2 new Brad Angus sets are on sale on Ebay, a standard full set in B, copied from Coyne: ebony, brass, with boxwood mounts, and a copy of a John Egan 18th century full set: 4 drones (standard 3 plus A/G drone, contrary to the given description, 1 regulator, keyless chanter, boxwood and brass with mammoth ivory mounts. Brad will throw in an extra reed if you send him an R. Lee Ermy coffee mug, or 2 ounces of Gawith “Squadron Leader” pipe tobacco.
Maybe.
He’ll laugh when I tell him I told you guys that… 
“You are not pipers, you are pukes. You are the lowest form of life on earth. You are not even human f*ing beings! You are nothing but unorganized grabasstic pieces of amphibian sh!”
I’ve played both of these sets, and like everything Brad makes they RULE! Calling ALL impatient Geoff Wooff fans!
Wow, those are strong words, Kevin… is Brad that cantankerous? haha!
You know, I think each person has their own inner ideal of the sound that they like the most… that perfect sound, and there are distinct variations. I am extremely fond of Froment’s pipes and think they come closest to my ideal… well, at least when O’Brien plays them. They have that ringing that seems just right. On the other hand, Kirk Lynch is making some really extraordinary pipes that have a very rich sound to them, quite on a par with Froment.
Granted, an experienced piper can do a lot with a good set of pipes…
What is it about Angus’ pipes that you like so much? Are they, or do they come closest to your ideal sound?
Here’s the boxwood set:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2549793451&category=16226
Someone already snached up the B set with the buy-it-now feature
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2549793292&category=16226
Kevin, other than having played them, are you connected to the sale of these sets in any way?
“This is my chanter. There are many like it, but this one mine…”
BTW the boxwood set is awfully pretty. Looks like a C or C#.
How does a set look like a C or C#? 
The description says it’s a D that can play in Eb.
Stuart
The proportions are similar to the ca. 1760 Egan set on Davey Stephenson’s site. I ought to read the description next time.
Lighten up, Stu 
I’m light! I’m light!
Seriously light.
I guess I was teasing you a little because even though the set’s all Egan-boxy, the chanter looks teeny-tiny to me.
Stuart
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I WILL demand a fee. Maybe the temporary use of a folding chair, or a cup of tea.
Brad’s not cantakerous at all! No! Well…
The above is dialogue from the movie “Full Metal Jacket,” with RLee Ermy as Marine Gunnery Seargant Hartman, who has lots of helpful advice for his trainees like “WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION, NUMBNUTS?” That’s him in the little picture next to my posts. We’re big fans.
The “Egan” copy can play in Eb if you’re so inclined, it’s tolerant of playing in a higher pitch. Good that the B sold so quickly, this is the time of year when things slow down in general, I’m told-post taxes, and people spending money on summer vacations et al.
What do I like about Brad’s pipes? I already told you-they RULE! The best sets of pipes I’ve heard are all flat sets-Ennis, Reck, Leo Rowsome playing that Coyne Bb (where the hell did those wind up?), Wooff (Harrington), Hannon (on his album, and tapes from the late 70s/80s-I don’t hear the same glorious brrzzzz out of the drones anymore). Big bores rarely have as grand or beautiful a sound, to me. Wooff’s best pipes sound like that, rich and full of character. Now I’ve played a few Wooff sets, and seen a lot of them-and Brad makes a product that is every bit as good in tone, tuning, craftmanship, playability.
Simply to focus on craftmanship for a second - These old flat pipes are classic examples of 18th and 19th century woodwind manafacture-the tapers, lines in the mounts and ferrules, the proportions of keys, blocks, metalwork. If you begin to associate that with what a set of pipes SHOULD look like, a lot of what’s being made now just doesn’t look as good, apart from the whole issue of casting keys or using brass tube for ferrules. Why go down these roads when you could make a Coyne set? Brad figures if he bought tubing and cast the keys he could make a full set in 2 weeks instead of 3-why bother? Of course, some makers take 3 years to build a practice set…
And they’re tuned up great, sound glorious, very stable. He doesn’t bother with wide bore D anymore-they kept coming back! The flat pipes mostly take care of themselves. One customer, who’s been into pipes for quite some time, called up recently, something was wrong. “What happened?” “They work. New pipes aren’t supposed to work!” And Brad works round the clock on this stuff, too. He’s as dedicated as anyone out there, and can’t stand it when someone finds fault with what he’s built.
So, that’s my 2 cents about Real Angus Beef.
One last thing-I can’t think of how many people, upon hearing narrow bore pipes like these, lost all interest in the noisy variety. Give 'em a try, but you might not come back!
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So YOU’RE the guy!
Hey, congratulations. Like I say about everything that comes out of his shop: Wish I had one. (I already have 2…) Be sure to show 'em off a lot, see what that Hannon fellow thinks if you get a chance.
Another supporter of Brad, I have known him for years and own 2 of his narrow D chanters. He has done wonderful restoration work for me on old pipes as well. He cares very much for his customers and is committed to making the best possible old-style looking and sounding pipes. I have played a few of his sets and they are as close to the sound, appearance and playability of the old sets as you can find these days. His J. Egan copy for sale on ebay is a wonderful little bagpipe. He has used detailed information from at least 3 original sets like this to build an instrument true to the 1780 form of the Union pipes. Mark
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Sean,
Why didn’t you list the Britton practice set on C&F ??
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He’s changed the way the keys are built a couple times in his career. Early sets had that type of key; his chanter keys have round pads standard now. I think. The round keys are nice that you can set them into the body of the chanter, and spring them a bit more firmly. (You’ll see what I mean!)
Notice also how the D middle reg and G and A bass reg keys “nose-dive” into the block. This was one of the old boys’ tricks, a nice touch, and difficult to do correctly. Brad’ll go on for hours about little details like this! And most of it picked up from looking at pictures, mind you.
Kevin
I think there’s a bit of a hype here. Brad makes Angus sets and not Wooffs.
Geoff sent him a few drawings and that’s just about as far as it went. Or so he said just now.
I did play Caoimhin O Raghaillaigh’s [Geoff’s apprentice] first Cset this week. Now there’s a set that can be compared with those made by the man himself. And still come out of the comparison looking well.
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