Ray Sloan pipes

Big Mick · Post by **Big Mick** » Wed Jul 03, 2002 9:56 am

I have the chance to pickup a half set of Ray Sloan pipes for the price of $1800.00. I have them in my possession and am practicing with them. The chanter has a very coarse sound to it. The reed is bound with a wire instead of the flat bent
staple that folks like Benedict Kohler use. I have an extra chanter that was made by Mark Hillman and reeded by Benedict Kohler for me. It sounds much sweeter.

My questions are as follows:

What do folks here know about Sloan pipes?

Are they worth $1800.00 US?

meir · Post by **meir** » Wed Jul 03, 2002 11:20 am

where do you live?
i do not yet play uilleann but i collect various instruments and am familiar with ray sloan. i am familiar with a number of times when his intruments have changed hands, and without question his instruments hold their value, so the answer is you got a good deal. depending on where you are, if you have a question about the reed and can get the pipes back to ray, he is very reliable and professional about adjusting and repairing his instruments. the cost of shipping plus the repair cost (ray is very reasonable about repair costs) will still be far less than ray's retail price. i have heard that his UP reeds travel well.

almost any fine bellows blown instrument that changes hands after a couple of years or more should have attention to the reed by the manufacturer or someone else who knows.

have fun

meir

AlanBurton · Post by **AlanBurton** » Wed Jul 03, 2002 12:34 pm

$1,800 is way too much (presuming they are 2nd hand, but even then...).If in doubt, stay with what is already playing sweetly.
Alan

Big Mick · Post by **Big Mick** » Wed Jul 03, 2002 12:46 pm

Alan, would you mind telling me what you consider a fair price?

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Wed Jul 03, 2002 3:02 pm

Mick,
Sloan charges £1550 ($2,290US) for a standard half set and £2500 ($3,818US) for a fully mounted half set. Add freight to those numbers...

AlanBurton · Post by **AlanBurton** » Wed Jul 03, 2002 4:43 pm

Mick,
It's difficult to judge without hearing/seeing the set. Unless you can get to an experienced pipe/reedmaker it will always be hard tell how good the set is when playing well and therefore what it is worth, but I would not be willing to part with more than £900/1000 ($1200ish?). If you think your existing chanter is sweet then stick with it. Strike a bargain on the Drones perhaps, if they'll split the set??
Alan

Dionys · Post by **Dionys** » Wed Jul 03, 2002 4:44 pm

Then subtract for damage done by previous owner, reeds that may or may not work, and the fact that the set is older and crafted when he may not have had as much experience making instruments.

I'm not saying that $1800 isn't a good price. You just don't know what you're getting unless you play the set. It could be a great chanter, or it could be an early chanter that works, but has 'issues,' no matter how minor or major those may be.

Dionys

CoyneLover · Post by **CoyneLover** » Wed Jul 03, 2002 10:32 pm

Good luck finding a decent, playable 1/2 set (not pakistani)for $1200...I almost split my side laughing when I saw that...

AlanBurton · Post by **AlanBurton** » Thu Jul 04, 2002 3:28 am

Coyne Lover,
You may laugh, but it happens all the time if you know where to look. In UK & Eire there are many sets lying around unused, and of fair quality, that don't go for over £1000. Price depends on the quality of the chanter......

Big Mick · Post by **Big Mick** » Thu Jul 04, 2002 11:29 am

I sure want to thank you all for the info and I hope it keeps coming.

Perhaps I am looking in the wrong areas then. I have found it to be very difficult to find a half set of anything that is decent for anything less than about $2000.00. Used or new.

This set is in excellent condition, and suffers only from being in the hands of someone who obviously had not taken the time to learn a bit about them. There is no damage that I can tell. I have been learning on my own for about a year and a half.

The only problem I had with the chanter seems to be related to the reed (Big surprise, eh?........LOL). Sloan uses a sort of tied wire for the bridle, instead of a flat metal piece. I guess it is time for me to learn to tinker a bit with the reeds. The reeds that Benedict Kohler made for me are so good that I have never had to tinker much with them, other than to adjust for a bit of sharpness/flatness during various seasons. Does anyone have any comment on this style of bridle or Sloan's reeds in general?

jordan · Post by **jordan** » Thu Jul 04, 2002 11:00 pm

using a tied wire for a bridle is very common on northumbrian pipe reeds. I think this is Ray's specialty, so it's not surprising that he would transfer this to his uilleann reeds. For what it's worth, I've been using a thick copper wire for my bridles on the last 10 or 15 reeds I've made with no problems. I find it much easier to get a tight fit with the wire as opposed to the more common strip of metal. I know I read somewhere (where was it??) that Andreas Rogge was using wire as well.
jordan

AlanBurton · Post by **AlanBurton** » Fri Jul 05, 2002 2:32 am

Jordans quite right about Rogge, he uses the wire tie. Now, there is a problem here, wire bridles cannot be manipulated as finely as a copper Bridle, particularly if you are closing down the reed, unless it is really thick, and once they are wrapped around, twisting the tie to get a snugger fit does not achieve as goos a result. I use the traditional Bridle but with a "Loop" or "Nipple". This seems to be the best way as you can use the nipple to clamp the reed, and with the usual pliers method, achieve an immovable bridle unless you want to move it. I have seen this method credited to many people, but I'm pretty sure it was Cillian O'Briain who first started using it, though its not to say that it may not be a method from other reed blown instruments. (BTW If you though Uilleann reeds were delicate and cranky, go look at a Duduk reed!)

Alan