The joys and dangers of Ebay pipes

**OC Richard** · 17th February 21, 04:40 AM

Here's a great pickup for somebody: 1970s Grainger & Campbells for $525 Buy It Now.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1970s-Grain...wAAOSw~xRgKZOQ

My old Pipe Major played G&Cs from around that period, silver & ivory, which had a wonderful tone.

Poly Dunbars for a $400-odd Buy It Now, great-sounding backup pipes/parade pipes for somebody.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dunbar-P1-P...kAAOSwZylgK0NO

Here, near the beach in Southern California, every guitarist has their "beach guitar". A beach guitar is a good-sounding good-playing guitar that's seen better days, perhaps the finish is trashed, and you don't care if it gets bashed a bit. It's the guitar you take to the beach, when everybody sits around the fire and sings Beatles songs.

Likewise pipers have "beach pipes" which is the equivalent of "parade pipes", pipes that sound good but can take a beating. Poly Dunbars are perfect beach pipes.

In any case, here are some nice Naills with an incredibly low current bid, but it's one of those "reserve not met" things that I find annoying, because the seller has a price in mind but doesn't share what it is. The seller also doesn't have much history.

There's a loose mount and they've put electrical tape around the mouthpiece. Neither of these things bother me- it's easy to put mounts on tight, and I'm going to use my own blowpipe anyhow.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DN2-Bagpipe...AAAOSwu7RgK0rz

**OC Richard** · 24th February 21, 09:13 AM

These came up this morning and I did a Buy It Now.

They're Kintails stamped 1981. My Pipe Major plays silver & ivory Kintails from the mid-1980s and they're amazing pipes.

I love that they have the bling, but with imitation ivory, so are fully legal.

**Grump** · 24th February 21, 11:31 AM

Nice pipes. The tarnish on the slides suggest silver? or are they aged nickel? What were they using for drones and did they come with a chanter?

**OC Richard** · 24th February 21, 09:43 PM

Originally Posted by Grump

Nice pipes. The tarnish on the slides suggest silver? or are they aged nickel? What were they using for drones and did they come with a chanter?

The mounts are EPNS which is "electro-plated Nickel Silver".

In plain English the mounts are solid Nickel Silver/German Silver/Cupro-Nickel (which was the most common metal for Highland pipes, buckles, cantles, dirk mounts, etc from c1840 through c1940) then Silver plated.

It was common for pipes in the old days, makers like R G Lawrie offered bagpipes in plain or engraved German Silver, silver plate, and Sterling Silver. Here's a c1905 R G Lawrie set in Ebony, Ivory, and engraved German Silver. It looks identical to silver & ivory Lawries of that period save for the lack of hallmarks on the mounts.

Kintail pipes were African Blackwood.

Unlike most makers, Kintail not only stamped their name but also the date on their pipes. Multiple Kintails I've heard from the 1980s have been extremely nice in tone, and I expect this set to be like that. The bass drone in particular should be rich and powerful.

Here's a silver & ivory set of Kintails from 1984, a superb-sounding set played by my Pipe Major

The chanter coming with the Ebay set looks rather more modern than the pipes themselves. We shall see!

As a bonus there's a polypenco Practice Chanter.

About current Ebay offerings, the bidding is going up on this Gillanders set, which started very low. Back in the 1980s a band-mate played silver & ivory Gillanders which were amazing in tone.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-McL...p2056016.l4276

**Grump** · 25th February 21, 05:59 AM

Thanks for the info it's all very interesting. Im sure there are a few of us who cant wait to hear the rest of the story. Wonder what they are like to blow, always a consideration for aging pipers.

**imrichmond** · 25th February 21, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by OC Richard

About current Ebay offerings, the bidding is going up on this Gillanders set, which started very low. Back in the 1980s a band-mate played silver & ivory Gillanders which were amazing in tone.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-McL...p2056016.l4276

It looks as though someone could get a real bargain with these Gillanders & McLeods. If I didn't already have two sets of 1970s G & Ms I would be tempted to bid on them myself. I love the tone of G & Ms.

**OC Richard** · 26th February 21, 04:51 AM

Originally Posted by imrichmond

It looks as though someone could get a real bargain with these Gillanders & McLeods. If I didn't already have two sets of 1970s G & Ms I would be tempted to bid on them myself. I love the tone of G & Ms.

Yes indeed, I have a current bandmate who plays an old full-Catalin-mounted Gillanders set and there's an Open solo competitor who plays an old silver & ivory Gillanders set.

In both cases the tone is superb and utterly stable. I've heard the Open player compete in piobaireachd a number of times and his pipes hold from start to finish.

The thing about those old pipes is that many predate Iain McLeod joining the firm in 1972. Robert Gillanders was making pipes by 1930 and was later joined by his son (also named Robert).

**OC Richard** · 3rd March 21, 07:34 AM

The 1981 Kintail set I got off Ebay arrived yesterday.

Here are a couple photos taken with my phone in bad indoor light.

I measured the specs, as I do with all pipes that pass through my hands. They're nearly identical specs to a friend's 1988 Kintails which sound great. The tenors on this 1981 set have very slightly larger bores than that 1988 set.

I'm anxious to get some air through them, however my wife is working from home all day today, so I can't make noise until this afternoon.