William (Bill) Thomas? Any information?

Uilleann Pipes
1

Hello,

I was looking at various pipemakers in the New England area and there is one William Thomas listed for New Hampshire on the Na Piobaírí Uilleann website. Subsequent online searching reveals very little about this man however.

Does anyone have any contact with him or can say anything about his pipes?

Thanks,

Alex

2

I have met Bill Thomas, he’s a nice guy, serious enough and a nice player on both pipes and whistle. I didn’t know he made pipes. He had his pipes sounding nicely and while I don’t remember them as a set he made himself that should count for something.

3

Bill’s a great craftsman; he makes period furniture as well as pipes and studied woodworking at the North Bennet Street School in Boston. A great guy. I believe he studied pipemaking with Eugene Lambe, although his pipes are his own design.

4

I met Bill in Maine in 2002. I saw two of his sets there. I was very impressed with his pipemaking abilities. In talking with him I got the impression that he was trying to make a go of it as a pipemaker , but it was a little too feast-or-faministic for him and he had decided against it. I hope he has changed his mind. A class act.

5

I played a Bb Thomas chanter, supposedly copied from a Moloney. Bit of a hog - 13mm bell? Big holes. Probably the original’d been hosed. Nice enough turning and work, though.
The man I bought my Patsy Brown chanter from apparently sold Bill his two Brown double chanters, much to the dismay of our mutual friend, who’d been after them for years. Bill wrote about reeding up a Taylor chanter (“Rushing Around”) in the Pipers’ Review, also a very weird article about sanding reed slips on a lathe, using this locking mechanism…sounded like a good way to lose a finger or two.

6

He no longer makes pipes for sale. His craftsmanship is so superb that he has plenty of work making eclectic and rather expensive furniture to keep him busy and well-paid. Making pipes would ruin that business he has established. Every set of his make that I have heard, including his own, has sounded great and was asthetically pleasing as well.

7

Anyone have a pic or know someone who has a set of Bill Thomas’?

8

My Uilleann piping experience began on a Thomas half-set which I’m still using although I’ve been using a B.C. Childress chanter for a couple of years now.