Tuning Regulators

[bferdinand10]

Hello Folks, and HELP!

I have a Des Seery set circa - 80's maybe 90's, and I am trying to get the regulators tuned-up. I have read the article by G.W. on the Obsession page so I know what I am supposed to do to an extent, but here are my specific issues.

My tenor regulator is close to being in tune - yes I know I should tune to my chanter, but I am using a tuner to help me get close. The C at the top of the regulator sometimes squawks and then breaks, and is a little flat. The F#, G, A, and B tend to be sharp but only by a few cents.

My baritone regulator is the real issue. I can barely get the thing to play. The reed is extremely tough and requires loads of pressure to make a sound. When I try to play a chord between the two regs (3/4 set) it almost doesn't happen , and with the chanter is impossible. I am not sure if I should adjust the scrap with a knife or sandpaper, or if I should get a new reed - and if so from whom b/c I won't mail my pipes to Ireland - there is no $ for that.

I know that this has been discussed before I am sure on this forum. But I have little time to research and sift through them - there are over 12000 posts on here, so I am reaching out for some direct assistance to anyone who can provide it.
Thank you,

Brian

[geoff wooff]

So difficult to make an analysis from a description but... it sounds as if your Tennor reed is too low in pitch, which would be why the C note is not happy. You could try cropping a tiny slice from the end of the blades.. this will raise the pitch of the reed head and perhaps it will achieve the C note without sqwarks and breaking down... the fact that the other notes are not very sharp would suggest that there is room for tuning with a rush... unless you have thick rush or blobs of 'stuff' already in place...

The Baritone reed sounds as if it is too open or just too strong in the blades and would need cramping shut or scraping to lighten.
If you can find another piper in your area it would be a help, perhaps...

NPU also has a booklet on Regulators....

I'm sure there are reedmakers here who could help with sending reeds.... Allan Moller would be a good person to contact.

Good Luck,
Geoff.

[Podge]

if I should get a new reed - and if so from whom b/c I won't mail my pipes to Ireland

Contact Donnacha Dwyer - http://www.donnachadwyer.com

He apprenticed under Seery.

[allan moller]

about tuning regs(and thanks geoff for the vote of confidence).if you can reed a chanter then regs are a doddle,mainly it is about head width,staple length,overall length and strength of reed.i know this sounds a bit simplistic but you are only looking for the reeds to play a few notes in one octave,no higher octave,hooray.the trick is tuning them with each other and over the chanter,it sounds daunting but it requires a good ear and a bit of time and that is it,well almost.get your chanter in tune and get the drones going well as a half set,fair enough,so far.now reed your tenor reg and kick it in with your drones and chanter,if you have a staunch set then the reeds will only alter slightly and be easily adjusted and the addition of the baritone and bass reg will be only slightly problematical,this called balancing the set.you have 7 reeds playing at once,one of them out of whack with the rest and you are in a world of despair.go back to that reed adjust or replace it and carry on with the balancing process, it can take days to reed a full set satisfactorily if you are experienced and much much longer to get a set going well if you are learning,ask for advice and remember if you can not tune your own set then you are always going to be in trouble one way or the other.learning to adjust well made reeds is a good in between method.each piper has his own pressure(more or less)and your set is a highly personal thing.i know i am preaching to the converted to pipers who can do all their own reeds etc,but i cannot stress the importance enough to every struggling piper who is a slave to his or her reeds to get a bit hands on,it is part of a lifetimes journey.merry christmas,allan.

ps.sorry to ramble on.i take it as read that you are familiar with the use of rushes to tune regulators basically to flatten the bore.and also the use of blobs of whatever under each tone hole to get them in tune.in all of my 40 years of tuning regs i have never found one that did not need a rush of some sort.this can also be true of chanters,read leo rowsomes tutor and he says that the uilleann pipes are tuned by means of rushes including the chanter.bores have changed over the years and now chanter design is creeping toward being rush free,not so regs,or please correct me if i am wrong./

[bferdinand10]

Hello Folks,

Thank you Geoff and Allan for responding to my regulator questions; your responses have been helpful and your firsthand knowledge is a gift. So, far with my regulator adventure the Tenor is being the most cooperative and the Baritone is still being tough. I have scraped the baritone reed down quite a bit and got it playing with less pressure but I still have more to do in that department. Once I have that "close" then I will begin with the rush and wax. My Seery regulator pins have two "pins" - I wider one that extends maybe and inch and half away from the top of the reg, and then a smaller tuning pin that can extend another 3 - 4 inches out of the center of the larger pin, and it is approx. 1/16 thick. From fiddling with them it appears that the pin most close to the regulator top controls the upper most keys (closest to the mainstock), and the smaller longer pin controls the middle to higher keys (those positioned farthest from the mainstock).
I suppose I have another question and that is when would I know -what are the signs - that it is time for a new reed?

Thank you again gentlemen,

Brian

[Kevin L. Rietmann]

I thought I'd use this thread to give some general pointers on tuning regs.

For the wire attached to the tuning pin I use musical wire from hobby shops, this is very stiff stuff which has to be formed with a jeweler's pliers. I like it since it never loses shape, unlike bailing wire et al, and can be used in smaller diameters, thus you can have next to no effect on a note in the bore if so desired. I have a few lengths of each on hand, sometimes I'll find I don't want any wire extending past the top note, whether on regulator or chanter.

For years I tied bits of cane to the central wire for rushes. At some point I heard about using Blu-Tack for rushes and gave it a try, but didn't like how you couldn't get the blobs to stay put, so I switched to coiled pipe cleaners, which Sean Folsom told me about years ago, no doubt he got this idea from noted pipe smoker Denis Brooks. That works but, like tying the bits of cane on, means you can't easily remove a rush from the middle of the wire if it has rushes on either side, or easily change the diameter of the rush.

Recently it occurred to me to coil a bit of pipe cleaner core wire to the wire attached to the tuning pin itself, and attach Blu-Tack to the core wire itself, thus giving the B-T something to grab a hold of, as the core wire is two bits of small gauge wire coiled together, thus having a rough exterior. Voila, you can attach as much B-T as you please and it will stay put.

Another trick I use for tuning regulators is to insert bits of folded over paperclip into the staples to flatten the pitch and quiet them down, this works like the proverbial charm. I also usually have something in the bottom of the bore, in the regulator cap area, a bit of cork usually, to shorten the bore, which has an effect on the tuning, and also mellows things down a titch.