Some time ago pictures came to me where I was not able to identify the maker. Some had suggest Rolf Litorin of Sweden, but I thought not. My patience was recently rewarded and the maker revealed.
Highland bagpipes were made by Dennis McMaster and his business partner, Shane Barney. Shane designed snowboards for a local Utah company and became a piper under Dennis’ tutoring. They began talking about Shane’s ability to work with computer controlled lathes and cad programs. Soon they put their combined skills to work producing sets of quality pipes. S.D. Sterling Pipes were created… S. for Shane, D. for Dennis. This was about 1998-99. Dennis owned and operated The Celtic Center in Salt Lake City, selling Scottish apparel, making bagpipes, and giving lessons.
There were several styles produced. Plain turned, beaded and combed, full silver, etc. in both ABW and Mopane. Some had plastic mounts for entry level sets, or bone colored micarta that looked like a good faux ivory. Internal measurements were based on turn-of-the-century Henderson pipes. They took precise measurements and then went to work with the computer and began turning out some nice sounding pipes. Many compare the tone of a well tuned set of S. D. Sterling’s to that of 1900-1920 Henderson pipes. Shane died unexpectedly on May 22, 2009. Dennis continued to produce, but not in volume. Dennis and his wife retired and now reside in Tennessee.
Ben Lomond High School purchased several bagpipes from him in the late 1990s. Other sets may be found in Utah and elsewhere. Salt Lake City Pipe Band are said to have several sets.
