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Jerry R. Pearce
03-17-2003, 09:41 AM
Hi Mr. Gibson
You have a great first name. I guess the question I have is universal and should probably be a question we can all put to all the guest manufacturers on the forum. I would be very interested on your thoughts about those of us who have older pipes made by pipe makers who are no longer in the business of making pipes. Is it possible to do a good refit on older pipes by addingsterling silver ferrules slides and ring caps to these pies and removing older imitation ivory or is this something that you would counsel against doing. Are there other options that could be used that would make the pipes look nicer and improve the value of the instrument such as stainless steel or would you only consider sterling silver (hallmarked) as a good and viable option. There are makers such as Lawrie, Henderson and Grainger who made some very fine instruments but for those of us who have an instrument made by these companies there is no place to send them to have work done when and if it is ever required and due to the cost of a new instrument, it may not always be and option to purchase new to get what we want but we may be able to refit or make an adjustment or repair that will put the instrument back into excellent playing condition that will sound and look great. Thank you for your thoughts and advice in this area.

Jerry Gibson
03-17-2003, 11:52 AM
I will give you my personal opinion in reply to your questions..

a)The first thing you have to answer are taking away from the value from the exact original you started with because as soon as you add silver and change imitation ivory the exterior is no longer an original .

b)

Jerry Gibson
03-17-2003, 12:10 PM
Stupid me my fingers slipped beore I was finished sorry about that .
To continue

b) I see no reason why you shouldnt replace the old imitation ivory on old pipes with new and also add silver mountings ..It will add greatly to the resale value of the pipes let alone the looks..while having them remounted you should also have the exterer cleaned and the combing done .
It is very possible to do a good retro fit job on this ..please bear in mind silver is not cheap you can also go for gold plated brass if thats what you like .! You can do 1/4 silver ( slides only ) 1/2 silver with new imitation ivory projecting mounts ..or simply just the new imitation ivory ferrules and mounts ..its all up to how extensive you want to get .

The only problem would be if the drones are warped making it impossible to line them up correctly in the lathe
c)Repairing and or replacing cracked. or broken drone parts ...Again this is possible to a certain extent ..providing you send the damaged part to the repairer so he can try and match the internal as well as the external geometry in most cases he will be able to do this but when it comes to the drones bells and tone chambers that could be a different story.
Usually a good repair man will a good job for you

SCVpiper
03-17-2003, 06:05 PM
I glad to see a pipemaker here in the US. I have been checking on having repairs and upgrades on a couple sets i have but worried about DFG or CITES destroying my pipes if customs check them. I hope to be doing business with you soon Jerry.