Is Alain Froment unique

[rorybbellows]

We see plenty of pictures of pipes on this forum in various different threads.and one thing I,ve noticed is that every maker,even the makers of the past,had slight variations to the appearance to their pipes .They maybe used different materials or different
shapes to the mounts

But Mr Froment apart from a few early sets made in brass makes all his concert pitch sets identical !! and I believe he does not entertain any requests to do anything differently

I think Mr Froment is the only pipemaker alive or dead who you can say that of

True or False ?????

RORY

[josh perkins]

And so starts the stopwatch.......

[misterpatrick]

All three of my Froment sets are very different. Each has it's own distict look and sound.

Oh wait, I don't have any Froment sets. It was just a wonderful Christmas dream.

[Steve Turner]

I have a Froment concert pitch full set, and I know a few other guys who also own them. As such, I've had the opportunity to observe that there are differences between sets made a few years apart. The obvious differences are tiny comestic details such as the way he makes the sound box on the bass drone etc. However, the quality of his work seems to be the most consistent factor....apart from the small cosmetic details, all the sets I have seen seem to play and be made very well.

Also, I seem to remember seeing pictures of a Froment set which sported 5 regulators, made as a 'special' for a particular customer

[Joseph E. Smith]

But Mr Froment apart from a few early sets made in brass makes all his concert pitch sets identical !! and I believe he does not entertain any requests to do anything differently

I think Mr Froment is the only pipemaker alive or dead who you can say that of

True or False ?????

RORY

What are you founding your suggestions on? Rory, I get the distinct impression you are trying to piss me off... and it is working.

[rorybbellows]

But Mr Froment apart from a few early sets made in brass makes all his concert pitch sets identical !! and I believe he does not entertain any requests to do anything differently

I think Mr Froment is the only pipemaker alive or dead who you can say that of

True or False ?????

RORY

What are you founding your suggestions on? Rory, I get the distinct impression you are trying to piss me off... and it is working.

Just get off my back will you Joe .This is a fair question based on the fact that I,ve seen quite a number of Froment sets ( steve scales- louise mulcahy- dave hegarty -and others but I dont know the owners names)and they all have been identical. I have also seen quite a number of photos of froment sets on this forum and again identical.
So I refer you back to my orginal question


RORY

PS I am starting to think you are picking on me for some reason Joe .Why is that

[Kevin L. Rietmann]

Agree with rory here, Froment sets look much alike. Nothing wrong with that. Dave Power told me had to push Alain to make his C set in nickel silver.

[Uilliam]

Respect Ma Authority....
Merry Xmas
Slán Go Foill
Uilliam

[Kevin L. Rietmann]

No Way Dude!

[snoogie]

Man, there's a lot of weird threads on here lately...I just checked and its not a full moon.

You guys seem to have way too much time on your hands...so why don't you watch this...

http://www.shetline.com/java/moonphase/moonphase.html

and wait for the next full moon to occur.....meanwhile, I'm going to go watch Its a Wonderful Life and play some chunes on the pipes.

See ya.
-g

P.S. Rory, if you don't understand why your question is inflamatory, then you'll never understand why Joe is "on your back" (which I don't believe he is)

[Lorenzo]

Some possibilities here. There's a chance that once you've figured out what works best for pipes, they're all going to have similar characteristics--at least to the casual observer. For example, why would they usually be ebony and stainless.

But the serious student would want to take a closer look. Why do some of the maker's sets have reg keys styled after Harrington, while other don't. Why do some have a looped bass drone, others being straight or H'd. Why do some have an extra drone or reg while others don't. Why do the maker's sets all have coiled springs under the levers, or why does the maker put a sleeve in the stock where the drone or reg inserts. Why is there an adjustable tuning pin stop threaded on the cap. Why is the stainless rush threaded onto the tuning pin. Or, why is the blow pipe threaded with stainless into the bellows.

So, the answer to why one makers sets look, and are, so much alike is because maybe this maker has taken all the time and effort of a watchmaker to make the set run good with the highest quality. And, to see that it sets on the lap comfortably with natural and easy access to individual regs.

[glands]

Why...let's also ponder why all violins made by A. Stradivarius look the same???

[Lorenzo]

Great point, Glands, Strads can all get kind of boring to look at. There needs to be more diveristy in violins!

[Uilliam]

Great point, Glands, Strads can all get kind of boring to look at. There needs to be
more diveristy
in violins!

Frae another thread...
Kevin King wrote:
I,ve heard of some musicians giving there instruments names
kevin



This umbrella is clearly called a violin which confirms my earlier post aboot the dangers of calling your instruments names
Slán Go Foill
Uilliam
Merry Xmas

[Joseph E. Smith]

Believe it or not, even Strad had a design change from time to time. The point being, that unless you have evrything that Fromment has made lined up in front of you, how could anyone possibly say with any certainty that his concert pitched pipes are indentical to each other.