The joys and dangers of Ebay pipes

[OC Richard]

Yes sometimes just the silver is worth the price!

As a piper friend said "I had a set of silver remounted with new wood".

[OC Richard]

I just bought a vintage set of Lawries on Ebay.

I hope it will be in the "joy" category!

I'm currently playing an inter-war/pre-1953 Lawrie set that I love. It's got beautiful fat Robertson-like wood projecting mounts and a big bold tone but sadly the bushes are ivory.

In a month our band will be in Scotland, playing at Perth and The Worlds, and I've been trying to figure out what pipes I'm going to take on the trip.

So up pops a nearly identical-looking Lawrie set on Ebay but with Catalin bushes. I made an offer $350 under the Opening Bid price and it was accepted.

The pipes were purchased in Britain around 1955 by the seller's father, and hardly played since. I've messaged the seller to find out whether it was purchased new or used. If purchased new, it would have been in the Donald MacLean of Lewis and Captain Charles Smith (ex-Black Watch Pipe Major) period which began in 1953.

As a bonus, with the pipes is a lovely blackwood Sinclair pipe chanter and an equally lovely David Naill blackwood practice chanter.

It's not common to find a Lawrie of that vintage with all original parts and no missing ferrules.

EDIT: My "new" Lawries arrived! They must have been purchased new. They have 100% of the original factory varnish and there's no evidence of wear.

Here they are with the great-sounding set I've been playing.

The two sets are very close in tone and appearance. All the turnery and combing look identical, as if from the same hand, except for a few things I've spotted

1) the "new" set has wider Tenor drone Cord Guides, which crowds the Fountain slightly, leading the turner to use a narrower combing tool there.

2) the drones are slightly "waisted" on the "new" set, the extra slimness making that set a tad lighter on the shoulder

3) the wood on the "new" set is more brown.

EDIT: besides my two, there are two other Lawries I know of with those big wood mounts.

One was bought at an auction in the UK, it was in the original box "by appointment to the King" so pre-1953.It's fully combed and beaded but otherwise identical.

The other was just brought to my attention this week, an Ebony set probably from the interwar period, pretty much identical to my open-combed ivory-bush set.

[OC Richard]

These are appropriately priced quite low.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/32620407009...ndition=4%7C10

I was working in a Highland Outfitter at the time these were originally purchased (1984) and we were Hardie stockists.

I remember when Hardie introduced this model, their "Number 0". Yes, it was cheaper than their traditional "Number 1" (wood mounts, nickel ferrules, imitation ivory rings and bushes).

We were well familiar with Hardie models from their #1 to their silver & ivory sets. All seemed to have the same quailty wood and craftmanship, very nice combing & beading, nice smooth bores, etc.

The #0 that arrived was a different beast altogether. Bores were rough and there were burrs. They didn't play like the usual Hardies did either. It seemed impossible for them to have been made in the Hardie workshop by the Hardie turners.

Coincidentally around that time I had a chat with Mickie Zekley, owner of the shop Lark In The Morning (rest his soul). He had just returned from a business trip to Sialkot. He had taken with him his magnificent early silver & ivory Hendersons, his mission to find the best Sialkot pipemaker and have them attempt to replicate the Henderson, so that his shop could carry low-cost great-playing pipes.

He told me that he was astonished to find one shop making pipes which they were stamping RG Hardie Glasgow.

[OC Richard]

So why do these Sinclairs have no buyers? https://www.ebay.com/itm/18659353337...ndition=4%7C10

Is it because people are suspicious that they might be Hugh MacPherson pipes?

Oh, I've been burned by that myself!

But these look like Sinclairs to me. I'm probably missing something that Sinclair experts are seeing.

Now these Hendersons are clearly stamped on the drones.

To me the price really isn't all that steep considering the maker and resale value.

But they've been up a few days and nobody has grabbed them. https://www.ebay.com/itm/31562163539...ndition=4%7C10

[OC Richard]

Ian Murray bagpipes, full imitation ivory, Sterling Silver slides, with an astonishingly low $700 Buy It Now.

I don't know anything about Ian Murray pipes. Why are these priced so low? They won't last long, I assume.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/14600748622...=4%7C10&edge=0

[WalesLax]

interesting set - I was going to do a little research, but they were gone/sold by the time I saw this!

Ian Murray bagpipes, full imitation ivory, Sterling Silver slides, with an astonishingly low $700 Buy It Now.

I don't know anything about Ian Murray pipes. Why are these priced so low? They won't last long, I assume.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/14600748622...=4%7C10&edge=0

[OC Richard]

interesting set - I was going to do a little research, but they were gone/sold by the time I saw this!

I figured as much!

I almost hit the Buy-It-Now button myself, and I don't know anything about Ian Murray pipes, nor do I need another set!

I did hit the BIN button yesterday however, a Lochcarron-labelled tweed Argyll jacket in my size for $35.