J. L. Egan & Co. · Sydney, N.S.W.
About
J. L. Egan & Co. Pipe Works grew out of a fairly simple fascination with old bagpipes — the instruments themselves, the people who made them, and what can be learned from a set that has already spent the better part of a lifetime being played.
For me, that started properly with an old set of R. G. Lawries belonging to a family member, Michael.
Working through those pipes and bringing them back into playing condition sent me increasingly further down the rabbit hole: old makers, construction methods, chanters and reeds, catalogues, different periods of manufacture, and why some old instruments have a character that is difficult to reproduce.
I eventually became the custodian of Michael’s Lawries, and they remain the pipes I play today.
ANOTHER SET OF PIPES
Michael had another instrument.
A c.1976 set of R. G. Hardies in African blackwood, mounted in genuine ivory and heavily engraved silver.
They had been sitting for some time. The bag had failed, the silver had heavily tarnished and the instrument needed considerable attention before it could properly be played again.
The job became considerably more involved than I’d expected — stripping old hemp, cleaning and treating the timber, working through every piece of engraved silver by hand, fitting a new bag and setting the instrument up again.
Eventually, they went back to Michael’s wife as a complete playing instrument.
That set changed things for me.
The Lawries had started the fascination. The Hardies made me wonder how many other good instruments were sitting in cupboards and cases in much the same condition.
THE PIPE WORKS
J. L. Egan & Co. Pipe Works came from that thought.
The focus is on older, vintage and inherited Great Highland Bagpipes: understanding what is there, attending to what actually needs attention, and getting good instruments back into playing condition.
That doesn’t necessarily mean making an old set look new.
Age is part of an instrument. So are old tool marks, wear from playing, variations in timber and the evidence of the people who owned it before.
The approach is therefore fairly straightforward:
What has failed is addressed. What remains serviceable is treated accordingly.
Some instruments need little more than careful recommissioning and setup. Others require considerably more work. Each set is considered individually, with the work recorded as it progresses.
The results can be found in the Catalogue.
FROM THE BENCH
I’m still a piper first.
That’s probably an important part of why the Pipe Works exists. I’m interested in these instruments as things that are meant to be played, not simply objects that happen to look good once they’ve been cleaned.
There is something particularly satisfying about taking an old set that hasn’t sounded for years, working through it piece by piece, and eventually putting the bag under your arm and hearing the drones come in again.
That’s the bit that got me into this in the first place.
Jack Egan
J. L. Egan & Co. Pipe Works
Sydney, N.S.W., Australia