The joys and dangers of Ebay pipes

[OC Richard]

About those Lawries I bought with the big fat wood mounts, a friend just picked up a similar set, a Time Capsule set, still in its original box.

Which says By Appointment to His Majesty the King.

Now a couple people have told me that my new Lawries are older than the seller thought, possibly 1930s.

Back to Ebay pipes, here's something you don't see every day, a Scottish-made blackwood set with a $300 opening bid (no bids yet) and an $550 Buy It Now.

They're made by R T Shepherd. https://www.ebay.com/itm/15487844913...kAAOSwJaxiH3GE

I briefly owned a Shepherd set, I thought the drones were quite mediocre.

One day a fellow piper and I took apart five or six sets of pipes (including an early Lawrie, an early Henderson, 1940s Starck, and a couple modern sets) to mouth-blow and evaluate the volume and tone of the drones heard individually.

The most resonant harmonics-rich tenors were from my friend's c1920 Henderson (no surprise there).

As I recall the best bass was my c1905 Lawrie.

In any case we had a set of Shepherds, which had both the poorest tenors of all, and the poorest bass of all. (The caveat being that it was a sample size of one.)

[OC Richard]

Here's a maker whose work doesn't pop up often, George Kilgour Edinburgh.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/16538497148...8AAOSwnYhiMCWu

Robert Kilgour MBE (1924-2017) was Pipe Major of the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards until 1966.

His brother George Kilgour apprenticed under Edinburgh pipemaker James Robertson, then served in the Scots Guards during WWII.

In the early 1970s the brothers founded Kilgour of Strathspey Bagpipe Makers, which as I understand became George Kilgour Bagpipe Maker (Edinburgh) around 1980 due to Robert moving to Denmark.

Around 1988 George immigrated to the USA and went into partnership with C E Kron to form Kilgour & Kron (New York).

This all brackets these pipes as being made, I would think, in the early to mid 1980s.

[OC Richard]

What to all appearances are a set of African blackwood Kintail Chalice Pattern pipes, in a model often seen, plain wood with brass mounts.

No bids, opening bid set at $500, a US seller.

I don't know why the seller has listed them as "Canton" pipes. There's no such maker listed in Highland Bagpipe Makers. Also, this set doesn't look like a Sialkot set to me. Oftentimes Ebay sellers will list sets as being by L&M. Canmore, EzeeDrone, and so forth, the names stamped on bags or reeds. But Canton doesn't ring a bell for me.

I've messaged the seller, sending a closeup photo of the Kintail stamp which should appear just below the cord guide on each drone. Rare among makers, Kintail stamped the date on their drones.

EDIT: The seller says yes the drones are stamped Kintail.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/14446940719...YAAOSw6Q1iNkX1

Now this is just ridiculous, a Catalin & nickel mounted Grainger & Campbell set listed at $3,200.

I've seen sets just like this set unsold for months at $700. EDIT: The seller has lowered the price to $1,200 still high for a set like this but not absurd.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Grainger-Sc...p2056016.l4276

[OC Richard]

A great bargain on a wonderful African Blackwood set by Dunbar (St Catherines, Ontario, Canada).

Some small nicks. Those things don't bother me a bit! All of my vintage sets have nicks.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/23448568987...YAAOSw4K9iOT9K

And a Gillanders & MacLeod set in seemingly great condition for a reasonable price.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/23447389887...4AAOSwXUxiNiYu

Who knows how high the bidding will go on this R G Lawrie chalice set.

The late, great Alastair Gillies played a set like this, which sounded amazing in his hands of course.

This led many pipers to covet owning such a set, the idea being that chalice-top Lawries had a special magic that standard-profile Lawries lacked. AFIK all Lawries made at that time used the same specs and all are excellent pipes.

I wouldn't be surprised if, due to the Gillies effect, these sold for significantly more than a standard-profile Lawrie of that period would.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/28471391935...sAAOSwxutiN2hG

[Jock Scot]

A great bargain on a wonderful African Blackwood set by Dunbar (St Catherines, Ontario, Canada).

Some small nicks. Those things don't bother me a bit! All of my vintage sets have nicks.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/23448568987...YAAOSw4K9iOT9K

And a Gillanders & MacLeod set in seemingly great condition for a reasonable price.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/23447389887...4AAOSwXUxiNiYu

Who knows how high the bidding will go on this R G Lawrie chalice set.

The late, great Alastair Gillies played a set like this, which sounded amazing in his hands of course.

This led many pipers to covet owning such a set, the idea being that chalice-top Lawries had a special magic that standard-profile Lawries lacked. AFIK all Lawries made at that time used the same specs and all are excellent pipes.

I wouldn't be surprised if, due to the Gillies effect, these sold for significantly more than a standard-profile Lawrie of that period would.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/28471391935...sAAOSwxutiN2hG

Purely out of interest, at a guess(I won't hold you to it. Promise!)what sort of figures are we thinking about here? $'s or £'s it matters not. Low hundreds? High hundreds? A thousand? Thousands?

[OC Richard]

Purely out of interest, at a guess (I won't hold you to it. Promise!) what sort of figures are we thinking about here? $'s or £'s it matters not. Low hundreds? High hundreds? A thousand? Thousands?

It's so hard to predict the "used bagpipe market" because so much depends on the timing, on what specific instruments specific pipers are looking for at a certain time.

Speaking generally, bagpipes from the 1940s through the 1980s, from known Scottish makers, if mounted in Catalin (the stuff that looked sort of like ivory when new, but as it ages turns to a strange burnt orange) go from anywhere between $500 and $1,000 US.

It's because many pipers have a strong aversion to that look.

The same sets if mounted in real ivory will go for much more, around $2,000 perhaps, though many pipers will avoid ivory pipes due to them being illegal to take across International borders. In the USA it's illegal to buy, sell, or possess any item made of ivory. (There's a de minimis exception for musical instruments.)

If a set has Sterling Silver mounts the price goes up too. Sets with plain silver mounts will go for around $2,000 or more and sets with engraved silver mounts might double that price.

The other factor is the maker. Classic Henderson bagpipes will go for considerably more than similar sets by other makers, for example.

[OC Richard]

Those are general things. But about those chalice-top Lawries on Ebay now, perhaps this set will only go for $700 to $1,000.

But I can guarantee those pipes, if sold at the time that Alastair Gillies was making a splash in the piping world playing an identical set, would fetch perhaps twice that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9yZj2IZIis