Adding to what I said earlier about my McCallums, I should tell you about the excellent service I received from the pipe maker.

I blow really wet - it’s kind of gross sometimes. Anyway, a few months back I noticed that the fake ivory end of my blowstick was loose where it screws onto the end of the blackwood. I checked closer and realized that the threaded blackwood area had cracked, from being wet and drying out so many times, I guess. I also had a loose ferrule on one of my drones after moving from New York to Utah, which I figured was also a drying-out issue due to humidity differences between the two places.

I called McCallum to ask their advice and Kenny McCallum (the owner and pipe maker) picked up. He was extremely friendly and helpful - turns out he used to live in California before moving to Scotland to start his business and he even played in Utah a few times. He even offered to replace my blowstick free of charge - despite the fact I didn’t buy the pipes directly from him and they were by then over two years old.

I ended up fixing the problems myself - hey, a real piper can do his own repairs, right? But this was just another reason to believe that this is a nice company to do business with.

I play a set of McCallum AB/2 Medallists. They came with Ezee-Drone reeds and I subsequently added a Ross canister bag. My band in Utah, the Wasatch and District Pipe Band, also uses McCallum chanters, so the nice thing is that I can play my pipes in the band with its own chanter.

I’ve had the pipes for nearly three years now and they are amazingly steady. Once tuned they play back in at band practice in about five minutes and the drones and chanter need almost no adjustment each time I take them out. Strike in is never a problem, cut-offs are easy, and the sound is sweet and precise.

The pipes easily handle the transition from the humid Eastern U.S or the English coast to the dry Mountain West. They adjust to altitude change (I’m at 4000 feet above sea level here) with no problems whatsoever.

I’ve listened to a lot of pipes since I bought mine, but never once have I regretted my choice, and if I ever have to buy a new set of pipes I’ll go straight to McCallum again.

They also have the coolest logo!