Are there general guidelines as to when to use a wire rush in the chanter?
Makes second octave lower(pitch)
Sorry read topic wrong, , mean reed staple .
Why do ye want to do this?Ye also say that ye think your drones are too loud?If this is a new set then perhaps a word with the maker would be in order 
Slán Go Foill
Uilliam
What’s a wire rush?
A wire rush is a length of very thin wire wire that is either stuck up the bore of the chanter or the staple of the reed to narrow their internal diameter.
Narrowing the bore of the chanter usually flattens the first octave whether the second octave is comparably sharp due to dry weather or due to a reed that is too long/too closed/overscraped. I generally find that a rush up the bore causes gurgles/‘autocran’ on the bottom D note, but a rush is said to sometimes improve this problem (if you’re lucky, the chanter will also become mellower in sound since you are bringing it closer to a ‘narrow-bore’ chanter).
Narrowing the internal diameter of the staple does the opposite to the chanter (flattens the second octave).
There is also a less common rushing to just the throat of the chanter by dangling a rush out of the bottom of the staple. This is meant to help reduce bottom D gurgles. However, my experience is that it just flattens the back D rediculously.
To rush something, bend a ‘U’ shape into the end of the wire so that it jams snugly into the bottom of the chanter/staple. You can vary the amount of narrowing to a specific part of a bore by adding stuff onto the wire (e.g. blu-tac or ptfe tape) or alternatively, just use a rolled up piece of card or paper and poke it up the bore to where you want it (although it can be hard to fish it out after doing so.
Hope that clarifies things for you.
If this is a new set then perhaps a word with the maker would be in order
Could not agree more!!!
Kinda pisses me off that one of the most respected makers out there supplies his chanters with a rush in the bore!
It’s like saying, " heres the mad expensive chanter you ordered, I knew it wouldn’t be in tune so I stuck a lump of metal up it."
If the maker gave you a brand new chanter with a wire rush, I’d send it back.
Tell the maker to fix their bore.
Tommy.
And don’t even bother to tell me about hard and soft D tuning, high E and the like. Rubbish. A proper bore will fix all that… Messers
Am I missing something here? I don’t recall reading that the maker sent the new chanter out complete with a rush up the bore.
What’s the story?
Perhaps it’s this?
Look closely at the pictures:
From this link:
http://www.antondavila.com/images/Instrumentos/uilleann/
Thin wire (like a guitar high E string) in the staple of the reed.
But, the one’s I’ve seen in chanters are more like the diameter of uncooked spagetti. I read somewhere to actually use a piece of spagetti and blue tack.
Ahhhh, I see. Is this your chanter Baen? Did it come new from the maker this way?
All of the chanters I have seen by Alan Froment have a piece of wire up the bore. 
I agree wi Tom who agrees wi me so we both agree wi each other 
Slán Go Foill
Uilliam
And they come this way new from Alain? If so, I have to agree with you and Tommy.
What the problem with rushing??? Did I misread something?
IMHO, I wouldn’t put blue tack inside my chanter if you paid me to, that stuff can be very difficult to get off the wood completely. I prefer the wax of the humble bee to anything else.
Yes.
The wire in the throat doesn’t neccesarily cure a gurgling low D on any chanter. It’s meant for those chanters with oversized throats. But, as I’ve mentioned before, where it may work with one reed, another (and better) reed may not gurgle at all, so it’s mostly in the reed I believe. Same with other wire-cure-alls. A good custom made reed won’t require any wires anywhere. Sometimes some chanters just won’t work right without a wire though.
I’ve heard that Leo R. had wires everywhere in his wide bore chanters. Maybe he understood something about tuning/toning down that suited him and his chanters just fine. Maybe he did it that way on purpose??
Following reading comments about Alain Froment’s chanters always having a rush in it, I wonder whether he is actually being a nice guy and supplying one should the buyer need it at some point down the track (kinda like some makers supply a spare reed). He is a well reputed maker (I imagine due to consistently making good sets) so lets not be too quick in being synical about why a rush is there. Has anyone ever asked him why they are there?
Bizarre… I was really impressed with the Froment set that I saw and played, but I hadn’t looked up the bore. This would seem a deliberate preference on the part of the builder.
I’ve ran into some chanters that needed to be rushed just to function at pitch; a friend of mine has a wonderful Willie Rowsome chanter that this is the case with, but that chanter is over 100 years old. (I expect I’ll need some tricks to keep going at that point, should I make it that far)
Oh the stuff we do to keep these instruments happy! 
Modern concert pitch is relatively new and wouldna been a strict reference point 100 years ago.. for Willie or the rest..there is also some thought that Leo was tuning to the American pitch via his harmonium which was sharp and therefore needs rushing to bring it to 440.(which most of ye seem obsessed wi)
As for supplying a rush already in situ just in case the buyer needs one c’mon folks thats is just plain daft,..(so if ye don’t fancy one in it take it out and then listen to it never mind about years down the road try it now) ? I am sure it will sound a bit different.
This has got to be some sort o joke, although I fail to see the hilarity… Nobody is being cynical (unless it is yersel perhaps)
Simple fact..rush = correction.Once in a while maybe OK… but as a basic design 
Not owning one I have no desire to ask him why but if I was spending that sort of cash on it then I certainly would be doing a bit of questioning.
Slán Agat
Uilliam
Thrush is a type of yeast infection that commonly infects the mouth or the vagina. Don’t lick railings, y’all…
Oh. Sorry…
As rushes lower the pitch, the Willie Rowsome chanter probably really did need the rush to play in pitch as it was likely built to play somewhere around A=452.
When Brad Angus took a gander at my Cillian Ó Bríain chanter, he said “That thing needs a bore!” And I think he might be right…I prefer the slightly mellower sound with a rush up the bore. But yes, if the chanter’s well made (and I’d like to think that mine is), then you shouldn’t NEED the effin’ thing. Now blu-tack on the other hand…Don’t leave home without it…And if you have any theatre-geek friends, steal some of their gaff tape when they’re not lookin’. Great, great stuff.