Ehh, Patrick, yer all Wax and no Cheese. 
Cheese… it’s what’s for dinner… 
Hey, if it tastes gouda…
Anyway, congratulations on your new chanter, Brian. Sounds like you know your way around a reed or two, too!
You may try taping over the top third or so of BOTH bottom holes and see if that cures your pitch problem with that reed. It may take a bit of experimentation to see how much tape to use on which hole. Another reed may have less sharpness in the E. Once you have determined the correct amount of tape, you can remove the tape and use the wax. You thought closing off the bottom of the hole might raise the pitch. Not so. Making the hole smaller, either at the top or bottom, will lower the pitch. Closing off the top of the hole will lower the pitch a bit more than the bottom. The way to raise the pitch is to undercut upward or open up the hole to a larger diameter. Of course, do not remove wood from the chanter. Tape and wax are reversable fixes.
Congrats on the new stick.
Ted
Damn, I double-clicked to send again.
…I hate that when that happens like that.
brain, what is the number on the chanter? is it maybe one of those that seth wanted to re-ream?
i have the same problem with my seth chanter. in my case it is more pronounced in the lower octave. taping did not do much. let me know what works.
meir
Now I could have this the wrong way round (maybe any pipemakers could help out) but I recall being told once that the although hole size and position will change pitch in the expected manner; bigger-sharper and higher up the chanter-sharper, the position has a bigger effect in the lower octave and the size has a bigger effect in the upper octave.
That could change the result dependent on whether you filled the hole from the top or the bottom.
David
Hey Meir,
Well…Um…I think the number was something like 276 or so, but I can’t tell you for sure right now. After the Chieftains concert here last night, Paddy was having quite a bit of trouble with both his Rowsome and Gallagher chanters so I kind of lent him mine to see if it might play in any better. I’ll see him again this afternoon though, and I can double check the number on the stick then.
As the chanter didn’t have a reed when I picked it up, I don’t know if this is something that’s always been there, or was just a manifestation of my own reed making skills. I didn’t have a lot ot time yesterday to fiddle with putting the card in between the F & E holes, but the tape seemed to have things fairly well under control for the most part. We’ll see what Paddy thinks later on today I suppose. Either way, he appeared thrilled to have at least another possibility for a decent reed while he was here. smile
On an interesting aside, I spoke with Seth Gallagher on Wednesday, and we got talking about reed sucess rates. He told me its a good day for him if he hits one good reed out of about four he makes. Is this a common figure for those of you who make them as well? About 25% rate?? I think most of my reeds come off playing well enough to get a scale out of them and a few are easier than others - but so far I’ve only had one really amazing reed. Only curious.
brian, you are either lucky or skilled. from the little i know of you, probably both. i am just starting and do not expect a reed that sounds at all for a while. are you rolling?
okay, that was a stupid question and its none of my business what you roll in general. what i meant was: are you rolling your staples, or are you using tubing?
meir
Using tubing at present, and plan to get more into rolled tubes in the future. For now, the tubing makes life slightly easier - if not quite as perfectly in tune. Oh well. 
I’ll let ya know what Paddy things of the reed.
..
..
Since Seth’s reeds are made with rolled staples, and the very precise recipe on his site calls for rolled staples with very specific dimensions, I have had good success making this style of reed for Seth’s chanter. Sure you could make a tube reed for the same chanter, but you would have to come up with the recipe yourself - probably with some additional experimentation.
Hehe…mohahahahahaha…this is what i feel about reedmaking since trying to make 1…only 1 decent reed for my Vignoles chanter. The one I have (made from the maker) is playing alright as long as you are tone deaf, …all things are great except bottom D, E F# and G…but that is not bad is it…shighte.
I have tried making reeds for 3 days now without success probably due to my lack of knowledge…but I’m getting there . some day it will be playing fine…
Well, here’s the verdict:
I left my chanter with Paddy Moloney over night and most of the day today. His quote to me this evening was this: “Your reed was playing brilliantly all day, and I had fully expected to use it for the show tonight. But when we did the sound check, it started to ‘loose it’. Probably the lights or something…but it sounded much better than the Rowesome did most of the day. Let me know if you have a few more reeds to try next time we’re through.”
So…it seems I was this close to becomeing a true reed maker to the stars! Alan, your throne is still secure - for the time being. 
At any rate, I’ll play around with things a bit more over the coming weeks and see what I can work out. This is a reed which uses a tubing staple mind you, and not a rolled - though Seth’s plans do suggest rolled. It’s close, though not quite there.
At any rate, it was good to see the guys again. Got a great photo of Carlos Nuniez and myself and John Ward from the club here too. If you haven’t ever heard his playing before it is absolutely spellbinding! Catch a show with him as soon as possible!! :
One more night in Salt Lake, and then off to Scottsdale AZ I believe.
Sorry, missed that…How close?
THIS close!
Only a few blasted stage lights away! Ah well. Still had a great time, and met a lot of new friends. With luck, the next time the guys are around for a show anywhere in the area, I’ll have a few reeds I can get to Paddy (mind you, without sharp E’s, or B’s and C’s or anything else horribly out of whack) that will play better for him here.
I found out night before last that Salt Lake City was the first stop on their US tour this year, so Paddy’s set had just come back over from Ireland and all it’s low altitude moisture a couple of days prior. No wonder his reeds were doing strange things.
Great times even so!
On an interesting note -
I was able to borrow a Gallagher reed from a friends D full set here in town that he’s been having some trouble with. I tried it out in my own D chanter here at home last night and it was a completely different animal than the one I made.
It had some pretty interesting idiosyncracies (sp?) about it that seemed pretty noteable. The thing I noticed the most were that the back D, and B notes were very loud and brash - much more than any of the other notes in the scale. The reed I made is much more balanced across the octaves in that respect. Also, Seth’s reed was much easier to get and sustain the upper second octave, all the way to 3rd D. Mine always seem to struggle at much above second A. I’m sure that bit just comes with experience, but I’m wondering what sort of factor the rolled staple plays in that as well. (Mine are still using the tubing of course).
Anyway just some idle observations of the differences. Tone-wise, I still think I prefer my reed. Anyone have any guesses as to why certain notes are so much louder with Seth’s reed than the rest of the scale? Any guesses on how the scrape might affect those ntoes?
Brian,
Great picture! So how did Paddy sound with his Rowsome reed? Did it seem okay? I wish I’d had time to drive out there for the show.
Meanwhile, I’m out here eating good cheese, and listening to a Bothy Band CD.
You might want to try calling Seth and ordering a couple of his copper staples. I did that, then started making my own. He also can sell you a rolling mandrel if you can’t make one yourself. If you are willing to experiment with the work of a novice, I could also send you a couple of my staples. Then the eckshperimentationism begins, Igor! Throw the Switch!
-Dirk