Opinion on a good first pipe

Brian Lee · Post by **Brian Lee** » Thu May 30, 2002 10:04 pm

Tony,

Interesting about our Dear Mr. Sloan. I asked him very directly about regs not six months ago, and he mentioned "he had no time to work on designing them"...and that he'd "only offer practice and half sets for the forseeable future."

I ordered my full set from Seth Gallagher due to the fact that Ray wouldn't make a full set. I never expected to play the regs with a huge amount of proficiency mind you, but I was turned off by his answer. Seemed to me that if he wasn't interested in making a full set, the amount of effort put into his other sets might be questionable.

Nothing personal against him as a person, just made me raise an eyebrow. Seems now he's changed his mind however. Funny though why he would have lied to me about the development of the regs. I only asked if he had any plans to add them to his sets in the future. But whatever I suppose.

B~

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Fri May 31, 2002 4:52 am

Brian,
I remember how annoyed you were. It's possible the number of requests pushed him over the edge to start working on regulators now in order to maintain future business for those who would go elsewhere for full sets.
There's no telling how long he's actually been developing regs. I suppose he could reverse engineer something that already works and not waste any time on research & development.

CoyneLover · Post by **CoyneLover** » Fri May 31, 2002 6:24 am

I for one couldn't be enticed in any shape or form to purchase anything from Mr. Sloan.

#1. I agree wholeheartedly re: his personality. Quite honestly, If I'm going to be playing something as personal and intimate as a hand crafted instrument...then I would really prefer a relationship of some form with the maker..at least respect. All my dealings with him have tasted sour to say the least

#2. He's got too many irons in the fire. He's a perfect example of a craftsman who has tried to market his skills (as a wood-turner/metal worker) too aggressively. He observed the market and offered as many products as possible. In this case he capitalized on the desire for UP's.

#3. I'm not aesthetically fond of his work. His UP's look like clumsy NSP's

#4. And why make such a serious investment (they are expensive) in an instrument when you have no way to upgrade to a full set?

Just my opnion, mind you. MANY people report they have been/are very satisfied with their Sloan pipes!

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Fri May 31, 2002 7:26 am

CL, if the pipes play great and the price is great and they reed well and you can get them fairly quickly... aesthetics can easily become less important.
Knowing his pipes can't be upgraded is no secret either. Typically their purchase is a good starting point and the set becomes a spare or sold when the 'custom' set arrives.
I'm not defending Sloan, he's running a business and it's possible to purchase a good quality instrument from a maker without getting personally connected to the whole process. This doesn't detract from the quality of the pipes.
Look at it this way... you can buy many high quality band instruments and not have a relationship with the maker.
There are choices though and if having an ongoing relationship with your pipemaker is necessary you've got many good ones globally to choose from.

John Mulhern · Post by **John Mulhern** » Fri May 31, 2002 10:19 am

I bought John Allison's Ray Sloan Practice set about a year ago, (Hi, John!), and have loved 'em ever since. I have a precision machining background & their construction quality level seem's quite high. I would recommend them to anyone.
Re: Mr. Sloan's reluctance to develop regulator's. Why is that being viewed as a bad thing? In this world of reverse-engineering someone elses designs, and frequently completely missing the target objective, (Pakistani clone's being sold on Ebay being a fine example), why is his reluctance to prematurely market a product before the engineering is fully worked out a bad thing?

KenWolman · Post by **KenWolman** » Sun Jun 02, 2002 9:37 pm

The received wisdom is that local makers are indeed the way to go. However...you get the taste in your bloodstream for these things, then someone tells you to sit back for upwards of two years--and like the people marooned in Rick's Cafe Americain in Casablanca who hunger for the Lisbon plane, you wait...and wait...and wait.

Ask the man who finally owns 'em...it's painful, the whistle isn't a real substitute, and you will go to almost any lengths to get them. I ended up purchasing from Charles Roberts in Sligo. Here is the free plug:

http://homepage.tinet.ie/~robertscharles/

No, he's not local unless you consider County Monmouth in New Jersey an extension of Ireland. And even there, I had a few bitter lessons in my Americanistic "I want it yesterday" attitudes when it came to delivery times. I became a bit annoyed, shall we say, with a few delivery date slippages when I should have held my tongue. As it turned out, the practice set took from early February until mid-May to get here. That, as I've been told, is roughly from breakfast to lunch on the Irish calendar:-).

Now, does this mean that Charles has preassembled pieces laying about? Maybe. I don't know enough about uilleann pipe making to have a clue about his work methods. I am guessing when I suppose that a bag and bellows are pretty much the same, and that the work involved centers around the chanter and getting the reed made to order. Well, Roberts made the reed the way I needed it--for someone in a damp climate with some rotator cuff injuries and bursitis. I don't have to kill myself to get sounds out of the thing.

If/when I achieve sufficient facility with the practice set, and the money's there, I will gladly order drones from Charles.

Oh...new people like myself...your best friend if you're not near a teacher is an instructional tape such as the one that NPU issues. Since I was 9, I have played clarinets and saxophones, and more recently the Irish flute and tinwhistle...and nothing compares in difficulty to the uilleann pipes. For all that, it's a hell of a lot of fun.

[ This Message was edited by: KenWolman on 2002-06-02 23:44 ]

Bretton · Post by **Bretton** » Mon Jul 01, 2002 5:20 pm

On 2002-05-24 23:07, Paul wrote:
Hi! reagrding a first pipe, you may want to try a polyacetyl (precision machined) practice set from Andreas Rogge of Germany. It is quite easy to play (in other words it sounds really seriously good most of the time) and is quite affordable. I love mine. The only downside is that it is not upgradeable later as it is only intended as a practice set. The price, however, makes up for that. If you ask around I promise that you will find that This is really a fine instrument and well worth the money. (PLUS NO WAIT!) Anyway- good luck and good piping!

Paul Light

Does anyone else have experience with Andreas Rogge's polyacetyl practice set?

I've been reading through most of the old postings and have just about decided on getting one of the above. They look well made in the photos. I'm not too worried about not being able to upgrade it later, but I do want something that sounds nice.

Are there any other good prctice sets for around the same price? Most that I came across were between $900-$1400 and the Rogge set is only about $650.

Thanks for any info.

-Brett

dirk · Post by **dirk** » Mon Jul 01, 2002 8:48 pm

I got to see a penny chanter for the first time about three months ago, and I was really pleasantly surprised by it. It played well in tune, and it had a nice tone, and a good reed. So, if you don't want the long wait, check out David Daye's Penny Chanter practice set. They are also reasonably priced. Here's his web site:
http://daye1.com/pennychanter.html

LKtz · Post by **LKtz** » Mon Jul 01, 2002 11:15 pm

Does anyone else have experience with Andreas Rogge's polyacetyl practice set?
-Brett

I'm right now borrowing my teacher's chanter, which is made by Rogge. I really like it. It is very perfessional looking and sounds great. The fingure holes are very easy to feel (I noticed on some chanters you can barely feel the holes which makes it hard, atleast for me, to know whether you are completely covering them). I wouldn't be discouraged about a Rogge set just because they don't cost an arm and a leg to buy. When I finally buy a practice or half set, I am definatly looking into Rogge. Hope this helped.

Well, my .02 cents.

Caryn

Scéalta · Post by **Scéalta** » Tue Jul 02, 2002 2:00 pm

About the Rogge Delrin set:

I just recieved a low D from Colin Goldie, who spoke very kindly of Andreas Rogge's pipes. I suppose they might have even met up since they both live in Germany...

Considering all the replies I've seen, I'll probably be ordering a Rogge Delrin set quite soon.

Any tips on the care of the set?

-S-

dirk · Post by **dirk** » Tue Jul 02, 2002 5:20 pm

On the himidity issue: Here in Colorado, the winter can get as low as 5% humidity, and it rarely gets as high as 30 - 40% in the Summer. I keep my half set next to a humidifier in the winter. Shrinking wood can be a problem here. I have done well by wiping the end of the drone stock with linseed oil, so that it soaks into the wood. I have to keep an eye out for cracks.
I find that a reed that plays well in Colorado won't play well in higher humidity - and vise versa. If you get a good reed for your climate, then it will always play best at that humidity level.

dirk · Post by **dirk** » Tue Jul 02, 2002 5:32 pm

There is a Rogge full set in Colorado, and it plays very nicely - and it's beautiful. I think someone here has a delrin Rogge practice set also, and it also does very well. The delrin will be easier to care for.
If Finland is anything like Colorado, you should learn to make reeds as soon as you can.

psychih · Post by **psychih** » Wed Jul 03, 2002 2:45 pm

I found this thread very interesting, as I am planning to venture into the piping world in the future (when I have saved enough money)

The Rogge delrin practice set sounds very affordable..at 625 Euros. But it's a pity that it's not able to be upgraded.

LarryM · Post by **LarryM** » Fri Jul 05, 2002 11:33 am

[ This Message was edited by: LarryM on 2002-12-13 17:48 ]

Scéalta · Post by **Scéalta** » Mon Jul 08, 2002 12:43 am

On 2002-07-02 19:32, dirk wrote:
If Finland is anything like Colorado, you should learn to make reeds as soon as you can.

I'd say we come pretty close in terms of climate. We have huge differences in summer and winter temperatures, not to mention varying humidity levels. The temperature is now at it's peak, about +26 degrees Celsius (about 78 deg. Fahrenheit), and very high humidity levels because of constant but irregular rain. But say six months from now, it'll be -26 degrees Celsius (abt. -14 deg. F.) and VERY dry.

I've already heard from two guys that have cracked their wooden flutes over a very short period of time, and a piper friend of mine has problems with his reed...

Is reed-making very difficult? Or is it learned through 'trial and error'?

-S-