1960s-era Henderson pipes from the period in the company’s history when Greig Sharp was running the show. All 3 drone tops and the bass mid joint all stamped “P. Henderson Ltd.” They have been independently authenticated by at least 2 different sources. They sound and behave the part – this instrument won the US Silver Medal for Piobaireachd in Kansas City earlier this year.
I had the pipes fully refurbished by Dunbar in late 2024. This included a complete strip & refinish, along with making all tuning chambers completely parallel and polishing all bores to a mirror finish. I had also found the original bass mid joint severely warped, and so had Dunbar measure and make up a copy of this part. I only ever played the pipes with the replica mid joint but the original will also be provided.
Prior to my having them, the original mounts were in bad shape and the original owner, in the Canadian Maritimes, sent them to John Walsh to be re-mounted in imitation ivory material. This both looks quite nice and means that this set does not come with any concerns about ivory for those who might travel with them.
The only other modification I have made was to slightly ream open the bass reed seat to the point that I could get it to accept an EZ drone reed. The original spec was quite narrow.
The net effect of the above is a tremendous positive impact on the sound/behavior/ease of reeding.
Here is a video of this set from earlier this year.
Feel free to reach out with any questions.
