I’m passing on the elegant, ever sonorous B 3/4 set that I’ve had for the last couple of years…
The set is soon to be meeting it’s maker. Joe Kennedy will be giving it a good going over to get it on tip top condition and then selling it for whatever he’s charging for a B 3/4 set these days.
I must stress that I am very happy with this set but have decided that I want C sharp as my ‘not D’ pitch. I’ll use the sale of this set to buy regulators for the C sharp half set that I have (also made by Joe… and very nice too).
Joe will have the set and is handling the sale, you can contact him by email at:
Joe’s been having some fun with e-mail from some anti-spam software his ISP has implemented (I wonder if this is the same reason for e-mail problems reported on other threads lately?). If your e-mail to Joe bounces back try phoning him instead: (519) 537-8471
I should have mentioned that the set is in Ebony, boxwood and brass and that the chanter is fully keyed (that’s FULLY keyed inc. E flat key, chanter stop key…).
I had the good fortune of playing this set last summer at Willie Week and can affirm that she is a beauty! Whoever get’s her will be a very lucky individual.
The pipes didn’t come with a case and the case shown is not included in the sale.
The set will not have those bellows, Joe will be making a new set of bellows for them. I’m sure he will be open to requests on the materials used for these if a buyer gets in there quickish. The bellows pictured are of bird’s eye mapel.
I’m curious. I’ve not yet seen a bellows hinged like that, and I can’t really tell from the photo… How is it hinged… the big metal wazzoo isn’t there, neither is a big ole strap of leather (over the cheek edges)
I’m sure that Joe would be delighted to take an order for a bass reg although it would take some time as you can understand, not a bad way to place an order though. I’d love to see it mature to a full set myself.
The bellows have a similar metal hinge as those pictured above. The arm strap is a double thong which loops around the back of the bellows to secure… I’m not sure I know where the bellow’s ‘cheeks’ are, I imagine they should be in the vacinity of the thong though???
Lorenzo, I love the response of the C sharp chanter. Just enough sophistication and violence blended there for me. A gentleman really shouldn’t push it any higher in pitch than this IMHO. I’m thinking of the difference between a good old ‘civilised’ bout of pugilism and an L.A. race riot.
Just kidding, I don’t support violence in an ITM context at all… except in bodhran playing where it is unavoidable of course.
Joe’s concert D sets are largely whatever you like. He builds to suit. He prefers to build something in between a wide bore honker and a small bore, trying to find a happy balance between loudness and sweetness of tone. He has made sets from cocobolo or ebony, with a few meanderings into other woods from time to time. Brass or nickel-silver as you choose. As many keys as you choose. Trim of boxwood or faux ivory as you choose. Its very much customized to what you want.
Joe tells me he’d be happiest just making flat sets, but that there isn’t enough of a market for these to make a living. D sets are still his bread and butter.
You’ll be able to look at the concert set that I have coming from Joe in September, John. It will be his latest design.
I’m looking forward to trying them myself. I have been encouraged by recordings of the chanter design that Joe has been sending me. The D set that I’m getting will have the old school style chanter-top-tied-directly-into-bag set-up(it will have a means of detatching the whole chanter as well though I am told). I was talking with Wilbert Garvin and he reckons that this method of chanter attachment has quite distinct tonal advantages…discuss
For what it’s worth, GHBs have the stock tied directly into the bag. In recent years, moisture control systems that require an internal tube to be attatched to the stock have become popular. Any experienced piper will till you that these tubes cause problems with reeds, particularly on some top hand notes. I’ve experienced it myself: I had to ditch a perfectly good reed after I installed one of these systems.
