And I bought Pakistan made half-set of pipes (For $368, ended up $400 with postage) not knowing the general opinion of them, since the reviews on the sellers site on ebay were all positive.
Having said that, they don't seem too bad. I did not expect them to be crash hot since, y'know, my knowledge of UP's was that I'd have to be earning enough to spend at least $1000 just buying a basic set. I didn't buy immediately, but like I said, my excitement at the prospect of being able to own and finally start learning my dream instrument overwhelmed me. Only since I've got them and started looking for instructions on where exactly the reeds go have I found what kind of mistake I made.
I live out in Australia where there is very little in the way of UP player support or guidance. My intention is to wait until i have a little more money to buy instructional material like the stuff listed in the FAQ. I figured in the meantime I'd just familiarize myself with the instrument a bit more, starting with finishing assembling it. Thing is, my set came with no instructions. Surprise surprise.
It's at least not made mostly out of plastic. It's wood, metal, and real leather, and it all went together pretty well when I put the chanter and drones in. The seals use cotton, I'm assuming that's normal? Unless higher end ones use rubber o rings or something? idk.
It came with reeds, but i have absolutely no idea where to put them in the instrument (Except the chanter reed, which through net searches I found out where to place). I've never owned or played a reed instrument before. The reeds thankfully aren't plastic either, not that I can tell if they're of a decent quality but they seem like they'll work. Once I figure out where they GO that is. (Only reason i figured out how to put together the rest was looking at sets on the web and using my extensive transformer changing knowledge. Who says having a plastic crack habit isn't useful? ).
Here are a few pictures of the set to give an idea of what I'm facing:
My laptop camera is pretty cruddy, but the bag is deffinately real leather. However it seems to be glued, not stitched.
The case is a cheapass thing, but it was listed as a 'free bonus'. Customs actually broke the main straps. Thanks customs. You're so considerate. And you have a great grasp on the purpose of velcro. And yeah I'm going to cut down those velcro straps because they were fine when the parts were wrapped in tissue paper, but on their own the straps are way too long to be practical.
Here are the reeds, minus the chanter reed which i already inserted.
Also i noted a few small cracks in some of the wood, I wasn't sure if that would fatally effect the instrument or not, but from what I've read about pakistan sets so far, the majority of players say they need ridiculous reworks just to function, where some people have said they took minimal adjustment to be functional practice instruments, and I'm not sure which camp my set sits in.
I'd be super grateful for any advice or help anyone would be willing to give me. I'm prepared for the barrage of 'wow you really should have done your research'. I know. I'm usually much more careful with my expensive purchases. File it under having no lovelife and turning my lovestruck stupidity on an instrument rather than a person XD.
Thanks in advance to anyone willing to help
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