Old flat set in South Dublin auction

[Steampacket]

There's an old flat set up for bids in the South Dublin auction on February 8th - 12th, 2023. Lot number 161. Starting bid is €540


https://www.southdublinauction.com/cata ... c-lot-161/

[geoff wooff]

Oooh!
Nice but a huge restoration job. Some might say "why restore it ? Just keep it for the original technical information it contains." BUT, surely a musical instrument is all about making music ?
Description says the mainstock is Rosewood... but looks more like Boxwood to me, which would be normal for the period and the fact that the rest of the set is Box too.

[rorybbellows]

The auction advertised on donedeal , over a thousand views in twenty four hours.
https://www.donedeal.ie/brassandwind-fo ... s/33309029
RORY

[an seanduine]

Oooh!
Nice but a huge restoration job. Some might say "why restore it ? Just keep it for the original technical information it contains." BUT, surely a musical instrument is all about making music ?
Description says the mainstock is Rosewood... but looks more like Boxwood to me, which would be normal for the period and the fact that the rest of the set is Box too.

Geoff, I can´t really say what kind of wood the mainstock is made of, but in one photo it almost appears to be spalted. Or could that be water damage?

Bob

[rorybbellows]

I'm no expert,but there are certain tell tale signs that you have to look out for. You would think if someone was serious about their work they make an effort to correct the obvious signs. But if you look closely you can see the line left by the mould, that apple is fake.
RORY

[Steampacket]

Latest bid is €4400. Any idea who made the set? Could it be a Kenna? Is the apple included with the set?

[Steampacket]

Hammer price €10000! Anyone know who the maker is? Kenna? Coyne?

[billh]

Chanter stamp reads KENNA INVENTOR DUBLIN. If anyone else managed to read that, it may account for some of the fuss. Regs may well be Kenna also… but not in the same pitch, and so IMO this is at least two sets married together. Chanter throat is disconcertingly big even for Kenna (which can run a bit bigger than Coyne). Maybe ok, maybe not, I didn’t measure the whole chanter, just throat and length.

But I think it went for way over the odds. The stock is not original and I have serious doubts about the badly damaged bass drone. The other two drones don’t belong to the set (and the slide is missing). Chanter cap isn’t original either IMO. So very much a mixed bag. I would be concerned that the buyer might not realise that working classic sets change hands for less. As Geoff infers, the funds required to responsibly restore this set (to the extent that is feasible) may surprise even the deep-pocketed successful bidder… ?

All that said, I really hope this set doesn’t disappear from view entirely, as I think there may be much to learn from a careful measurement of the chanter and regulator bores, if they haven’t been meddled with.

And Rory is right, that should really have been a banana

[m4malious]

And, what was that chanter length, for interests sake?
5 apples? or 5 and 1/2?

M

[billh]

And, what was that chanter length, for interests sake?
5 apples? or 5 and 1/2?

M

Good guess: assuming a standard “125” size apple at 2.75”, the chanter is 5.90 apples long; baritone regulator is 5.55 apples long.

And just for the record, no it definitely wasn’t me who bought them

[rorybbellows]

Word on the street is that the set was bought by Mr Patel of the research and development department of the Sialkot bagpipes company. They're hoping to branch out into the world of flat pitched pipes and are going to use the set as their model. Poor Mr Patel unfortunately thought he was bidding in Pakistani rupees so is probably not going to be in his job much longer.
RORY

[Steampacket]

Uilleann harpist Qwop Maguire was spotted outside the South Dublin auction rooms on Monday afternoon with a pipe case. He'd driven down to Dublin, from Ballygob, on his tractor to collect the set. . Tuesday evening, the 14th, he had the set with him at the Ballygob local flat session in the What The Feck bar. Qwop said it took him only 30 minutes or so to reed the whole set, sort out the broken bass drone and get the set up and running. Great sound off of it.

[Eagach]

Anyone know what that extra little thing on the Bass Reg tube in the stock area is ?

[PJ]

Probably a 4th reg. There's a Coyne set with a similar "nub" which held a 4th reg.