http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=16226&item=3762722476&rd=1
full set of Uilleann bagpipes with three drones and three regulators in the key of D. Chanter has one key, C. Purchased 4 years ago from Simak bagpipes
Opening bid $1,000? That’s a reasonable price to start out at indeed…for a full set.
Reasonable? Actually, “insulting” is more accurate. k
…I suppose so. I wonder why so inexpensive?
Does this seem odd to anyone, or is it my inexperience with Mack’s work, but the shut off key would seem to be located on the bottom of the valvestock?
Not the fault of the maker I would think. Simply a matter of taking out the small drone and the reg and turning the key up before putting drone and reg back. You can see the flattened area on the reg where the key is supposed to be.
…yup, I see it now. At first I thought it was a flaw in the image…or my duplication of it. Thanks.
It’s an eBay auction with a reserve. So?
He could have started it at $1 and spark a bidding frenzy… certainly better than a $3,500 opening price that gets no bids.
Mackenzie sets are a great value and he’s got a long list of satisfied customers so they don’t appear for sale very often.
Peter is correct. The drone shutoff is made traditional like many other makers sets, it rotates (when the drones and regulators are pulled out of the stock) and isn’t setup properly by the owner. It can easily be relocated to the top where it belongs.
Joe, are you going to bid on this set?
I confess to not being very ebay savvy, therefore it just seemed a mite low as a reserve…but, again, I wouldn’t have the knowledge that ebay experience brings.
I am giving good thought (or, what thought I am capable of) toward bidding on it, but I haven’t a good reason to add another concert pitched set at this time. If it were in a flat set, I may jump all over it…although, the lancewood wood go nicely with my new cocobolo chanter…hmmmm. 
At first, I thought this might be your set, Tony. But then I remembered
yours has something like 4 keys on the chanter. Same wood though, right?
It’s interesting to watch newer sets going up for resale, perhaps indicating
that there’s quite a few sets ending up in the hands of the wrong people
who really don’t have the time or energy to learn the pipes.
Mmmm red lancewood. Very similar except I have a fully blocked 4 key chanter.
Ian no longer makes straight bass drone models. Mine was his last one.
If only Ian wasn’t already making me a practice set and if the seller would ship them outside America I would bid on these! A few weeks ago I went out to Ian’s place and saw a very similar set. Looked and sounded very nice!
..and today the AUS dollar is the best its been in quite a while against the US.
With an unpublished reserve, the starting price is just to generate interest.
Has anyone here tried turning simak? How does it handle? Is it expensive?
Marc
The set is lancewood (a native Australian hardwood), Simack referes to the maker (a contraction of Sue & Ian MacKenzie).
No E
OOPS!
I should have read closer. So, same questions on lacewood.
Marc
Ian’s workmanship is crisp. There are no rough edges or swirl lines around the mounts ot tone holes. The exterior is buffed with a french polish finish.
Red Lancewood has strong graining patterns with great color variations but it
appears to turn smoothly.
Auction closed out at $2,600 with 5 bids.
Hi Everyone
If your considering bidding on this set do so. I have a Lancewood Full set in D. It has a lovely bright sound. The reads and drones are incredibly stable. Ian Mackenzie is a maker who stands by his work.
I purchased his full set and it was in excellent condition when it arrived. He’s making himself a fully mounted set. My present set is a standard set.
Cheers L42B 
PS: If your interested in seeing a picture of my set. Have a look at “Pics of your Pipes” Thread. It’s on p34
$2600 for that set is the bargain of a lifetime. Happy trails to the lucky new owner.
Glad to say that I was the lucky winner of the bidding on this (US$2600). With collapse of the US $, this is very reasonable in AU$ (compared to what it would have been a couple of years ago). Can’t wait to get them, to try them out. Spoke to Ian MacKenzie about them - he no longer makes sets in red lancewood, but he speaks very highly of them nonetheless.
I think I got a bargain on the basis of Ian’s work not been well known in the US, the unusual look of red lancewood (an Australian hardwood), and the seller having a “ship only to the US” stipulation, which of course he was more than willing to waive when I asked him.