Any experience with Timothy Britton?

[Baen]

I'm still looking at different makers, and wondering if anyone has had pipes made by Timothy Britton? I've looked at his website, and done email messages with him a couple of times about what I'm interested in. He seems professional and competent, and willing to work with you on the type of pipes you're interested in having made.

Any feedback on what his pipes are like in terms of sound quality, craftsmanship, ease of playability and maintenance, etc.?

thanks,
Baen

[Antaine]

I have a rebuilt set from him, and his video on reedmaking. His quality control is great, his communication is great. I would highly recommend him.

The only thing I have a complaint about is that his reeds are rather small (no bridle). I find them hard and loud and harsh sounding, but some people like harder reeds so that would totally be your preference. Plus you might through talking to him get a softer reed.

but as far as good communication and getting a good set of pipes I say go for it.

Another maker that I only have a chanter from but am thrilled with it is Bruce Childress. Actually, Bruce was my first choice for a full set, but I decided to go with Tim's rebuilt set for reasons of money and time (Bruce's full set was $3800 with a 1 1/2 year wait, the rebuilt set was $2600 with a 3 month wait) as I am a starving student...

[vanfleet]

Baen;
I've used Tim Britton's pipes exclusively; bought a practice set from him in the 1980's, which lasted me through a couple of years of lessons. I recently bought a newly made practice set via Ebay, and like it even better. Now I have upgraded to a half-set with some drones he made in the 1980's, a deluxe set with extra A drone.
The great thing is his standards of workmanship are very high, and these parts and pieces all fit together to make a nice set of pipes, very well in tune with itself and A 440.
His chanter reeds are very consistent and stable, no need to mess with mine much from December until now. They sound clear and bright, I would not call them mellow, but they are NOT session blasters. For pictures go to:

http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/vanfleet/uilleann.html

[janice]

Vanfleet-I bought that practice set from you in 1990 and recently sold it to a board member when I updated to a half set of Joe Kennedy's pipes....glad to hear you're back playing again!

[vanfleet]

Janice;
Glad to hear they served you well for over a decade, and that you are still advancing in piping! I think another factor in considering the purchase of a new set of pipes is their ability to hold their value, and the demand for second-hand pipes from a maker like Tim Britton says a lot.
JVF

[Bok Choi]

Just chiming in on the praise for Tim's work--I have a hodge-podge practice set of unknown lineage which he has put into great working order, adding one of his reworked Pakistani chanters. I'm really, really pleased with it.

Bok

[Royce]

Baen;
I've used Tim Britton's pipes exclusively; bought a practice set from him in the 1980's, which lasted me through a couple of years of lessons. I recently bought a newly made practice set via Ebay, and like it even better. Now I have upgraded to a half-set with some drones he made in the 1980's, a deluxe set with extra A drone.
The great thing is his standards of workmanship are very high, and these parts and pieces all fit together to make a nice set of pipes, very well in tune with itself and A 440.
His chanter reeds are very consistent and stable, no need to mess with mine much from December until now. They sound clear and bright, I would not call them mellow, but they are NOT session blasters. For pictures go to:

http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/vanfleet/uilleann.html

Tim is one of the great eccentric/hardcore piping bums of the world. Piping is his whole life and there are very few pipers who can say that in both a professional and personal sense. From what I've seen his approach to pipe making is more free-form and artistic than crisp/hard machine edges. His chanters are slim and the blocks and keywork very streamlined and out of your way. I think no two sets of pipes look exactly the same though the same basic forms are used of course.

His reeds are cramped with a belt right at the base of the wrapping and his approach to reeds are such that very small adjustments to pinching this open or closed is all the adjustment you get, or usually, all the adjustment you need. It's pretty much a plug-and-play setup.

He's not a big believer in rushing and taping so he spends a fanatical amount of time designing the chanter and reed so it plays true and at concert base pitch without rushes or tape/wax/bluetac etc.

I thought he had a hold on pipe making so he could do some more playing, but if he's got openings it would be a good choice.

Royce

[Steve Pribyl]

I am learning to play the pipes on a half set of Tim's pipes (w/ the extra "a" drone) which I purchased second-hand. Tim told me he had a background in fine arts, and it shows in the design of his pipes, which are very elegant.
I have owned them for almost two years. In the early days I had numerous questions, problems, etc, as I'm sure all beginners do. Tim has always been quite helpful both on the phone giving advice on setup, reeds, etc, and on the occasions when I needed to send the chanter back for adjustment. He is extremely knowledgable, and always seems willng to share his knowledge.

[mconners]

I had the opportunity to test drive a Britton chanter over the weekend at a trad gathering in Ann Arbor. It was less than a week old and it sounded and played pretty well.

Tim's reeds are different than most everyone's but they do work just fine in his chanters. Different in that he doesn't use bridles, the reed slip itself is thinner than most makers. That makes for a brighter sounding chanter but not overly so.

The chanter I saw did not have any faux ivory or ornate turnings, but very smooth lines. The rest of the set is highly crafted, including a stop valve engaged by rotating the chanter about 1/4 turn, useful if one has drones and/or regulators.

My understanding is that he is working with at least one other individual to make new sets of pipes. IMO if one were considering getting a set of Tim's pipes now would be the time to do so before the wait list gets longer.

I have spoken to him in the past and he is very easy to talk to and will answer any questions you may have. When I spoke to him he offered his advice even though I was not going to purchase one of his sets. How's that for helpful?

I have his reed making book/video and that's how I learned to make reeds for my Roberts chanter. The recipe is a little different (thickness of the slip, using a bridle) but the principles and technique are essentially the same.

All the best.

[Kevin L. Rietmann]

. The rest of the set is highly crafted, including a stop valve engaged by rotating the chanter about 1/4 turn, useful if one has drones and/or regulators.

How does THAT work? Does it smash the reed into the inside of the windcap...?
I know that Tim has made pipes with a stop switch, at the top of the chanter. You turn it and the air is shut off.

[Tony]

Kevin, you must have missed it.
There was talk (with a diagram) of this not long ago. You ROTATE the upper portion of the windcap where the metal (swan neck) meets the wood and there are two holes that line up for the air to pass. If you turn it, the airflow is cut off. somewhere inside is a pin that runs in a groove restricting the travel to less than 90 degrees. You can't see it's a shutoff valve (no cumbersome key) until you rotate the top section.

[Tony]

Kevin...
Is Portland a big city??
Dionys Murphy (who we've been trying to reach) lives in Portland and is listed in the phone book. Will you contact him by phone and see if he's OK?

He mentioned on this forum of owning a Britton set... it might be a good way of introduction to help up out and play his pipes. Kill two birds with one drone.

[Kevin L. Rietmann]

I think Portland's big, but people from your San Francisco or your New York City think we're a bunch of hicks...
I gave Dionys a ring, he's just been off the boards for a while - personal matters; and he's about to take a vacation to Ireland, of all places. I mentioned your concern, he says he might post a quick message before taking off.

[Tony]

I think Portland's big, but people from your San Francisco or your New York City think we're a bunch of hicks....

You probably are


Hey, thanks for making the contact with Dionys!

[Lorenzo]

I think Portland's big, but people from your San Francisco or your New York City think we're a bunch of hicks...
I gave Dionys a ring, he's just been off the boards for a while - personal matters; and he's about to take a vacation to Ireland, of all places. I mentioned your concern, he says he might post a quick message before taking off.

Cool!

Had you ever met him before, or talked to him? How old does he seem to be? Did he mention that he just lives around the corner from you a couple of blocks, and has quite a collection of old pipes, and knows a lot about making reeds, and tried making pipes, and knows Brad pretty well?

That'll be great to hear from him again. Hope he remembers how to log-in under "Dionys" on that old computer!