McCallum
McCallum bagpipes was formed in 1998 in Kilmarnock Scotland. A partnership between Stuart McCallum and Kenny MacLeod, both Grade 1 players. Since its inception, McCallum has gone on to become the most popular brand of bagpipes in modern times. In 2008, top soloist Willie McCallum came on board and developed the McC2 solo pipe chanter. Rumor has it that internal measurements were tweaked at this point. The overall profile of the McCallum bagpipe bears similarities to vintage Lawrie bagpipes.
Above - McCallum's AB4 Deluxe model, Celtic engraved nickel with blackwood mounts.
Makers mark and year stamped on tuning slide.
Above - This photo shows details of combing and beading, as well as a side profile of the projecting mounts.
Drone tops from an AB3DE set.
I play a set of AB4 McCallum pipes dated 2007. I find them very easy to play and maintain and have used them in the 2008 Kremlin Zoria, the 2009 Edinburgh Tattoo and the 2010 Basel Tattoo plus numerous functions and parades in and around Canberra Australia where I live. I would recommend McCallum pipes as they sound good and seem to be very robust. They are also reasonably priced.