This old Henderson set was sold here a number of years ago and has been repurchased from the buyer, who is selling for personal reasons.

It is in lovely shape, both visually and tonally. The set is ebony, with ivory mounts, and the drones are rock steady, robust and seamless in the Henderson tradition.

All pieces are original, and the only visual flaws are some very tiny chips in the ivory that are quite normal in a set of this age.

There was a tiny hairline crack in one tenor top, and another in one tenor stock — pretty typical of old ebony. I don’t like to take any chances with ebony, so these have been invisible whipped and you’d be hard-pressed to tell from the photos where the work was done.

The age of the set has been estimated to be around 1930 by the shapes of the projecting mounts, the use of ebony, and the appearance of a “PH” stamp below the cord guide rather than a “P. Henderson” stamp inside the cord guides. The pipes have aged well. These photos were taken when the pipes were refinished several years ago. The finish is still in excellent shape, though not as pristine as it appears here.

One added feature of this set not pictured: Henderson bass drones tend to tune quite low on the tuning pin. This is not something that has ever bothered me. However, the previous owner had a matching bass piece made with holly mounts and a narrower bore that allows the mid-joint to tune higher on the pin. Both the original and the new piece come with the set, so you can decide which one you wish to play! The previous owner also provided with the pipes a McCallum MCC2 chanter with a matching antique ivory sole.

These are classic ivory Hendersons that will perform well at any level.