbial “bitch slap,” It might read like it. If it does …perhaps maybe you should investigate some of the points I’ve made.
In addition, this is not meant to sound like I am talking down to anybody. I’m not famous, nor will I ever be. Simultaneously, I have spent many years as a piper/ reedmaker and my bull shit meter goes off every time I read nonsense on what could be ( and many times is) a good list!
While I don’t necessarily disagree with much of what you’ve said, I will say that certain chanters are, in fact, ones that will be loud regardless of the reed used. For example, I have a Hillmann chanter. Mr. Hillmann likes his pipes loud and designed his chanters in this way. During the last tionol I attended, Benedict Koehler pretty much flat-out stated that my chanter is going to be loud regardless of the reed I choose to put in it, and Mr. Koehler knows a thing or two about reedmaking.
I’m not saying that the same thing applies to a Hunter chanter. I’m just saying that some pipe makers actually can and do design their chanters to be loud.
I would always exercise a high degree of prudence when quoting or paraphrasing a notable maker (or anyone for that matter) and urge you to confirm the specifics of what Benedict meant.
I have had a least quite a few long conversations with Benedict about reeds and in my experience, I have not known him to make blanket statements regarding reeds and/or instruments, sans variables.
Point taken. I certainly hope I’m not mischaracterizing what Benedict said.
nemethmik wrote
Then you can have a Hunter C or B. They are sweet and beautiful.
But will it really be a ‘Hunter’ or will it a ‘Sam’ or even someone else 
Stamp it so that we and future pipers know.
The Taylors (so I am reliably informed) never stamped their work and neither did some of their imitators leaving a puzzle as to who the actual makers were
There also seems to be some confusion over the recently discovered set in Swedish Museum as to the maker.
Stamp it , stamp it, stamp it.
Would one of real (non-armchair) makers that do this for a living care to comment on this subject ?
John
…I would venture to say that none of the busy ones care to take part in this soul-sapping, inane, waste-of-time thread…
..just wild guess!
Well…I doubt this cause there´s tons of replies. I would but strongly support every word that brazenkaine wrote about chanters and reeds. It might help to destroy a common prejudice.
It isn´t the chanter that produces the sound but the reed. The chanter is quite responsible for performance and pitch but not for sound and loudness. Any chanter can be equipped with a reed that sounds like somebody peeing in a bucket or with a reed that has “a rich sound”. The chanter can by no means be blamed. If you listened blindfolded to any chanter you wouldn´t even be able to tell the material. Imagine a Rowsome-chanter with a Pakistani-reed and a (modified) Pakistani-chanter (possible, but not recommendable - firewood is firewood) with a very good reed. It can easily be predicted which will sound nicer. I wonder at all if every “uiljen pipe maker” knows that this thing can produce 2 octaves.
Concerning loudness: It is possible to reed a Narrow D as loud as a CP and vice versa to reed a CP as quiet as a Narrrow D.
Concerning Hunter´s specifically: There is no such thing as “The Hunter”:
There are Narrow Bores, CPs and some extremely wide-bore ones. The latter can but be reeded “tamely” with still no “dropping tones” above second octave a.
BTW: Some people call extremly loud reeded sticks “banjo busters”. They are a pain in the a…ears but the imagination of an exploding Dixie-harp is quite nice, though 
.
<But will it really be a ‘Hunter’ or will it a ‘Sam’ or even someone else>
If it comes out of the Hunter workshop, it will be a Hunter, top quality workmanship, top quailty materials, top quality design and great service so it makes not a stick of difference to me.
Sam is an incredible pipemaker and to make comments that his output is in someway inferior or deficient compared to Peter’s is an insult to Sam and to Peter - who taught and trusts Sam to work on pipes bearing his name.
Peter wouldn’t do that if Sam wasn’t 100% competent of consistently delivering truly class instruments as good as Peter’s best work. Anyone who knows Peter will know he’s not backward at coming forward or sharing his thoughts about bad or deficient pipemaking, he’s a very hard man to please.
As far as other people making Hunter’s that’s pretty much imposssible when only Sam and Peter have access to the Hunter reamers, plans, tools etc.
Sam’s work is brilliant, he made me a set that is truly a joy to play and has more depth and tone than I ever imagined. Long live Hunterpipes whoever makes them and yes the Bs, Cs and C# sets are very special. Much respect due. : )
… FINALLY… some sense here…
Amen, Brother!
It was never suggested that Sam’s work was in any way inferior to Peter hunters and judging from the testimonials here may even be better. What I think some people were suggesting is ,why should Sam be working under the shadow of the hunter name?
RORY