McCallums/Dunbars/MacLellan/Pettigrew

[pancelticpiper]

A friend has loaned me his Cushings to try.

Doing a drone-by-drone comparison with my ABW Dunbars I found that the tenors were very similar both in timbre and volume.

It's the bass where the Cushings have the big edge. Now, the Dunbars have a fine bass, loud and full as pipes go, but the Cushing bass is not only significantly louder but also less "stuffy", with a clearer voice.

Of course so much has to do with the reeding. In both the Dunbars and the Cushings I tried Wygents, EzeeDrones, and Kinnairds. The Kinnaird bass gave the reediest/most nasal/most higher harmonics tone while the Wygent gave the tubbiest/roundest/smoothest/least higher harmonics tone (while still being loud). The EzeeDrone bass was in the middle.

Combining the Wygent bass with Ezee tenors in either set of drones gives a big warm round sound. Using all Kinnairds in either set of drones gives a bold tone full of higher harmonics. Either way the Cushings have a considerably bigger overall presence due to the stronger bass.

[texaspiper1987]

Interesting to note. Now what I'm curious about is the finer details of how Cushing pipes are made (properly seasoned wood? threaded mounts?)

By the way, I just had the opportunity to play a set of MacPhersons. Great sounding pipes!

[pancelticpiper]

Those are good questions. I don't know if Cushing's mounts are threaded, or how he seasons his wood.

The set that's on loan to me is full plain silver mounted. The combing and beading is very nicely done, the blackwood is attractive and has a nice finish on it, perhaps French polished (no thick varnish slapped on like some makers do).

While I have them I'm going to measure up the bass and see what the dimesions are compared to classic Henderson specs etc.

Anyhow I played the Cushings at some length yesterday (McCallum band chanter with Ross reed) and I found that even with EzeeDrone reeds the Cushing drones were amazingly full and gave tremendous support to the chanter. The drones really come alive when B and E are played and I found myself really enjoying tunes in the key of D. Strangely the note F is not supported as well as it is with Henderson drones....Hmmmm....

[texaspiper1987]

Hey sjcavy, have you had the opportunity to try a cane bass in your Macs yet? You'll be surprised, I promise you!

[sjcavy]

Not yet! I have to get my hands on some higher quality cane reeds first. Everything I have here is kinda blech.

[texaspiper1987]

That can be a bit of a problem. Personally, I like Shawn Husk's reeds. Good, hard cane, and not as much fuss as I've had out of other cane reeds in the past.

http://www.huskreeds.com

[sjcavy]

i might give em a try!

[jake315]

I'm using Henderson Harmonics with carbon tongues. They work fantastic!

[projektio28]

This is a great thread! I've learned so much from reading everything here. I might very well have to look at getting a custom MacLellan set of GHB in the not-too-distant future. My Gibsons (with MacCallum chanter) are all well and good, but I'm to the point where I'd like a good looking set too!

Plus I think getting my hands on a "466" chanter would be helpful for playing in a rock band setting when needed. I can never get my current chanter to tune close enough to the dang geetars!

Matt

[highland-piper]

I'll second the suggestion for Shawn Husk's cane drone reeds, especially for the bass. I put in the tenors, but to me the difference in sound between those and my Kinnaird reeds was pretty minimal.

The bass makes a difference though. But some days it doesn't seem to want to go. Especially if it's cool and wet out. I keep a synthetic reed in my pipe case that I can swap out if the cane is problematic.

I have a McCallum McC2 ABW chanter that I play solos with. I got it after my teacher and a band mate each got one. I think I like my instructor's 20+ year old Naill even better, but I figure the odds of finding another that sounds as good are pretty low.

Regarding rock-band chanters, you might want to check into the low A = 440 chanters that EJ Jones makes. He makes them specifically with cross-fingering in mind, so you can play those extra notes, like C natural, F natural, and G sharp.. Getting drone reeds that pitch at 440 might be tricky for some, but MG makes those 440 extenders that work with their drone reeds. You can hear EJ's chanters on his recordings with both Clandestine (just the CD called ReD) and Teribus.

[sjcavy]

I play in an ACDC Tribute band, and Roddy MacLellan's regular chanter tunes quite nicely to 470hz which is what that band tunes to.....just a thought.