Alan B wrote:"Time to donate them to a museum (Morpeth?) so we can all enjoy them.... "
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...or...donate them to me! Yeah, that's the ticket, yup! Of course, with my unique talent, I may be the only one who would enjoy them...
...you realize, of course, that I just had to try.
Why go through all the restoration process..and then just sell the set..why not enjoy it for alittle while..thats my two cents...good luck none the less..dont mind me..i'm just bitter..
I wouldn't send them to the Chantry just at the moment, the council is trying to get the place turned into a tourist attraction (AKA restaurant). The collection might well be going into storage.
I should have them.............I want them...................Give them to me
Please.............
I am the Arch Bishop of Mars, and should have a set of Bb Uilleann Pipes befitting my status.
In return you will be very blessed and may very well inherit the world(or the smaller satellite of Mars - Deimos)
The body of the set (stock, ferrules, ivory, drones, regulators) is totally Willie Rowsome, save one regulator key that Brad had to fashion. I've seen a lot of sets in my time and this is one of the coolest!
But sometimes I wonder is ebay the way to go when your selling such a specialised, unique instrument.
Are the pipes advertised outside of Chiff and Fipple and the David Daye list. What i mean to say is that there are dozens of pipers in Ireland that I know well that aren't aware of these forums. And some of those lads have a few spare bucks too!
Does Paddy Moloney or Liam O'Flynn know that these pipes are for sale.
Now the thing is, I'm only asking the questin and I don't really have any answers.
Like, if I won the lottery tomorrow and I want a Strad or a gold plated Bentley where do I go to get one?
Are there (I'm sure there are) specialised auction houses that deal with this kinda stuff.
Or is this what ebay is?
just curious.
This list and eBAY does get the word out pretty effectively. One always wonders about the best way to sell any item. The specialized auction houses charge a relative fortune for examination, appraisal, and sale. I am not sure if PM knows about them but LOF had heard about them. One never knows in an auction; sometimes a high-end auction (this is a high-end item for the pipes market space) takes a while to gel. Sometimes unsuccesful auction efforts do generate greater interest, so here's hoping that is happening!
I saw that the Leo Rowsome keyless chanter did not hit its Reserve above $1400+. Everyone tries to strive and get the best price; it's perfectly OK to have more than one go at the auction or sales process and adjust price as appropriate.
While a Cites certificate might be the way to go, this set with its old ivory would most likely not cause any concern. For a European buyer, I might arrange to hand carry them as I anticipating a trip soon to Ireland.
If you take them across a US border, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get a CITES certificate. Horror stories may be fewer in the Uilleann world as there are fewer sets to start with, but there is more than one vintage set of GHBs which has been confiscated by the US govt. You don't get to appeal, or argue, or go home - once they've got it, it's gone. You need the certificate to prve to Customs that it is older - photos in whatever work of reference will cut no ice.
I did hear of one case where they managed to agree to get the ivory removed and the pipes returned. Customs took a wood saw and chopped off all the mountings, complete with little bits of wood. The owner was left with several useless tubes of very expensive wood.
You aren't safe hand carrying, hold baggaging, or indeed trying to swim it. Don't risk it. I don't think any of us would like to see a set of pipes come to an end like this.
