SOLD – This is a make we haven’t had on the site before. The pipes came to me as J&R Glen, but a quick examination dispelled that notion. The closest maker I and my vintage cronies could come up with was James Hutcheon, who made pipes in Edinburgh from 1887 to 1913.  However, Hutcheon is also noted for adorning mounts with a band of three narrow scribe lines, rather than two. This set has two. These pipes came with what may be the original chanter, but with no sole and no maker stamp. So determining a maker is pretty much educated guesswork. A small ridge in the ivory rings is also unique.

The pipes are quite lovely, in cocuswood, ivory and nickel. They played much like a David Glen bagpipe — subdued, but rich. The tenors tune a bit low, but were steady as well. The set comes with an extra bottom bass joint that appears to be cocuswood, but could be blackwood. The bass is much more robust and buzzy with this joint, whereas the original maintains the more restrained sound of the drones.