The joys and dangers of Ebay pipes

[OC Richard]

And speaking of undervalued pipes, here's a 1985 Kintail set for $525 no bidders.

My current Pipe Major plays a lovely set of silver & ivory Kintails of this vintage and they sound great. That Bass drone fills the room!

Yes one stock is cracked. That sort of thing never bothers me, in fact one of the vintage sets I now play came with no stocks at all. I picked up a set of vintage ABW stocks and I was good to go.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/27636287222...ndition=4%7C10

[OC Richard]

This set is amazing, not in a good way.

It's the Frankenpipes of all Frankenpipes.

Quite a bit to unpack, but happily the seller has provided lots of clear photos.

There's one Lawrie stock, and the chanter is Lawrie, missing its sole.

The Bass bottom looks vintage, as does one of the Tenors.

But most of the set is Pakistani.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/12645703088...ndition=4%7C10

[OC Richard]

Here's one of those grab-your-popcorn things, a vintage silver & ivory set.

The sliver looks like Frederick Narborough/Dalman & Narborough, but without a closeup of the hallmarks who can say.

It could even be non-hallmarked German Silver mounts.

As to maker I don't know. The ivory projecting mounts look big but perhaps not Robertson big.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/20479454361...ndition=4%7C10

[Toxpert]

Note, the seller is basing his identification using the Henderson stamp on the practice chanter.
What the picture show is that this set of pipes are non-Henderson pipes from when the company jobbed out work. This was at the end of Henderson prior to the family selling the company to RG Hardie. These sets pop up every now and then.
Buyers get all upset when they find out their investment is not a real Henderson.
This set has the Lawrie attributes that Ringo points out and illustrates on his museum website. Look for When a Henderson Isn’t a Henderson.
The beading and combing pattern on this set harkens directly to Lawrie. As for tone…I will leave that for others to comment.

For the person looking for a vintage Henderson set of pipes…this is not the item to purchase. This was a bad period for Henderson at that point in time.

[OC Richard]

I heard back from the seller who sent me a large number of great photos.

The drones are stamped "Henderson" just under the cord guides (just as Kintail did).

The silver is fully hallmarked, "F.N" (Frederick Narborough) with the Birmingham anchor, English lion, and Date Letter for 1964.

I'll guess this set goes for well over $3,000.

According to Highland Bagpipe Makers Greig Sharpe was the shop manager from 1961 to 1971.

The book says that when Greig left to found Kintail in 1971 pipemaking at Henderson ceased.

According to the book Henderson sold pipes made by Lawrie from 1971 to 1973, at which time RG Hardie bought out Henderson.

[Toxpert]

This one is a cautionary tale in the making.
Check out Ringo’s website for Henderson stamps when pipes are not Henderson specs. https://www.thebagpipemuseum.com/the...derson-or-not/
The ebay pipes do not line up with Henderson specs. The tenor tops are a giveaway with only a total of 4 beads and the Lawrie Classic scribe line on the blank.see here for Ringo’s reference
https://i0.wp.com/www.thebagpipemuse...1%2C1000&ssl=1

Yeah…the silver and ivory are worth the coin…but not the pipes. The wood is not made to Henderson specs….inside or out. Chances of these pipes sounding like Henderson is a gamble I would not take.

Long story made short….the buyer is will get some quality silver and ivory and a set of pipes stamped Henderson that are not made by Henderson,

[Toxpert]

Follow up comment….
Someimes, you can find some real deals on eBay bagpipes. If you do not know your subject matter….you can get burned.
Are these Greg Sharp era Henderson, Lawrie-made?
I feel sorry for whomever buys this eBay set of non-Henderson pipes. The Henderson stamp appears on pipes in at least 3 instances: made by; sold by; forgeries. The last 2 categories of Henderson-stamped pipes have been around for years and more will continue to pop up…and unsuspecting buyers will be taken.