"Our Quality is Magical: Seen, Heard,
Sensed." (c)
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"Our Quality is Magical: Seen, Heard,
Sensed." (c) |
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Choosing your Bagpipe. MacLellan Bagpipes uses two woods for our bagpipes, Cocobolo from Mexico & Brazil. or African Blackwood from Tanzania. All of our wood is Air dried only, kiln drying can burn off some of the natural oils which are so important in musical instrument use. MacLellan bagpipes was first company in the modern era to look at woods other
than African Blackwood, especially Cocobolo. Before the Great War in 1914, it
was not unusual to find some of the best sounding bagpipes made from woods other
than Blackwood or Ebony. Cocus wood from Jamaica & Brazilian kingwood were used
regularly. After much research we decided that Cocobolo was every bit as suitable for manufacturing Great Highland Bagpipes as any other wood in common use. There are now several major manufacturers who routinely use cocobolo for highland bagpipes also. Both Blackwood & Cocobolo come from the Dalbergia family ( Leguminosae) of
Exotic hardwoods. Both have a high oil content and are dimensionally extremely
stable. Blackwood has a specific gravity of about 1.08, Cocobolo 0.85 to 0.95.
These are high numbers. so both woods are very dense, & tight grained, Cocobolo
grain pattern is slightly more open. The Cocobolo sound is rich & mellow. The wood is slightly less dense that African. Blackwood, which allows the drone to absorb some of the higher sound frequencies. This damps or removes some of the harshness & "buzziness" which some synthetic reeds can produce. The result is warm and full, MacLellan Cocobolo Drones produce that room filling envelope of harmonics that can embrace the player & his audience. 80% of our pipes are made in the Cocobolo.
We never have bagpipes "made up" or on the shelf. All of our sets are custom built to the owner's specification. For this reason expect a delivery time frame from 3 to 4 months. Every mount & ferrule is carefully threaded on for a secure & lasting fit. We strive to create unique and superb sounding instruments. Our typical customer is the piper who has been playing for some time and wants to upgrade to a superior bagpipe, or the beginning piper who requires the best, right from the start of their piping career.
MacLellan solo & band chanters are gaining a strong following, the sound is clear and bright. The band chanters, are matched to exacting specifications on CNC equipment, and deliver a powerful rich sound to clearly show off your band's playing. We take on a lot of custom metal work and design. If you don't see exactly what you want, call and we'll design and build the set you dream of. Design your bagpipe by choosing the drone profile and combing pattern, the projecting mounts, then the metalwork All prices are subject to change, but are current as of January 2006. A 50% deposit is required to confirm an order. Full refunds are given on orders cancelled before work is started on a set. Cost of any special materials or metal work, will not be refunded if they have already been brought in or work started. Payment can be made by Check, money order, Visa, MasterCard or Pay Pal.
Contact Information
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Send mail to
maclellanbagpipe@bellsouth.net
with questions or comments about this web site.
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After that
war, the woods from German East Africa, now Tanzania, became widely available.
That was when the big shift to African Blackwood really took place. To this day
some of the biggest exporters of African Blackwood are German based companies.
