hay all,
so my new pipes are ready 
A Seth Gallegher half set. Since i live in the northeast, i am going to pick them up in person (and show my honey one of the most beautiful villages in the US in the bargain).
My question: what are the 10 most important things i should ask Seth to show me before leaving the shop? I don’t want to waste hours of his time (no one gets rich making pipes) but i want to use the opportunity.
so what should i ask?
thanks all
meir
I would expect him to show you how to adjust the drones and chanter reeds and go over the instrument in general. It’s warm there now so get a few feet of waxed hemp to wrap things when the temperature and humidity drops and things get loose. Ask for long term maintenance and care tips too.
Meir, I don’t know your experience level so please don’t take offense if this sounds too simplistic.
Since you’ve got a half-set, make sure they are set up to fit your body comfortably. This includes all belts are long/short enough, stock is set high or low enough on the bag for your height (you shouldn’t have to stoop to wear your pipes), that the neck is long/short enough for you to reach/play the chanter comfortably.
Be prepared that you may have to leave the set with the maker another week if there are serious adjustments required.
Don’t be in a rush. Its your money. Sit and play them for at least 30 minutes, or until your repertoire runs out. 
Make sure the maker shows you how he intended the set to be played, as oppossed to you assuming anything. This step alone could reveal far more than ten questions.
Try all the possible fingerings you know. Some sets can’t handle some cross-fingerings depending on bore size and tone hole sizes.
Try to avoid discovering something new about your set BEFORE you leave the maker’s shop, so that you will know what to expect. Touch/play with everything on your set while you’re there.
Get the maker to show you how to adjust the reeds, whether they need to be adjusted that day or not. You will need to know how to do this on your own, and will need to recognize what the adjustment is that you may require for various conditions at some future date.
Don’t let the maker rush you. The purchase should take at least an afternoon. The maker has had you sitting on your thumbs for months/years waiting for this day. He can certainly spare you an afternoon to make sure you understand your new pipes and what to expect from them.
Hope that helps,
djm
Meir,
Congratulations on your purchase, your patience and your excellent choice. David’s right with taking your time. Seth is an absolutely terrific guy, I’m certain there will be no pressure to rush you off. Make sure you ask him about his new building There is little chance that there will be any quality issues, but If you aren’t familiar with drones, then definitely get a quick education on those. It’s also likely to have an amazing reed inside the chanter - but you may also want to have a back-up reed in case of experimentation failure (I have experience with this )
Most of all, have fun while you’re there- it’s bound to be a positive experience. Make sure he knows you’re coming, call the day before. (I also have experience with this!)
all the best!
PR
Ask for some bagpipe seasoning and ask him to explain how to season your bag and bellows!!
edit
Seth also provides a small write-up with his pipes that will be helpful in general in caring for them and tuning. I know. I just got mine from him this past Wednesday!! 
On the contrary, DO NOT ask him how to adjust reeds. Unless you have a great deal of experience (written this way to exaggerate) playing and know how to problem solve as to whether it is the reed, climate, or you, DO NOT mess with the reed. Instead, ask and pay for an extra one and seek help until you can reliably get a handle on reeds yourself having learned to problem solve under tutelage.
Sean, thx for the link to SWAUP. I just love collecting more UP stuff. Looks good.
Thx again,
djm
Meir,
You’re in for a treat. Receiving my drones from Seth was one of the best experiences I’ve had in piping. My practice set had the stock-cup already tied in, so when the UPS dropped off the box, it was simply a matter of replacing the plug with the mainstock and firing the drones up.
(In my experience) Seth’s drones are rock-solid, use minimal air and are very stable in pitch. I’ve had mine for 4 years, and they’ve been virtually trouble-free.
Enjoy!
No E
PS- Don’t bother with the bag/bellows seasoning… My bag and bellows from Seth are 5-1/2 years old, and as airtight as the day I got them!
The reference to treating the bag might have come from a GHBer, as I do not know anyone who has to treat a UP bag. I suspect that’s because UPs are powered with bellows, so the air is drier, as opposed to a mouth-blown instrument, where the air would be more humid, and could have negative effects on the bag in time.
Just a thought,
djm
Northumbrian and Scottish smallpipe builders often season their bags as well even though the pipes are bellows blown. Getting a McHarg bag totally transformed my smallpipe playing. I didn’t even realize that my smallpipe bag was porous until I started playing Uilleann pipes and found out what an airtight bag was all about. Too soon old - too late smart, I guess!
Bill,
I’m not sure I follow. Are you saying that the bags for other smallpipes are not as air-tight as UP bags? That sounds a bit odd, as I can’t imagine the one school of piping doing anything that much different from the other.
I’m not familiar with McHarg. I use leather UP bags from L&M. Are McHarg bags leather or plastic?
djm
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You must be talking about the Wee Piper, Michael MacHarg. His bags are chrome tanned leather on the inside, natural on the outside. I’ve seen some bags that never even had a hint of a leak, even after 20 years of playing, and no treatment to the bag.
Sorry for the typo - MacHarg it is! And yes, pipemakers have different approaches regarding bag construction. In Northumberland, I guess it’s traditional to construct the bag with the rough side on the inside and then use liberal amounts of Neetsfoot oil to keep them airtight. I think I recall John Liestman telling stories about Colin Ross hanging bags on a clothesline while the oil was oozing out. John, are you out there?
Anyway, just to get back on topic - I’d ask my maker for a short course on how to adjust my reeds so that they all used the same amount of air. Pretty basic, but important if you are learning in isolated situations.
Bill and others, not to stray too far off topic, but since you asked: Most NSP makers put the rough side in for reasons of “neck resonance” - problems they often find with notes affected by reflections off the shiny side (their analysis not mine). But what causes them to treat the bag is the kind of leather used (normal chrome tanned stuff) and the fact that they stitch the bags.
MacHarg and others (like me, cuz Mike showed me) use a leather made in Canada specially for bagpipe bags (so it itself is airtight). I don’t think it is chrome tanned actually, but some “secret” tanning with a lot of lye involved to close up the pores found in normal leather. I believe that the biggest improvement though was that Mike started using rivets, which close their own hole, so they do not add any leaks, unlike stitching does.
And the story about Colin and the bag - that was a bag Colin made and seasoned with neatsfoot oil, beeswax and rosin. This worked fine in the cool weather of England, but once it got here to Texas, just started dripping oil all over the bag cover. I hung it on a clothesline in the sun in August to “untreat” it and it dripped for a long time, but finally returned to being usable if I recall.
BACK ON TOPIC - what I would do when at the pipemakers - I would play the set for a good long while right then and there so that YOU can get it in tune and YOU can know what sort of pressure to apply to make it sound right. Then you will know how it should feel and will know later if anything feels different (i.e. needs more pressure than before, needs more changes in pressure to get different notes in tune than before, etc.).
(Did that keep this from being totally off topic?)
thanks to all for the great advice.
regarding the seasoning thing, i would agree that it should not be necessary for years in a new set of UPs. in the smallpipe world, higher pressures are often necessary to make sets play well, so very small leaks which may not be noticed for UP would make playing border pipes impossible. likewise, the bags for smallpipes are usually smaller, so there is less reserve. smallpipe drones also use alot of air. as has been pointed out, the drones i am getting from seth and many other well contructed drones use very little. so smallpipes are a different world.
as it happens, i already have a bellows from m. dow, and a bag from macharg (since i have been learning on a pennychanter, i saw no reason to buy or make a cheap bag and bellows when i can have the best). so what i am getting from seth is the chanter and drones.
i am sure the bag and bellows from seth are also of amazing quality, but i wanted a way to get started without buying a bag and bellows twice, as i said.
thanks again
meir
Hi Meir,
That being the case, be sure to have Seth tie-in the mainstock for you (it’s not as easy as you might think).
Seth bellows are indeed quite sturdy and well-made. I believe Seth is using L&M bags these days which (along with McHarg Bags) get a big thumbs up from me.
Enjoy your new set,
No E