Patrick Sky's "Budget" vs. David Daye Penny

[banba]

Thanks again for all the input. This thread has been very helpful at least because now I'm becoming confident that a 1/2 set will probably be the way to go.

If you go for a half set I would recommend getting in touch with Martin Banba Gallen of Strabane, North Ireland. Good prices, very good customer service. I have ordered a set of drones, so cannot comment on quality just yet, but everything seems to indicate that he makes very nice sets at affordable prices.

That Martin Gallen-fellow got me interested. Please let us know about the quality when you have the chance! I did a quick search and it would surely seem like his craft is very decent. Of course he's a modern pipe maker with only a few years of experience, and of what I gathered, he has no musical background with pipess or any other instrument for that matter, previous to when he began making them. But that doesn't necessarily indicate anything negative.

Does anyone of you have first-hand experience of Gallen's pipes? And what does your gut say, would you go with a maker with less experience and lower prices such as him, or is a renowned maker with years and years of experience a must in your opinion?

With reference to this I do have previous experience with music having played since I was seven. I spent a lot of time touring with my father's trad band from an early age. As for the pipes I was also playing them before I became a maker. Prior to pipe making I was an architect. I have six years pipe making experience and have the great fortune to have as close friends Martin Mc Intyre who studied with eamonn Curran under Alan ginsberg and finbar mc laughlin who needs no introduction. I have a great deal of experience and knowledge. I taught myself Reed making and have made more of them than I care to count. I taught myself bellows making and Jackie Boyce taught me how to make bags. I now teach piping and all 12 of my students are happily playing my sets. As someone rightly mentioned my customer service is second to none. My work is not cheap I like to think it's priced fairly and realistically. Any other questions just shout I'm happy to answer.

[pancelticpiper]

No experience with Pat Sky pipes, but I've encountered a good number of David Daye sets, and a couple of the Rogge synthetic practice sets.

Our weather here is hard on uilleann reeds, and many reeds made in Ireland play poorly or not at all here.

I can't remember ever encountering a Daye chanter that didn't work well. By "work well" I mean two in-tune octaves, good hard AND soft Bottom D, good back D that doesn't sink in our dry weather (like most do) good crossfingered C natural, nice accessible high notes. I don't know how many times beginners have shown up with gorgeous wood chanters made in Ireland, the UK, the USA, or Europe, that wouldn't play worth a darn.

The Daye chanters always work.

Yes they're ugly, so if your goal is to look at the thing, the Daye chanter isn't the way to go.

The Rogge synthetic chanters didn't work quite as well, playing a bit harshly especially the high notes. I would think it could be solved with a different reed, but a beginner is probably going to start off with the reed that came with his set.

The things I don't like about the Daye sets are the crude bag, bellows, and stocks. I'd get a nice bag, bellows, and stocks from somebody else if possible, and use the Daye chanter.

[Hooleh]

Thanks everyone for the fresh input again. Ordering a chanter from one maker and the rest of the set form another might be a working solution. Somehow I would still prefer to purchase the whole set while I'm at it. And yes, indeed it wouldn't hurt to send an e-mail to Mr. Anistratov.

I have recently been messaging a pipe maker called Mike Hulme, who is also a member of this forum (thanks again for everything so far, if you're reading this), and whose pipes I'm currently holding under serious consideration. His pipes as well as methods and policies related to them seem very promising. If other users here have any first-hand experience of Mike Hulme's pipes, feel free to share them either in this thread or via private messaging!

With reference to this I do have previous experience with music having played since I was seven. I spent a lot of time touring with my father's trad band from an early age. As for the pipes I was also playing them before I became a maker. Prior to pipe making I was an architect. I have six years pipe making experience and have the great fortune to have as close friends Martin Mc Intyre who studied with eamonn Curran under Alan ginsberg and finbar mc laughlin who needs no introduction. I have a great deal of experience and knowledge. I taught myself Reed making and have made more of them than I care to count. I taught myself bellows making and Jackie Boyce taught me how to make bags. I now teach piping and all 12 of my students are happily playing my sets. As someone rightly mentioned my customer service is second to none. My work is not cheap I like to think it's priced fairly and realistically. Any other questions just shout I'm happy to answer.

Thank you for the clarifying introduction. I might just send you a private message any time soon to inquire more!
And, hopefully needless to say, I didn't mean to offend you with anything that I stated in my post, nor to diminish your musical or pipe making career. Everything I knew about you at that point was what was stated in those news articles or "some stories" that are linked on your home page.

Anyway, as it seems, the reeds and their behaviour in my climate as compared to the climate in which they are made will most likely be the main nuisance and somewhat troublesome regardless of from whom I buy my pipes.
Maybe I'm just overthinking all of this badly and should just go and buy a set already.