I know getting a set of pipes is exciting and all, but you really should start on PC. There is a igh dropout rate with learning pipes, and you should take it a step at a time.

Here's what I tell everybody who's thinking of buying pipes: if you're serious, get a high end chanter. You'll be using it for the rest of your piping career (for learning tunes) and if you have a good chanter to start with, you'll be sounding better at the beginning. If you still want pipes after being on chanter for awhile, then get pipes, but I think the biggest mistake piping students make is buying pipes immediately, trying to play them, and giving up because they are too hard.