Chiff and Fipple Forums

"Zarb" from the Bob Dunshire Pipe Forum posted this vid. Unfortunately I'm at work and can't watch it here.
http://youtu.be/nyzaZ2R90C8

Found this video of the reed maker McCallum is using for the pipes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p5JjozyyFw

Apparently, Fred will do the finel tuning for the reeds as stated in the comment for the video on youtube.

maki wrote:"Zarb" from the Bob Dunshire Pipe Forum posted this vid. Unfortunately I'm at work and can't watch it here.
http://youtu.be/nyzaZ2R90C8

Don't even bother. Watching this video/review is like watching Stevie Wonder giving a review for the new Chevy Corvette. Just being honest..

irishpiper wrote:

maki wrote:"Zarb" from the Bob Dunshire Pipe Forum posted this vid. Unfortunately I'm at work and can't watch it here.
http://youtu.be/nyzaZ2R90C8

Don't even bother. Watching this video/review is like watching Stevie Wonder give a review for the new Chevy Corvette. Just being honest..

Well you know what they say in LA...............'Piping ain't easy.'

irishpiper wrote:

maki wrote:"Zarb" from the Bob Dunshire Pipe Forum posted this vid. Unfortunately I'm at work and can't watch it here.
http://youtu.be/nyzaZ2R90C8

Don't even bother. Watching this video/review is like watching Stevie Wonder give a review for the new Chevy Corvette. Just being honest..

Good analogy When I posted the link I think I said the same but with more subtlety. As I mentioned, I do have a sound file but I don't know how to go about posting it. I'll be seeing Fred in a few weeks at the Celtic Arts Foundation winter school in Seabeck, Washington. I'll video Fred playing mine.

Frank

maki wrote: I'll be seeing Fred in a few weeks at the Celtic Arts Foundation winter school in Seabeck, Washington. I'll video Fred playing mine.

Frank

That would be great!! I can't wait to hear how the chanter sounds with a good reed in it and Fred at the Helm. Good stuff!!

[Thread revival. - Mod]

BzzzzT wrote:Found this video of the reed maker McCallum is using for the pipes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p5JjozyyFw

Apparently, Fred will do the finel tuning for the reeds as stated in the comment for the video on youtube.

I made the reeds for Fred at the very start but soon ended as he found a cheaper version?

Surely some sort of automated mass producing of synthetic reeds will also be necessary to enable the business model? If this is successful one massive benefit is the customers will hopefully have access to a robust and long lasting warranty and repair system. At the moment if ‘your’ pipemaker retires you have no-one available with 1st hand knowledge to reed or maintain your set for example.

Did this ever actually get off the ground?
The McCallum Bagpipes website has a section on the Fred Morrison Scottish smallpipes as well as reelpipes, but absolutely nothing about UP. Their Facebook doesn't have any news about this, either.
And Fred Morrison's own site has nothing about the UP.

Yes I wonder why McCallum put the uilleann project on the back burner.

I know a more recent project, coming out with a reproduction of Stuart Liddell's Duncan MacRae Highland pipes, appears to have been very successful. I talked to one retailer a while back who told me "the MacRae pipes are all we've been selling, we can't keep them in stock".

McCallum did a good job getting the look and sound of a vintage pipe. The two tenor drones have different bore specs, which was common in the old days. A guy in my band plays a set and it's a handsome and great-sounding pipe.

https://www.macraebagpipes.com/

RenaissanceGuy wrote:Did this ever actually get off the ground?
The McCallum Bagpipes website has a section on the Fred Morrison Scottish smallpipes as well as reelpipes, but absolutely nothing about UP. Their Facebook doesn't have any news about this, either.
And Fred Morrison's own site has nothing about the UP.

Chatting to Fred on his recent trip to Dublin and the subject came up. He is still selling Uilleann Pipes made by McCallum and he is very much involved. They were originally selling a 1/2 Set but they have now started producing full sets. People are buying them too. I don't think this will be a core product for McCallum. Its more of a word of mouth thing it seems.

Bassdrone wrote: Chatting to Fred on his recent trip to Dublin and the subject came up. He is still selling Uilleann Pipes made by McCallum and he is very much involved. They were originally selling a 1/2 Set but they have now started producing full sets. People are buying them too. I don't think this will be a core product for McCallum. Its more of a word of mouth thing it seems.

I spoke with Fred a couple of weekends ago at his workshop in Mt. Vernon, WA. He said they will be available on his new website, but couldn't say when the new website would be up and running. He had a few sets with him and sold a couple to the students. They looked and sounded pretty great.

Just spoke with a local woman last night who picked up a recently-made McCallum practice set that he had with him at his annual smallpipes workshop in Mt. Vernon.

So yes, he and McCallum are still at it though at this point it appears it is still one of Fred & McCallum's side-hustles, so to speak.

The one McCallum half set I've heard sounded very good indeed.

The thing about MacCallum is that although they are a volume manufacturer, their setup is such that it is very easy for them to do small runs. You load twenty bits of wood into the feed, and tell it to run 19 off GHB chanters and 1 off Morrison Uilleann chanter, and so on. So there's no commercial urgency to scale into a massive operation.

The other thing, of course, is I think they are well aware that if they were to go out all guns blazing with a massive publicity campaign and all the rest of it, it probably wouldn't be seen that kindly in the sitting-down-piping world.

Bassdrone wrote:

RenaissanceGuy wrote:Did this ever actually get off the ground?
The McCallum Bagpipes website has a section on the Fred Morrison Scottish smallpipes as well as reelpipes, but absolutely nothing about UP. Their Facebook doesn't have any news about this, either.
And Fred Morrison's own site has nothing about the UP.

Chatting to Fred on his recent trip to Dublin and the subject came up. He is still selling Uilleann Pipes made by McCallum and he is very much involved. They were originally selling a 1/2 Set but they have now started producing full sets. People are buying them too. I don't think this will be a core product for McCallum. Its more of a word of mouth thing it seems.

I figured that is what would happen, they'd keep this in the background and eventually come out with the full set, once everything is developed.

If this does go through, it'd be nice if flat sets were an option, but I guess we shall have to see, we shan't speak too soon in regards to a solid no or yes.