Due to the untimely demise of the owner of a Silver C set made by myself in 2003 it is now for sale. This set was made to celebrate 25 years of making my sole living from Pipemaking . It is made in Black Ebony with Sterling Silver keywork and ferrules, mounts and endcaps of Mammoth Ivory. Complete with bellows and fitted case.
I will pass on any serious comunications to the seller.
Price €20,000 . Set is in Ireland. For videos search ’ Pat Connery Uilleann Pipes ’ on Youtube.
I’m sure it’s going to a good home. Just wondering Geoff how do you feel about sets you’ve made and seeing where they are on their travels. Do you still have some kind of emotional connection with them?
RORY
Rory,
a musical instrument is just a tool, an implement for making music, but a set of Pipes feels more alive than an electronic piano. If I was just assembling factory made parts into a complete instrument perhaps I would see the end result as a product of my business. However, as I hand make the whole thing it is far more personal, more like sending one’s children out into the world and praying they behave themselves.
The greatest joy in all this, for me, is to see and hear someone making fine music on a contraption I created. So, yes there is an emotional attachement and I do care what happens to a set that changes hands. Thanks for asking .
I think with people who have been around long enough, the understanding is that pipemaking is a vocation not a profession.. The pipecraft experiment clearly shows pipemakets ste born and not made.
RORY
While it might be true that pipemakers are born and not made (maybe). I don’t think your comment about pipecraft follows. Pipecraft is open to anyone. It’s doubtful that any current pipemakers (unless they lucked into an apprentice, maybe) would not have wanted to take advantage of Pipecraft when there were starting out.
According to the well-known pipe maker on one of the other forums, in the 14 years that pipecraft has been going not a single professional pipe maker has come out of the school.
As far as I know the top maker’s are pretty much self taught, they have an instinctive knowledge on how its done, hence born not made. Figuring out how to do something for yourself helps increase your understanding of how it works.
RORY
Whilst we are here let’s look at this Price/Value thing a wee bit.
What do we think a good set of pipes should cost ? For me, who is currently making two full sets per year, the price of a set should equal half my yearly income, as I have no other way of making a living. Yes I could make three sets but would have no spare hours and would probably be completely worn out by now. So, I ask you to think about your yearly income and see what a full set would cost if you made it.
Most secondhand sets sell for more than their original ‘new’ price. Does that make them a good investment ? After years of happy piping one can move a set on for a profit… Okay, that does not always happen and there has been a lot of old rubbish and Pipes-a-like objects produced that should never have been foisted on the unfortunate.
All very well to see Pipmaking as a vocation but… I have struggled to make a living from Pipemaking these last 44 years.
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/a-business-option-for-pipemakers/45945/1
It’s an complicated issue with no one answer, I’m at work at the moment but would like to add to the discussion later. Hope you don’t mind me posting this link Geoff, you get mentioned in it alot but it’s a relative thread.
RORY
Holy shite Rory,
I got square eyes reading that lot and only managed to page three!! I do not recall the exact incident, there were several happenings that reminded me of the Michael Egan story, where he ‘cut’ a customer with a reamer in a dispute about the price of a set and had to find passage to the USA on the quick before the cops arrived.
It’s a sad fact that there isn’t much money in the traditional arts. Most of the tier 1 uilleann pipers are not full-time professional musicians, and have other jobs, unrelated to music, to support them. There are exceptions, but not many. And pipemakers have an even more precarious existence.
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