Second and crappier set of Pakistani bagpipes.

Yes, I couldn't stop the temptation.

"Set of rosewood highland bagpipes for decoration. This instrument is not playable." starting bid: £0.75.

I was the first bidder. After three days I won the set... for 75 pence plus delivery. Now I have a set to do some serious scrapping with.

The funny thing is, it came with air stoppers, a full roll of hemp and two sets of reeds. The chanter reeds need a lot of work, but the drone ones work just fine. Good deal, huh?

It was true. The instrument wasn't playable. The flapper valve was made of really old, stiff and deformed leather. The joints are not airtight although the bag is. Of course, how not, the bag is made of rubber. The chanter, after I fixed the whole thing a bit, is a bit out of tune, just a tad.

The wood used is not seasoned and I would not even suggest that it is real rosewood. Some parts of the wood is just as yellow as pinewood. Some of the combing was damaged, etc.

PERFECT. Still £0.75. Just the goodies would have costed me way more.

Now, I have bought a PVC tube and I'm carving a chanter there. I also need some vinyl to make a new bag (since I only want to have two drones there is no use for any of the other bags). I think I will use a whistle I have at home as a reference for the fingering. This whistle is as thick and dense as the PVC pipe. Same measurements, I can't go wrong. I only need to be careful with where do I add the last hole.

After the chanter is finished I will have to make a reed to match. Not finding any help in forums I think I might go for "D".