Has Peterson Quality Suffered in Recent Years?
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Personally I feel it is the other way around. Over ten years ago I had several Petes with quality issues so I stopped buying them. Then this last year I have bought and enjoyed several with no complaints. I think since they changed owners they have gotten better. That is my impression I have with my small sample size but I have heard others say the same thing.
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That's old news. When Laudisi took over the company, they made a concentrated effort to improve the quality of their pipes. They knew that Peterson had let the quality slip for some years, and were determined to get that company's reputation back. Maybe there's a pipe here and here that may have a problem, but that can happen with factory pipes from any company. I have a couple of dozen Petersons since the take over, and every one of them have lived up to what they should be. I'd never hesitate to buy one.
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I was in the antipeterson pipe camp for a few years. I had bought 3 when I first started pipe smoking around 2015ish. I sold every single one of them. I gave them another chance recently and now own a bunch of them. Very solid smokers. My favorites are the standard "80S" models and the 80S silver spigots.
So I have had the complete opposite experience. Every Laudisi Pete I have bought, I've gotten rid of. That includes x2 80's spigots. Numerous poor craftsmanship issues.
I recently purchased 6 Petersons starting with an ebony 9b revival when released in spring of 23’ then this winter an Iora 999, 314 premiere barley, 125th anniversary 3s and 8s and a terracotta Squire.
I never intended to concentrate my purchases on Petersons this last year but the limited and special editions were just too good to pass up.
They’re all well made, but if I were to call out one of them as being suspect it would be the Iora 999. I have two other 999’s and both pass a cleaner easily. The Iora not so much. The draft isn’t centered well and overall my initial impression was that of disappointment. Besides the sloppy drilling the heavy blast left the stummel feeling delicate and thin. Quite smaller in hand than the two deluxe standards I own in comparison. It took a week or two before I started to notice the fine nuances of it. The lightness and incredibly interesting grain pattern. But even more so I started to appreciate it’s one of a kind uniqueness! I’ve never seen another 999 quite like it.
Granted all of these pipes are north of the price range the OP notes. But not by much and I’m extremely pleased with them regardless of price.
I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase Petersons and had to exercise some serious willpower today with the recent spigot release.
I never intended to concentrate my purchases on Petersons this last year but the limited and special editions were just too good to pass up.
They’re all well made, but if I were to call out one of them as being suspect it would be the Iora 999. I have two other 999’s and both pass a cleaner easily. The Iora not so much. The draft isn’t centered well and overall my initial impression was that of disappointment. Besides the sloppy drilling the heavy blast left the stummel feeling delicate and thin. Quite smaller in hand than the two deluxe standards I own in comparison. It took a week or two before I started to notice the fine nuances of it. The lightness and incredibly interesting grain pattern. But even more so I started to appreciate it’s one of a kind uniqueness! I’ve never seen another 999 quite like it.
Granted all of these pipes are north of the price range the OP notes. But not by much and I’m extremely pleased with them regardless of price.
I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase Petersons and had to exercise some serious willpower today with the recent spigot release.
my two are great. No issues. The churchwarden was bit harsh breaking in but is a favorite and makes me wish I had discovered the wonders of Dublin conical chambers.
Damn guys....if they have cleaned up their act I may just have to get a Pete!
Crap!
You just had to tell me that.
Now I've got another 80S Silver Spigot on the way.
And will you look at that.
I just happen to have a spot open for it!
I just happen to have a spot open for it!
We bought my father-in-law an inexpensive Irish Second when we visited the shop in Dublin a couple years ago - he’s smoked a little over a decade more than you OP and some fine pipes - he loves it.
I have more Petes than anything else, all acquired in the past 3 1/2 years. Wide range of price points. P-lip and otherwise. No issues with performance in the less expensive vs. the more so. Have had issues with stain bleed with three or four that resolved and haven’t seen that lately at all. Drilling has been almost always good and when not perfect they still do what they should.
I have an inexpensive Irish Harp on the way in a shape I like and a stem that looked more interesting than most of the Harps - I expect great things!
Everyone has their own experiences and any company making thousands of pipes will have some that aren’t perfect. Just buy from somewhere that makes it easy to return.
I have more Petes than anything else, all acquired in the past 3 1/2 years. Wide range of price points. P-lip and otherwise. No issues with performance in the less expensive vs. the more so. Have had issues with stain bleed with three or four that resolved and haven’t seen that lately at all. Drilling has been almost always good and when not perfect they still do what they should.
I have an inexpensive Irish Harp on the way in a shape I like and a stem that looked more interesting than most of the Harps - I expect great things!
Everyone has their own experiences and any company making thousands of pipes will have some that aren’t perfect. Just buy from somewhere that makes it easy to return.
Yep, quality is back with them, and now, when I look at my collection, I have a hard time not picking up seasonal pipes as I have too many damn petes lol.
Like others have said I think the quality has improved after Laudisi took it over. I think they’re still behind Savinelli for quality but I think the amount of pipes they produce is also vastly different.
The most recent Peterson I bought was disappointing. Previous ones were fine. Too small a sample to draw conclusions.
But that along with reports from others .....
BTW if there ever was an issue with fakes Peterson would be the most obvious brand. If the Chinese can build convincing Rolex copies pipes would be easy. Food for thought.
But that along with reports from others .....
BTW if there ever was an issue with fakes Peterson would be the most obvious brand. If the Chinese can build convincing Rolex copies pipes would be easy. Food for thought.
I have 5-6 Petes and they all are solid smokers. No issues with any of them.
I'm with you on this. I do enjoy my Petes, but I have more Savs and I like them a little better. But I have zero doubt I will continue to add to my Pete collection in the years to come.
And we’re proud of it!Damn it man, now you got me looking at spigot pipes!
Ya'll nothing but enablers...
I have 4 Pete's, 2 are system pipes. All smoke great. System pipes are the best all day smokes that I use when traveling to load bowl after bowl without issue. IMO they are better than their price = good value.
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