Where are bagpipes made and who makes them?What is commonly unknown about bagpipes is that they are not only made in Scotland. The majority of all bagpipes are made in either (in no particular order) Canada, the United States, Australia, Great Britain (of course) and Pakistan. I'll bet you didn't see that last one coming, did you? There is actually a very large market of goods that would otherwise seem to be Scottish coming out of Pakistan. I have heard of people getting Pakistani bagpipes to work but it takes luck, and a lot of time and effort on the pipers part. To be 100% honest, it's not worth it.
Also, just because it's a bagpipe you see in a store in Scotland doesn't mean it was made there. In fact they've always been importing them from Pakistan and selling them as souvenirs.
A typical Pakistani-made bagpipe looks like this in a picture and will normally be extremely cheap, like around $200. Always keep in mind that the saying, "you get what you pay for" still applies to the bagpipe market. They make great novelty items, but I would never count on playing one. Here are a few ways to recognize a Pakistani-made bagpipe:
- It will come with a tartan bag/bag cover (most traditional Great Highland Bagpipes come with plain bag covers)
- There will be no space between the ivory mounts and the ferrules on the bagpipe in the picture.
- It will be extremely cheap (under $500 - you should know that there are some pretty inexpensive bagpipes that I'll mention later)
- Be aware of the bagpipes' manufacturer. If it's something like Mid-Eastern Bagpipe Company, or Mid East Manufacturing Company, keep away!
- If they claim that the bag is synthetic but it looks like it's leather, and it has metal studs holding the bag together then it's probably not synthetic...
If your great highland bagpipe is made by any of the following makers then you can be sure that it will at least be of better quality than a Pakistani-made bagpipe.* I've linked them so that you can see what their bagpipes look like.
- Fisher- Glen (not manufactured anymore, but see Kintail for bagpipes modeled after Glen)
- Kintail
- C. E. Kron - Kilgour (not manufactured anymore)
- Sinclair
- R. G. Hardie
- D. M. Atherton
- MacLellan- Booth
- J. Dunbar
- Gellaitry
- Gibson
- Gillanders & McLeod - Grainger & Campbell (not manufactured anymore)
- Peter Henderson (Same firm as R.G. Hardie)
- Inveran
- Colin Kyo- RG Lawrie (not manufactured anymore)
-
MacDougall
- Douglas MacPherson
- McCallum
- Ian Murray
- David Naill
- RK Bagpipes
- RT Shepherd and Son
- Wallace
- Somers
- Duncan Soutar of St. Andrews
- StrathmoreYou're probably thinking to yourself, "Wow, that's a long list. Which manufacturer should I choose?" Well, to be honest not every bagpipe maker makes good bagpipes. My bagpipes were St. Kilda, and I definitely have something to say about their quality which is why they are not on the list, but take note that RG Hardie manufactures them.
Continue on to the
next page to keep reading.
*I am not affiliated with any bagpipe making company on or not on this list.
