Gibson Long Poly Practice Chanter

The pipe was as presented, a Gibson chanter. However, the reed is pretty crap, and NOT Gibson...what'd you guys do, make your own reed out of a plastic cup after watching a youtube vid?

The media could not be loaded.  I have been playing this chanter for 4 months.I thought I was slacking off until I realized that it is not me. The h-A thumb hole is off and was not drilled in the correct position. This can actually effect my playing for I play bagpipes for a living.Being that it has been four months and I am just now noticing this. I demand that the seller send me another long practice chanter.I know Jerry Gibson personally. I know the builder of Ginson bagpipes and I will contact them and tell them about this!!!Again I was sold a defective practice chanter and demand a new one!!!

I own one other chanter, the John Walsh long practice chanter, and this one. I bought this one because I thought it had a smoother clarinet like sound. After owning it I have observed that it takes more air than the Walsh chanter. It is also louder and has more of a tendency to squawk. It is a nice practice chanter, but not my top choice.

After a lot of researching I decided on this practice chanter. I could not be happier. I highly recommend this chanter !!But I also would highly recommend getting the John Walsh reed as well. (One of the previousreviews recommended that - and it was WELL WORTH the extra $8.00)This chanter is extremely sturdy and well made. A really nice instrument !!I am a fairly accomplished musician - but I have never played bagpipes or any reed instrument.However - with this chanter and the John Walsh reed I was able to get a GREAT tone, and perfectintonation right out of the box. One note - the Gibson reed that was supplied gave me some problemswith fitting in the chanter - while the John Walsh reed fit perfect and sounded great.I haven't tried the Gibson reed since - but I will give it another chance in the future.If your just starting out - spend a little extra and get this chanter. I would recommend the John Walsh reed as well.

I really like this practice chanter! The only thing I don't particularly like (as a beginning bagpipe student) is that the holes are slightly indented and it makes it difficult to always find the right placement for my fingers. Sometimes I think I have it and then I try to play and I have to adjust it. The holes on the chanter my instructor has is slightly different and a bit easier to feel without always looking to see where my fingers are. Also the top part wasn't very secure to the bottom part and sometimes muddled the sound and had to be adjusted, but I bought some medical type tape to put around it to hold it and it works fine. Other than that I really love it! It's been pretty easy to use and I am really glad that I purchased it!

All around great practice chanter. Sharper than many other brands which can cause tuning difficulties with pipe band practice. With other Gibson's, it's perfect. I got this for my son to learn pipes on since I've always used the long Gibson cocabola (sp.) since I started and love it. My only issue is tuning to other brands which is likely a normal issue for any practice chanter. The practice chanter has a much more pleasing sounds and more volume than most other brands in my opinion. Definitely no regrets and one that should last a lifetime.

Well made and “easy” to use. It’s a chanter. Bagpipes are notoriously hard to play!

I got one of these a year ago. It has held up great, no remapping or anything.I would recommend removing the mouthpiece and letting the reed dry out between sessions, or else you risk growing stuff on the reed. Besides being nasty, I had to buy another reed because of this :(