Finally the MacLellans!

Sorry it took me so long to write this post on my MacLellans, but it took forever to record the videos and I am still not satisfied with the audio.  However in the time it took em to do it, I got a practice set of uilleann pipes to replace the half set that I sold.  So there's that.


Let's begin!

I got my MacLellans back in 2008, about two years after I started piping.  About a year later, I received them.  Opened the box and my Dad and I just sat down an said wow.  Roddy does some amazing work.  The lines on his pipes are clean, the beading and combing are pretty, and the bores in his pipes almost look polished.  Roddy lines the blowpipes with a brass tube to prevent cracking.  He also pins his metal mounts onto the wood which I think is lovely and shows the true hand-crafted aspect of these pipes.  I ordered an Original profile set with his Standard MacLellan bores.  I got light Cocobolo projecting mounts on African Blackwood, with bronze ferrules and aluminium tuning pins.  Needless to say, there is a lot going on on these pipes.  I'm thinking about changing them to flat bronze tuning pins, but who knows...

Here's a picture of me (with the pipes) and my brother, who is a snare drummer (which is why the thousand yard snare-stare).

So, currently my set up consists of a Ross pipe bag without the canister system (it's super dry in California and I think it sounds better without the system) and a Dunbar Elite 1 chanter with a Troy McAllister reed. I don't really enjoy the Dunbar chanter, it just isn't for me.  The high hand is hard to tun, and there is tape everywhere which was typical of the bands that I used to play in.

For the drones I switch back and forth between an EZ drone bass with Redwood tenors and my complete Rocket reed set that I bought from Ringo Bowen.  With the Rocket reeds the pipes are a little quieter with a very pleasant hum to them.  They lock in easy, and are very air efficient.  I'll post a video....

That is in a chapel in Oceanside, CA right before playing at a friend's memorial.  Super air efficient with the big bore volume.  I love this set.  It's a little lighter than the Millennium sets that he makes, but they're still pretty heavy on the shoulder.  I'd love to buy a set of Millenniums just to say I own a set.

Now onto the EZ drone bass and Redwood tenors.  I threw these in because I love the tone (shout out to Patrick McLaurin), and I was curious to try them.  Whoa.  Just whoa.  I don't have them completely calibrated correctly, so my strike ins are a little temperamental however they are LOUD.  but not an overwhelming loud.  They have a very rich and full tone.  The bass isn't too buzzy, and the tenors are loud enough to match the bass.  They resembled the pipes that I tried with cane reeds in them.  I think I'd play the EZ/Redwood combo in a competition over the Rockets.  They just sound better to me, however for a new piper with a wad of cash I'd recommend the Rockets.  Easy to set up, just plug and play.


I recorded this outside of a small awning where my phone was taking the video.  You can hear how the drones fill the area that they are in.  It's pretty neat to listen to these pipes.  I love having other pipers play them so I can hear how they sound.  Comments?  What do you think?

Forgive me for the plug, and he doesn't know I am doing this, but Roddy can be reached here:
http://www.highland-pipemaker.com/

He is super easy to work with, will basically do anything you can think up.  Apparently his daughter is working with him, which makes it even more imperative that we keep his business going steady.  Family businesses nowadays are hard to come by.  Keep killing it Roddy!!!

Brass lined blowpipe

Showing the bores

Stamped maker's mark and original profile

Outside Tenor with Rocket reed

Pinned drone cap

Bore again

Full stand

Showing the engraved aluminium

Coming soon!

When I get out of the field I will be posting a review of my MacLellan set in blackwood.  I got a couple videos of it for y'all.

Keith Jeffers Prototype Pipes Review

Hello again!

Having followed the piping scene and the more specifically the pipe making scene since I bought my first set (a cobbled together set comprised of at least 2 different sets according to Ringo Bowen)...I have kept my eyes open for quality instruments.  Again I am a tone junkie.  Tone addict?  I don't know.  All I know is that when I hear that beautiful blend of Bass and Tenors that I am looking for, my whole body relaxes and I get stopped dead in my tracks.

I thought I heard that when I was scrolling through Patrick McLaurin's blog ( visit here! www.patrickmclaurin.com/wordpress) and hit his review of Keith Jeffers bagpipes.  Keith works out of Evansville, IN and his website can be found here: www.jeffersbagpipes.com  Keith started playing at 19 in 2000.  He started pipemaking about 2004, and played in the Evansville pipe band.  One of his teachers was Greg Abbott a professional piper and well known reed maker.  Having talked with Keith a few times, and becoming (dare-I-say) friends, this guy knows his stuff.  Keith wants to keep the tradition of hand turning pipes alive, and is striving to put the best product he possibly can out of his shop.  He enjoys keeping it a small experiment, as he calls it.  Basically, a tone junkies' Heaven.

Needless to say I started following Keith's bagpipe group on facebook and drooled over the pictures that he constantly posts.  Then he posted a set made out of straight Cocobolo with what I thought were integral mounts and an extra Bass drone top (prototype).  I chatted with him about the set, and he offered to send it to me to review and try and sell. (I WISH I COULD AFFORD THE SET)

I opened the box when it arrived and was greeted by the beautiful smell of wood.  The dang things were aromatic.  I quickly tied them into a tester bag (Canmore with zipper and Grommets) and set out my drone reed collection.  I started with a set of Redwood reeds.  I was shocked at how easy the pipes were.  Basically plug and play with these reeds.  I loved the ringing Tenors, they were a little brighter than EZDrones (which I also enjoyed, however they were subdued compared to the Redwoods) however I did not like the Redwood bass in the pipes.  I tried my Henderson based Rocket bass and I got the same tone.  I wasn't pleased with the buzz that I was getting, just too much for my tastes.  I slapped in an EZDrone Bass and I was closer to my goal.  I enjoy my tenors to be just a tad quieter than my bass, but only barely noticeable.  I had a barely used set of Wygent Duotones (with the double tongues, very finicky however they sound good once set up) so I threw the bass reed in the pipes.  With about fifteen minutes of tweaking I had what I was looking for.  I played the set for my father, who kept asking me to keep playing it.  WOW.  The chanter blend with the drones was spectacular.  The overtones off the E were brilliant, and I found myself playing aires just So I could concentrate on the sound I was getting off of these pipes.  I took them to a band practice, and a few piper friends were very curious about the beautiful pipes I had in my hands.

I currently can't figure out how to embed my soundcloud files to the blog, so if you go to this link, you can hear a straight drone, no chanter clip of Keith's pipes.

https://soundcloud.com/sjcavy/jeffers-redwood-tenors-duotone-bass

The inner bores of the drones as you can see are almost polished.  Keith takes pride in his ability to turn, and you can tell even with this prototype pipe that no corners were cut here.  The indentation where you tie in the bag has combing, just to allow the bag to grip better.  The man has an attention to detail.  The tenors tuned right at the hemp line, and the bass tuned a little more high on the tuning pin than I am used to, but it worked!  As for the external part of the pipes, I'll try to let my pictures speak for themselves, however these pipes are dressed to impress.

While playing, the pipes were rock solid.  They never wavered.  Once I had the reeds set where I wanted them, they stayed that way.  Also these pipes hum.  Like literally vibrated while I was playing them, I think this is because the set barely weighs anything.

Volume:  The pipes are LOUD.  These are absolutely band pipes that will kill it in the solo arena, however....they are very dominating sound.  I have the feeling these will stand out to the trained ear in a pipe band.  These pipes would be good for a piper of any level of maturity.  New pipers will enjoy being able to pop reeds in and play a set that doesn't require constant attention.  Older pipers will find that these pipes can give you mountains of great tone.

Again, if you are looking for a stellar bagpipe, Keith is your man.  He is a dream to work with, and his pipes are works of art.

My arsenal

So please expect posts about each specific instrument in my collection....however to get started I have a set of MacLellans made back in 2008, a set of Dunbar/Bowen Classics, a set of 4 drone smallpipes in the key of A by Seth Hamon, multiple whistles and a beautiful flute..... Which one should I review first?

The Beginning

Alright Ladies and Gents,

Welcome to my blog!  My name is Sean, and I have been playing highland pipes since 2006, Pennywhistle since 2007, and Simple System flute since 2008 or 2009. I started uilleann piping in 2009 as well and finally got my own set of smallpipes in 2014.I have been thinking about doing a blog on my musical journey for a while now.  This blog isn't so much about me as it is about the music and the instruments and gear.  I am a gear and tone junkie.  Happens to the best and worst of us....

If you have any requests, comments, or suggestions by all means hit me up!

As for what I do in real life, I am active duty in the United States Marine Corps and I spend way too much time as a systems administrator.