Okay all, I had no idea where to put this review. I settled on "Kilt Accessories" as pipes are something a lot of people assume we have.

The good:These pipes are absolutely gorgeous. The metal fittings are engraved with knotwork, and are polished beautifully. The bag is airtight. The drones slide easily into place, and they adjust along their tuning fittings just fine. The flap on the blow tube seals tight. The bag cover is beautiful, made of thick tartan.

The bad: The reeds are not the greatest. That's it. Really. I couldn't get sound out of the chanter at all because the reeds weren't quite right, I think.

The other: I was surprised at the weight of these. They don't look quite as heavy as they are. These things are substantial.

I haven't got the air power to play the bagpipes. I know this. I managed, however, to get the drones to sound at one point and they sounded beautiful- the full beautiful sound that I associate with pipes. Of course, then I couldn't keep them playing and the bag inflated because of my lack of lung power and made a noise that my wife said sounded like a sick cow.

Final judgment: These are great for people like me who want to play around with pipes and maybe hang them on the wall, but will never be serious players. I also think that these would be great for serious players who just don't have the cash to invest in expensive pipes yet. I am disgusted with anyone who says that bagpipes must cost a certain amount otherwise they are crap. There should not be a dollar amount that people have to be willing to invest to play the pipes, and those who say that you have to spend x amount of dollars will forever in my mind be dubbed "pipe snobs." I will probably invest in good reeds at some point to play around with these pipes more, because despite the fact that I know I don't have the lung power, I had a lot of fun. These are a great value for the dollar amount that Frugal corner is asking.

If these pipes are "crap" then good pipes have got to be incredible.