As a piper of 11 years experience I can tell you that a lot of the so-called "bargain bagpipes" being sold on eBay aren't at all bargains at all. The price may be attractive, but there's the old saying "you get what you pay for." This is especially true with bagpipes. If you pay $200 for a bagpipe you can expect it to be good for nothing more than decoration, considering a modestly-priced professional quality instrument will run you almost $1000. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if you aren't willing to spend a pretty good chunk of money, you're trying to learn the wrong instrument.

There is, however, a right way to go about things. If you're a beginner (which I assume most people who are reading this guide are) there's an important tool you'll need to purchase before you can even think of buying a bagpipe. It's called a practice chanter. This is a little recorder-like instrument that has the same finger shapes as the full highland pipes. It's considerably quieter than the bagpipe and much easier to blow. After you get accustomed to the finger shapes and the music theory then we can talk about buying bagpipes. But don't buy just any practice chanter. Like the bagpipes, several of the practice chanters here are made from inferior woods in Pakistan. A good, solid practice chanter will be made from Delrin, a hard, dense plastic material. Look for a practice chanter made out of this material with a brand name on it. All established pipemakers will put their name on their products as a sign of quality control. Expect to pay around $50 to $100 for a good practice chanter. I do not recommend wooden practice chanters as they have a tendency to crack, are more expensive, and don't sound any different.

Once you get used to playing the practice chanter, then you can talk about acquiring bagpipes. There are several good makers out there today, and depending on your taste you can get a reasonably priced bagpipe if you don't really care about fancy decoration. You'll see a given pipemaker offer several models, but be advised it's the same boring and wood used on all the models, so regardless of price, all instruments made by a particular maker will sound identical.

So what are some things to look for in a set of pipes? Well, here's a short list of things to look for.

**Finish. The finish should be thin and transparent to allow the wood grain to show through. The wood should be flawless and uniform in color. Most pipemakers use an oil and wax finish, though a thin laquer finish is acceptable as well. You want to shy away from bagpipes that have a think, syrupy finish. This is often done to disguise imperfections on the wood. You should also look (unless your bagpipe is plain turned) at the beading and combing, or the "etching" on the bagpipe. Each comb should be the exact same width and height and be uniform throughout all the parts of the pipe without any imperfections. Many inferior bagpipes just don't have symmetrical combing. EDIT: I now have a couple of up-close pictures of my personal instruments. One is a decorative pipe that I use as a centerpiece, but not meant for playing. The other is my custom-made MacLellan which is of professional quality. Pay close attention to the finish on the wood and the combing.

**New vs. Used. If you're a beginner I recommend a new bagpipe. This is because used bagpipes often come with problems that the new user will need to fix. A new bagpipe will not have these problems and will be ready to play right out of the box.

*Synthetic vs. Hide bag. Synthetic bags require no maintenance. Hide bags require periodic seasoning but they do feel better under the arm. If you're willing to do the maintenance, a hide bag will feel better, though generally I recommend synthetics for beginners that way they can focus on playing instead of nothing but maintenance.

*Plastic vs. Wood. Dunbar bagpipes has come up with a new plastic bagpipe as an alternative to more costly wooden pipes. It does have notable advantages. It's more durable, and much less expensive. Dunbar plastic pipes run from about $600. However, unlike the practice chanter, the plastic pipes don't have quite as sweet of a sound as wood. As far as the pipe chanter, most new instruments have a plastic pipe chanter, and I recommend this for beginners as plastic chanters don't require as much fine tuning as a wooden one and doesn't need to be "broken in" like a wooden chanter.

*Cane vs. synthetic drone reeds. The beginner is much better suited by lower-maintenance synthetic drone reeds. Cane reeds are OK and do have a superior sound, but their lifespan is short and they are very finicky.

*Brands. There are several good pipemakers out there today. Some makers I recommend are Dunbar, David Naill, Kron, MacLellan (my new favorites), Henderson, Hardie, and Atherton (new on the market, and arguably the finest craftsmanship in the industry). There are other makers that are good as well. EDIT: To those whom I have recommended McCallum bagpipes, I do apologize and take this recommendation back. I'm a former McCallum player who started having significant difficulty managing my instrument. I discovered a number of design flaws in their instruments and as such no longer recommend them.

*Silver, ivory, etc. These don't say anything about the quality of a bagpipe. They speak of the price tag on the pipe. A bagpipe with simple mounts of course will be less expensive, but as mentioned, a modestly priced bagpipe with simple mounts from, say, Dunbar for example, will sound identical to the very expensive and highly decorated full-engraved silver Dunbar pipe. It's all a personal taste, and if you aren't concerned with decoration it's perfectly acceptable to purchase a modestly priced bagpipe provided it is from a reputable maker.

There are other items that are replaceable. Reeds, drone cords, bag covers, and even the pipe chanter and blowstick can be replaced. The major factor in considering a bagpipe purchase is the drones and the stocks. These are the parts of the instrument that will last.

Following these guidelines, you should be able to find yourself a high-quality bagpipe that will outlast you.