Super dumb filter question....

For as much as I know they are removable. I have a savinelli trevi 320 tomato and it smoked like crap with a filter. I removed it and presto, flawless smoker.

Most filter pipes can be used without filters but inexpensive brands such as Dr. Grabow and Yellobole have metal moisture collectors, called stingers, that are fixed into their stems. These can sometimes be removed but not nearly as easily as just pitching an ordinary filter.

dan', this is the very opposite of a dumb question. This is a question every new pipe smoker should ask but usually doesn't, and has to learn the hard way buy buying various pipes and having questions and uncertainties. Some of the more common filters are 6 mm filters --including Dr. Grabow, Medico, and Savenelli balsa and Savenelli adaptors that allow you to smoke without a filter but still maintain an airway the same size all the way through. Most pipes that use filters can be smoked without the filters, but this opens the airway quite a bit -- some find this a little too open and airy, and others like it fine. The stingers mentioned by darwin aren't used in most new pipes today, but you do need to check when you buy pipes. Some can be slipped out with no problem. I don't believe new Dr. Grabow pipes have these, nor do Kaywoodies of recent manufature, although you might find them in "new" pipes in an old inventory. There's more to learn and know about filters, but that gives you a groundwork. Not a dumb question to ask, but a really, really dumb question not to ask. Other common filters are 9 mm, and there are adapters available for those, and Brigham rock maple inserts, not really filters but more like wood tube airways, which I think are optional to use or not. Incidentally, the Savenelli adapters can be used in any 6 mm filter pipe, like Dr. Grabow, Medico, and Yello-Bole. One other point -- Savenelli makes most of its pipes to accept the 6 mm balsa filters, or adapters for no-filter smoking, but they also have several lines, such as Oscar Lucite, their churchwarden 601, and unfinished pipes, among others, that do not have filters at all.

I would suggest adding to your due diligence list, make sure it will pass a pipe cleaner all the way through. If you tend to smoke wet or smoke particularly moist tobaccos, being able to run a pipe cleaner into the bowl from the stem will let you dab up the excess moisture in the bowl and keep your smoke cool and dry. If you're at a brick and mortar they should lend you a pipe cleaner to test with or take a couple when you go shop. Ordering online? I would call and ask and the customer service team may be able to test the pipe you're considering for you.

In my experience metal stingers are always easy to get rid of. You might need a pair of pliers, but I would think that that would be the worst obstacle you're likely to encounter. I actually like pipes that are made for filters but don't have one. I prefer the more open airway.

Not all stingers slip out and some are an integral part of the pipe. The no-longer-made but still available Kaywoodie Drinkless series is a prime example where the stinger also screws the stem to the briar. If there's any doubt, when buying the pipe in person ask the sales person to take off the stem, or with online retail phone and ask. You don't want a stinger ... unless you happen to want that pipe with its stinger. But yes, many/most new pipes, if they have a stinger, they are easily removable and slip right out by hand on a new pipe (BC's for example, which mostly don't have stingers, but occasionally do.

An unfinished Sav is an excellent pipe for any pipe smoker, beginner or old hand. Unfinished is a misnomer except when the pipe is new, since they fairly quickly develop a wonderful dark walnut finish, and if you buff it with a rag or polishing cloth while it's still warm after you smoke it, it will develop a beautiful glow. After a year or so, to call one of these pipes unfinished is a misnomer. Unfinished only when unsmoked. I highly recommend it; I have four of them, two about forty years old, bought new.

I am looking at a Savinelli Unfinished, which are unfiltered.

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Great choice! I own three and they are some of my favorite pipes! I believe mso489 owns some and they are some of his favorites to...

Please contact the manufacture and raise awareness about their choice of filter. Ask them if thier product was designed with a draw pressure in mind or If they just want to sell filters or if they want to sell pipes.

Dan:
You didn't ask for my opinion but I'll gladly chuck it out there gratis.
Buy the Savinelli and hold off buying the "basket or factory" pipes until you can afford another quality factory made briar burner. That, or buy a cob. (Maybe even, several cobs.) They're very inexpensive and the Missouri Meerschaums are wonderful smokers.
Fnord

My first (and only) pipe which I bought 2 months ago is a Savinelli taking a 9mm filter. The filters seemed to work well, but mean that you can't simply clean the pipe by passing a pipe cleaner through the stem so you have to take it apart regularly to change the filters, and seemed to me to make the pipe smell more when in my pocket. Also, they are an extra cost. So about a month ago I stopped using them, and haven't really noticed much of a difference.
These guys arrived yesterday http://www.amazon.co.uk/VERY100-Smoking-Accessories-Filter-Adapter/dp/B00VA1LI2M/ref=sr_1_5/276-5680315-6641808?ie=UTF8&qid=1443871178&sr=8-5&keywords=9mm+filter, which restrict the airflow a bit. However they aren't really long enough, but by trimming the edge a bit, I was able to make it fit it into the bottom of the mouthpiece. Still, I don't know yet if there is any point to these.