Michael Dow bellows

[gariwerd]

Hi. I have been looking at the bellows on Michael Dow's website. They certainly look good and he seems to be a specialist bellows maker. The price of them is the highest I have seen for bellows ($600). He says, 'My bellows will power your bagpipes with more comfort and efficiency than the bellows that you now own', and this he says is because they have increased volume and efficiency. Even at that price I would be interested if that is correct. I would appreciate if anybody here with experience of them give could me a 'heads up' as to whether they have found them superior in comfort and efficiency to other makes they have tried?

[Ceann Cromtha]

Hi Gariwerd,

The Dow bellows are solid (built like a Russian truck) and do have a huge capacity. I can't imagine them ever leaking or needing seasoning of any kind. But they are big and after using a set for a few years I decided to go with smaller (Kelleher) bellows because I found it easier to play regulators that way. That said, I needed to make sure that my set was totally airtight and economical in its use of air.

Try to figure out what size bellows you can play comfortably with and then go from there. That'd be my view on it.

Best,
Dan

[bcullen]

I decided to go with smaller (Kelleher) bellows because I found it easier to play regulators that way.

Hi I wonder if you could explain your relationship between regulators an bellows. I am still about a year away before I
connect up regulators and every bit helps
Bryan

[Tom_S]

I bought a set from him recently (you can probably find my feedback on his page). They really are brilliant. I've only tried maybe half a dozen different sets of bellows in my time but I was blown away (almost literally haha) by how good they are. They are what I'd call "large capacity" bellows, pumping a lot of air with not much effort. I would personally highly recommend them.

[Ceann Cromtha]

I decided to go with smaller (Kelleher) bellows because I found it easier to play regulators that way.

Hi I wonder if you could explain your relationship between regulators an bellows. I am still about a year away before I
connect up regulators and every bit helps
Bryan

I just found it easier to access all the keys with a smaller bellows, i.e., my arm felt freer in that regard.

[dyersituations]

I personally don't own Dow bellows, but I have tried a set owned by a local piper. It was a great bellows, though I haven't tried them in a couple years, so I couldn't give any specific input on them. That being said, there are at least two pipers near me who use Dow bellows, and David Power was using what looked like Dow bellows when he was in town. I'm writing more to say that I think a quality set of bellows can be worth the extra money. When I first priced bellows, I was hesitant about spending more money than necessary on bellows, but now that I have a equality priced bellows from a different maker, I would say the money can be worth it depending on the maker, and Dow has a great reputation.

I just found it easier to access all the keys with a smaller bellows, i.e., my arm felt freer in that regard.

That is a good point that it can be harder to play regulators, or even drones with a larger bellows. I guess it depends on body shape and posture. My current bellows are noticeably larger than my previous, and the hinge can get quite close to the drones and regulators. That being said, I've been working on adjusting my posture, probably for the better, and I've been able to play and reach everything just fine without the hinge hitting anything. Like set fitting in general, everyone will experience how sets fit slightly differently.

[gariwerd]

Hi Tom_S. I come to Adelaide every now and then. Would it be possible when I do to pay you a visit and try your bellows?