Holy macaroni,have you raided a museum or something.Its like a who's who of famous pipemakers. I think I see Kenna,Harrington,coyne,egan and Taylor

RORY

Ronan?

The owner of this hoard obviously lives in an extinct volcano somewhere in the South Pacific, travels to Willie Week via submarine and steals valueable sets by jumping from bridges onto speeding trains, substituting the pipes of sleeping travellers with boxes of Black Magic.

Mssrs. O'Connor and Boyle will be feeling most neglected...



(Boy, talk about yer wild weekend...)

Was it the NPU tionol Bill? There's the Colgan and is that TWO Kenna sets? Is one a more recent copy of the other or are they both originals?

Patrick.

Whatever it was, I wasn't there... just sayin', must have been some weekend, from what I see. Yes, *two* James Kenna sets, it seems. Ironically enough, no Coynes in the bunch that I can see - a Colgan though!

Yeah, two Egans, two Kenna's, a Harrington, a Colgan and a Taylor... not bad for an afternoon's work I does be thinkin'

Patrick.

oops, my bad - there is a Coyne (chanter) in there...

JOBM's personal collection

Now, whenever I hear the reel, Craig's Pipes, I'll think of this photo.

My Geoff Wooff full set in D. Ebony, ivory and brass.

My Franken-Set:

Chanter of my own manufacture, Brisbane,Australia; drones by Eugene Lambe, Co. Clare, Ireland; Kangaroo Skin Bag by Malcolm McLaren, Brisbane, Australia; Bag cover by me and my wife, Brisbane, Australia; Pupilows (on Loan) by Denis Crowley, Cork, Ireland; bellows by CJ Dixon, Canadia; Blowpipe by Adrian Jefferies, formerly of Brisbane, Australia; Chanter top goose-neck blow pipe (not in picture) by Malcolm McLaren, Brisbane, Australia.

I recently paid a visit to pipemaker Nick Whitmer, in Ithaca, NY. Nick made my full set from 2005 to 2008. Since 2008, I'd been thinking of adding a G drone and an E regulator to my set. Nick accepted the challenge and on Saturday fitted the new drone and regulator to my set. Here are some photos of my pipes as they now are:







A closer look at the G drone switch:



The G drone adds a lovely tone to tunes in G - it sounds similar to Northumbrian pipes when the bass drone is shut off and the G is played with the tenor and bari drones. I'm going to work the E regulator into a bunch of tunes. Sound files will be posted shortly.

A very big THANK YOU to Nick for his excellent workmanship, not to mention his hospitality during my visit to Ithaca. The challenge before me is to do justice to the fine instrument he has crafted for me.

I don't see a switch for the G drone. Do tell.

t

The switch is made of blackwood and is on the "inboard" section of the G drone.