Pipemaker Tim Britton here, clocking in a little late.
Some of you may be aware that I have made a habit of refurbishing Pakistani made UPs for many years and have worked with one of the two companies who make them, to improve their product for the sake of the unsuspecting customer. I have sold numerous sets like this after altering them to my specs, as well as altering existing sets for customers who bought them elsewhere only to find them unplayable until “fixed” by me. My many customers for these instruments have thanked me profusely for my willingness to offer workable pipes at a price that allowed them to get them at all, or for helping the hapless victims of unscrupulous businessmen.
After much effort I have concluded that the Pakistani craftsmen are not willing and/or able to pay enough attention to detail to make it a satisfying venture on my part. This has as much to do with my own feeling of not liking to invest my energy on such compromised results as it has to do with any objective assessment of them.
Having said that, I feel I have turned many of both models into good sounding instruments. My complaint (after I get done with them) is more with the logistics than acoustics. The key work remains sloppy as well as a plethora of logistical design issues all of which come to bear on the piping experience.
I do not agree with the author of the Pipers’ Review article on most counts. It is clear that he is not knowledgeable or capable as a pipemaker, although as such, he is appropriately similar to the bulk of the readership. I would not recommend anyone in his position blindly playing pipemaker. His position is, of course, understandable and I respect the intent of his valiant efforts. I simply don’t recommend it. His conclusion, stated so unequivocally, that the pipes were a product of confusing plans for flat sets is, IMO, a product of his own lack of understanding. As I have stated in my reedmaking book, most pipers and even pipemakers don’t understand that drones can be made to play absolutely steady. The techniques that make a drone reed play steadily mostly make it play sharper as well. Many drones are made such that it is difficult or impossible to make them play in pitch and unwaveringly throughout normal pressure dynamics. Unless there are more than the two companies making UPs in Pakistan that I’m aware of, I think it likely that he and the pipemaker he consulted don’t fully understand this point.
His conclusion that the chanter throat length was 3/16” too long, again is, misguided. I purposely make my chanters a little longer on the top to accommodate what I feel is a better logistical relationship with my reeds which tend to fit other chanters perfectly with the addition of a small telescopic tubing extension, conveniently acting as a tuning slide as well as maintaining acoustical integrity throughout varying tuning positions. There is so much variability in pipe and reed design that a "discrepancy of this magnitude is par for the course.
It is quite possible that the holes were not place accurately, but if the pipes he altered were ones from Mid-East Manufacturing, the company I worked with, the horizontal hole offset may have been intentional as per my instructions which place the holes more ergonomically than simply straight down the front and back of the chanter, which, in my experience, is not quite how the hands naturally want to sit on the chanter.
Hole placement and size is best done from well-evolved plans rather than trial and error. Lastly, although 400 grit is fairly fine, I don’t recommend sanding bores. Chanter boring can only accurately be done with an appropriate reamer.
For my own part, although I will continue supporting owners of my work wherever it is applied, I am no longer selling refurbished Paki UPs nor will I refurbish existing instruments. My own value judgment is that the companies that have them made and those that sell them, although possibly well intentioned, are not in a position to be responsible to their customers in a way that this instrument demands.
! I love that lady. Such an earnest face! And, er.., this just goes to show how hard it is to re-sell those pipes made in Pakistan.
