McCallums/Dunbars/MacLellan/Pettigrew

[pancelticpiper]

There's a top G1 player here who plays McCallums set up with the MG drone reeds and the tone is fantastic.
Yes McCallum's customer service is top-drawer from everything I've heard.

[texaspiper1987]

I have a set of McCallums, but am getting rid of them for a set of MacLellans. Why? Since day 1, they have been nothing but trouble. Tuning chambers out of whack, mounts falling off, etc. (even after getting replacement parts). Why? Here's a comparison of the three makers:

McCallum: non-threaded mounts, improperly aged, kiln dried wood, CNC machined (does not know good wood from bad wood), poorly fitted mounts...sound good though.

Dunbar: threaded mounts, aged wood, hand turned...a good choice

MacLellan: threaded mounts, aged wood, hand turned...another good choice

Dunbars and MacLellans are both based on Henderson bores...so they deliver essentially the same sound with minor differences. Here will come into play the look you like. I like the unconventional look of the MacLellans myself.

[pancelticpiper]

I think your assessment is accurate.
It seems that pipes made is higher-humidity places don't like going to low-humidity places. Most of the McCallums complaints are from dry areas of the USA and Australia. To be fair, Pettigrew (Scotland) pipes suffer from the same issues as McCallums here.
About MacLellan pipes, it seems that they also have had a number of cracking issues when going to dry areas like Texas and Australia. If I recall these are mostly with Cocobolo pipes.
There's a fantastic full silver and blackwood set of MacLellans here in Southern California which I don't think has had any issues.

[texaspiper1987]

It can happen with any pipe, but much easier on unseasoned wood. This is why oiling the pipes redularly is critical to keeping them in good shape. Cocobolo is more open in grain and thus the natural oils dry out faster. Part of the reason I chose the blackwood pipes...in addition to the fact I like the more powerful sound of blackwood. Not to say the cocobolo pipes are bad, they're terrific, but I prefer the blackwood.

[justajoe]

i agree with you on the sound and the oil too. i plan to oil after the marching season.

what do you use to oil? i have been finding it difficult to find almond oil here.....

[pancelticpiper]

You can use "woodwind bore oil" which is available at any music shop. It's for oiling clarinets, which are made of the same wood as bagpipes (African blackwood or grenadilla).

[texaspiper1987]

I use bore doctor bore oil. It is especially formulated to penetrate into dense, tightly grained woods like blackwood and cocobolo. It works very well.

[CHasR]

Bumping as Ive just received a poly McCallum 'band' chanter, (as opposed to the 'solo' model),
having been inspired first by this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLpWfjESa0w of Gordon Walker with a poly McCallum, Ross reed, + Naill's;

and secondly by a friend (actually also a piping judge) of mine who plays the same.
I liked the 'openness', and resonance of both.

Although I'm still in the >reed-trial< phase, I got a nicely going Gilmour in there now, sharpish for my taste, but has very much the same openenss and resonance I hear in both Walker online and my friend live and in person. Taped C +D so far, maybe needs a smidge on hi G. hi G#, Fnat, Cnat all there, but no hi B on the Gilmour (Shepherd yes, Gilmour no).
Pressing it into service for a gig tomorrow. We'll see how it measures up in the real world.

[pancelticpiper]

OK just some updates/anecdotes about various GHB models...

I've been hearing more Atherton MacDougalls recently, and I really like what I hear!
A guy in our band got one, and they're the finest-sounding drones in the band, I think. With the custom Rocket drone reeds they come with the tone is fantastic and the drones are very stable and air-efficient.
Drone tone is hard to verbalise, but to me the classic Henderson tone could be described as a stong bass note accompanied by ringing high harmonics (sometimes described as the sound of a wet finger circling the rim of a wine glass). In other words a strong fundamental and strong highs but somewhat hollow in the middle range.
The MacDougall tone is "rounder", more "seamless" as people often say, with a more even spread of harmonics.

At a recent local indoor solo competition I got to hear many sets of pipes in the hands of good players and strangely the several "classic" sets of Hendersons did not stand out from the crowd. What did stand out was a set of Atherton MacDougalls (with Rockets), the finest drones heard that day in my opinion.
Also strong and fine were a couple sets of Gibsons.
A set of MacLellans did not stand out, were rather bland, but of course that can be attributed to how they were reeded.
A set of McCallums were notable for an interesting tone unlike any of the other pipes.

Then just last weekend I heard SFU (reigning World Champions) play several times: competing, warming up, and performing. There were 8 sets of Atherton MacDougalls in the circle.
Also I heard several SFU pipers competing solo, some with Athertons, some with Naills. All sounded great.

Another maker which really impresses me is Mark Cushing.
A local Grade One piper recently got a set and those drones are amazing. Like Athertons, Cushings come with custom Rocket drone reeds and you get big fat tone with a wide spread of harmonics, little use of air, and fantastic steadiness.
Last weekend I got to try a set of Cushings with EzeeDrone reeds in them, and even without the Rockets the tone was great.

Someone here was saying negative things about McCallum pipes: note that Willie McCallum recently won a prestigious competition on... McCallums.

And there are several very successful pipers on the solo competition circuit playing and winning with Naills.

[CHasR]

yeh, them Atherton MD's with Rockets are next on my list, man...
folowed closely by MacClellans...
gr1 buddy o mine has a Gibson Bb chanter, if that aint nice I dont know what is;
"standard" Gibsons are nothing to write home about imho, good & solid, but not starkist...

[pancelticpiper]

Now that the topic of Bb chanters (concert B flat, the chanters pipers usually call "466 chanters"), I have to say that I had a Gibson for a while and I didn't like it at all. A big fat log, touchy to reed, with a funky sound IMHO.

Then I got a McCallum B flat/ 466 chanter and what a difference! It played and performed very much like a normal McCallum chanter (which is to say very well indeed) but also it had some of the best qualities of old Hardie chanters (famous for being great 466 chanters) such as great accidentals (Cnat, Fnat, and high G sharp).

[texaspiper1987]

As far as MacLellans, here's the best way I know of to describe the tone of mine (reeded with glass Rocket tenors and a cane bass, as this is my preferred setup). I describe them as a Henderson bass with a MacDougall tenor. Not as much in the high harmonics as a Henderson, but definitely has the low end. Maybe slightly less voluminous than a Henderson.

Other MacLellan players in here, do you think that's an accurate description? The only real drawback...is you need a bit of weight training to play a MacLellan. They're heavy suckers!

[pancelticpiper]

Interesting, because that's the very description Mark Cushing uses on his site: based on a Henderson bass and MacDougall tenors.

Of course it all depends on "which Henderson" and "which MacDougall". A piper around here (who is a forum member) has owned quite a few MacDougalls and he says that he found that they varied quite a bit, from mediocre to magnificent.
I myself have heard thin, whiney Henderson bass drones and booming rich Henderson bass drones.

[sjcavy]

I love my MacLellans. The bass is def on the low side though. I personally feel that these drones have a warm tone that fills the room. When you get the tenors perfectly in tune with each other it sounds like one drone, not two drones that are in tune. The bass is kinda hard to describe. I use glass rockets. I might try the cane and rocket set up though. I also have the old ross style cane tongue drone reeds, and the wygent duotones. ANy reccomendations for MacLellans? I'm perfectly happy with my rockets, but I am always looking for something different.


Sean

[texaspiper1987]

Here is a quote from an email Roddy sent me when I asked about his bores:

"My drones were originally based off of my grandfather's 1880-ish Hendersons. I changed up the tenors awhile back as I felt there was no use in keeping the same sound, and as far as I know my specs are my own."

So his bass is actually probably a Donald Henderson bass. Comparing with other Henderson-bored pipes (a Kron Heritage and a Dunbar), the tenor bores are slightly smaller than the standard Henderson bore (same is true of MacDougalls I believe). The tenors have a fairly "round" sound, as I said, not as much in the higher harmonics as a Henderson tenor bore. However, the bass bore seems consistent with most earlier-generation Hendersons.

If you get a chance to try a cane bass, go for it. The cane bass adds a bit of additional depth to the sound. It's not as "buzzy" as the Rocket bass, and has more of the fundamental tone. When you mouth-blow it, it will seem a bit quieter to your ear, even though it's about the same volume-wise.