I’ve noticed something recently regarding the sale of certain pipes (and other instruments, for that matter) which has made me wounder whether there was a piping bubble and whether it has now burst.
Are the days behind us when folks were ready to shell out $15,000 or more on a high-end set of pipes?
Are people still willing to pay a premium to avoid waiting several years to have a set from certain quoted makers?
Has anyone taken their name off a multi-year waiting list in the last few months?
What have you noticed regarding the sale of certain pipes?
What is the piping bubble? If it is the piping community I dont think it has burst,maybe deflated alittle,but it will always be there.
I would think of it more like an onion(No! not because it stinks and makes you cry) because it has layers(I sound like donkey from Shriek) there will always be the core element who would still play the pipes even if there was a nuclear holocaust and then on the outer layer there is the piper who heard the pipes in some film and fancied giving them a go so bought a set on ebay and one month later puts them back on ebay,and theres all the layers in between.
In times like these the outer layers are going to go first. How long thing stay bad will dictate how many layers are affected.
RORY
And Rory will rule the world
MWAAAAAHAAAHAAHAAaaaaaaah! 
I suspect that, 'round these parts at least, there is more of a bottle-neck phenomenon going on. I think many of those who got hooked on the pipes - and tried to make a go of it - have put them under the bed and have moved on to try to pick up the broken pieces of their shattered lives. And this is a town that is pretty supportive of piping. But if you can’t get your chanter to perform, you can’t get your chanter to perform. No amount of “there, there” can keep you in the game indefinitely.
Tommykleen
I thought this thread had died. Thanks for reviving it.
What prompted me to start it was seeing several chanters or sets of pipes being sold at, what I consider to be, bargain prices. Not all that long ago, well, maybe a year or more ago, there were a few sales of sets from high-end makers (Froment, Wooff, etc) where the sellers indicated that the would consider offers in excess of …
With all that’s happened elsewhere in that intangible thing which seems to rule our lives and which we call the economy, has there been a change in people’s perspective regarding the necessities and if so, on what side of the line have uilleann pipes fallen?
Actually, for me, it means that I’m playing more than ever. Staying home strapped into the pipes keeps me from spending money I shouldn’t be spending!
Although I should be spending some on reedmaking tools and supplies so that I can start towards some degree of competence in the black arts.