I have a Wooff B set, was the one made after Pat Darcy’s. I play it regularly. Pat Lyons has a Bflat set that gets regular playing. I know a fellow in Western Victoria who has an old Bflat set that he plays regularly. There are a couple of sets in New South Wales that get played regularly. That’s 5 I know of without too much thinking. There are loads of pipers who don’t appear on this forum.
Out of the workshop of David Quinn. If you take a look at the interview with Mr Quinn on the NPU website , I think its around the twenty minute mark, he says that he has just sent out that year set number nine,which means he is now working on set number ten. Now I dont think Mr Quinn would be telling an untruth, so you either take his word for it or ignore it and make up your own figures.
I dont think its fair to apply your own experiences as a pipemaker to other pipemakers.
In a another thread Geoff Wooff says he has 100 pipers waiting for sets and other makers have either closed their books or have long waiting times.
I like your prediction of future pipemaking, it reminds me of that famous prediction by some prefessor who said that in the future ,personnal computers will be so expensive that only the two richest kings will own one.
I would think Geoff would happy to hear that theres alot more than two dozen of his sets being played.
RORY
I placed myself squarely in the hobbyist camp. I don’t think I would want a set that took 4 or 5 weeks to build.
How many makers have a hundred sets on back order? 2 or 3? Thats a few hundred sets, not what I would call a huge demand.
Fortunately for all of us, the best pipes are getting better and better, thanks to the dedication of those rare individuals who possess the required artistry, ear, skills, knowledge, discipline, and perseverance. And it takes each and every one of those traits to be a great pipemaker.
Remember that these sets have to feed Benedict Koehler as well - though BK does make a few sets on his own these days. David takes pains to point out that all the sets constructed in the Quinn workshop are joint efforts*. It’s also far from clear that K&Q sets have been averaging as high a price as Ted mentions - though they are clearly worth it if they do. To take another example, the Rogge workshop has a much higher output but the prices are a tad lower, excepting ‘master sets’, and again there are many more mouths to feed. Geoff Wooff’s stated output of 4 or 5 sets per year is optimistic, though his prices may be a tad higher these days.
When I do the math it still comes out to 4 or 5 sets per year per master pipemaker - maybe the number can be nudged upwards by one or two. I think that one would be doing very well to clear $10K per set when expenses are taken into account - and we’re talking about makers at the very top of their field.
It beats digging ditches, or working in food service, but when you consider the lean years before one can charge top money - assuming one ever builds the kind of reputation required - it’s lean enough all the same. I don’t believe any pipemaker has ever made near the figure Rory fielded - and I doubt any one individual is getting half that on a regular basis.
- Bill
*(excepting David’s personal set, that is - he still reeds and voices his own pipes)
voila here she is:
This lady is really 
Patrick
I think you need to buy a new calculator. Geoff Wooff started making pipes in 1978 ,up until 2004 he had made 190 sets . That works out at over seven sets per year.
If you consider the way Geoff makes his pipes ,which is probably the most time consuming of all pipemakers , seven should be the minimun.Take a look at Geoff’s workshop, which has a minimun of machinery and compare it too David Quinn’s workshop which has more machines,but more importantly labour saving machines like the pantographic mill and abrasive shapers.
The thing is of course is that pipemakers have a life to, at this stage maybe Mr Quinn wants to spend more time in his polytunnel than his workshop and so it come down to, how many sets they want to make not how many they can make.
RORY
I think you need to buy a new calculator. Geoff Wooff started making pipes in 1978 ,up until 2004 he had made 190 sets . That works out at over seven sets per year. If you consider the way Geoff makes his pipes ,which is probably the most time consuming of all pipemakers , seven should be the minimun
No calculator is needed as question and answer has already been given as figure would no doubt cover practice, half and full sets. The estimate of 4 sets a year is for full sets so hint for the clueless : full sets are more complicated with more parts and require a lot more time to make than a practice set so the true answer is covered by the age old question “how long is a piece of string”. 
Two possibly more interesting questions are
How many pipemakers are actually full time professional status with no other form of employment
What is the takeup for positions on the NPU Pipemaking course and what impact with this sudden inrush of newly trained pipemakers have on the market
John
For me it’ s not so important how many pipes Mr Wooff makes on a year. As said before making pipes like this takes a lot of time. So I can imagine that Mr Wooff his pipes what he make nowadays take more time than before.
But I concern more to the pipes what are made and not being played at all As I think this is really 
And I think there are some just somewhere in a box waiting to get out.
There is also a piper in the Netherlands: H. van der Heide who plays a D set made by Mr Wooff
Patrick
There is also a piper in the Netherlands: H. van der Heide
I seem to have some recollection of acting as the pipes delivery man and bringing that over to him, now you mention it.
Huub Simons in The Hague (at the time) got a Boxwood B some twenty-ish years ago. I suppose that’s still there although I believe Huub dropped off the grid at some point.
By direct communication, Mr. Wooff, Mr. Quinn and Mr. Gleeson gave their workshop out puts for full sets per year. Mr. Quinn stated seven sets per year. That also includes Mr. Koehlers work of reeding and voicing, so there are two makers involved. Mr.s Wooff and Gleeson both state four sets each per year. Figures don’t lie, but liars figure. I see an attempt to cast pipemakers as being capable of making lots of money for their labor. Truth is I know all the above makers work far longer than 40 hour weeks and do not have lots of spare time at that. Any new makers coming along will have to come up to the line in tuning and voicing if their work is to be accepted by pipers. Lots of mid-range makers who don’t have it all figured out yet. The top makers are not getting wealthy by any stretch of the imagination.
Did Alan Moller(the reedmaker) have a Wooff set at one time. It was said to me a long time ago ,but someone said a local piper here in Kerry sold a Wooff set to Alan Moller, he may still have it.
RORY
Aye, that’s me… and no worries, the set is being played almost everyday…
I make a noise on a wooff Full set. I have a wide and narrow bore chanter for the full set.
Great pics Mr Gumby !
Thanks for posting. I know Hille and his set, but never seen Huub Simons set.
Thats the man
I don’t know, old stuff. At some point (1994-ish) Hille was using a different the chanter. I don’t know what he’s playing now.
The boxwood B looked (and played) lovely. Huub insisted on box despite Geoff’s misgivings about using long lengths of it. It did go a bit bananas after a while.
I don’t know, old stuff. At some point (1994-ish) Hille was using a different the chanter. I don’t know what he’s playing now.
The boxwood B looked (and played) lovely. Huub insisted on box despite Geoff’s misgivings about using long lengths of it. It did go a bit bananas after a while.
Hille still plays the Wooff set but uses two chanters, the 1 keyed Geoff Wooff chanter and I think the other one is a Hevia chanter.
Hopefully the Banana Box B will turn up.
Were did you get all those older pictures of Dutch pipers, Mr Gumby ?
Patrick
Were did you get all those older pictures of Dutch pipers, Mr Gumby
I linked those from the NPU archive, the lazy way. I took them myself though. I have buckets of pictures of all sorts of pipers and other musicians, Dutch, Irish and otherwise. This way at least some of them get to be seen.
It’s good that Peter and others have been documenting the Irish traditional community for so long. Peter’s photographs are important. Last time we met up with Geoff was at Tocane St Apres in 2010, and he was looking very well and fit. I think Stefan is still playing his Wooff narrow bore D set up in Södertälje, Sweden. His set and my C chanter I believe are the only Wooff instruments in Scandinavia?
Was the Kayat set a NBD? I sort of remember it as maybe a C. It’s a long time ago though so the memory is a bit blurred. He wanted it to look like the Kenna in Baines’ book, with the chanter stock tied into the bag.