The Pipes Magazine Radio Show – Episode 1
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Kevin Godbee
- Sep 20, 2012
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We are pleased to bring you the debut of The Pipes Magazine Radio Show starring Brian Levine. In this first show, Brian will tell you a little bit about himself so you will get to know who your host is. He has A LOT of experience with pipes and tobacco, and some pretty interesting stories and opinions. He will also talk about pipe shows and pipe clubs, and play some music from a local New Orleans band he heard while visiting “The Big Easy”. Finally, he will share the epic fiasco of trying to smoke his pipe while on a cruise ship that was supposed to allow smoking.
We hope you enjoy our premiere 45-minute show produced just for you—the pipe smoker and collector. The following link will launch a pop-up player. Alternatively, you can listen on iTunes.
[Disclaimer: This premiere episode will have absolutely no collector’s value on eBay in the future.]
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 576. Our featured interview tonight is with pipe maker Jesse Kulp. Jesse makes the Oliphant brand of pipes. He’s been a pipe smoker since he turned 18 in 2001. He started carving pipes in 2014 and started restoring estate pipes in 2016. He resides in the state of Wisconsin. When he is not making pipes, or smoking pipes, he is smoking meat. At the top of the show we will have a Pipe Smoking 101 segment where Brian will review the pipe tamper.
Recently, on the Pipes Magazine Forums, a user asked an open question about the Rattray’s Grand Lighter. I had not used or spent much time looking into those, so I thought it would be a good time to pick one up and do a review of it. When I do my lighter reviews, I generally like to do some deep digging and get in touch with the manufacturers such as IM Corona (Old Boy) or Tsutobo (Peterson, Kiribi), but in this case, there is scarce information available. Rattrays is distributed in the US by Sutliff, and you’ll find their lighters on SmokingPipes.com and other great retailers. I pinged Jeremy over at Sutliff to help me get in touch with the folks at Rattrays/Kopp and he got me connected to Oliver Kopp who was able to answer a few of my more detailed questions. The lighter that I chose to review is the Rattray’s Grand “Squares” lighter, which features a square line design on a highly polished stainless steel lighter. The Grand lighter was introduced about three years ago, and the Bel lighter was released about five years ago for context. It features a 45-degree soft flame, which helps (but not completely) keep build-up off the striker wheel – a problem that seems to plague my other lighters. These lighters fall square in the same competitive market of the Old Boy and the Kiribi, with a retail price of around $105 to $120. Some of their other lighters, like the Bel, retail for slightly less, around $82. Unboxing, you can see a few provided flints, which, upon inspection, are very similar to zippo flints if you’re looking for future replacements. The box contains instructions and warranty information and has silver foil inlaid text and decoration. Rattray’s states that their lighters are designed by them in Germany. But until I received it, I had no idea where it was actually made—China. That said, Oliver tells me that the Bel lighter is the same lighter used for Pierre Cardin and that the manufacturer they chose to go with also manufactures the Dupont Jet lighters. On the bottom of the lighter is a flip-up cover with Rattray’s name etched into it, which protects the refill valve and adjustment screws. The cover, though, you can see by the pictures, is less finished and does not quite feel as quality as one would expect for a $100+ lighter. But I do appreciate the cover. Zooming in, you can see the butane nozzle is angled out to the left from the spark wheel. The top flint section slides back on a spring load, but I warn you the tiny mechanism on the side is a bit of a pain to release the catch holding it back. But this feature is unique in that you can visually always see how much of the flint is left for when you have to replace it. That’s right, there’s no need to unscrew something; just slide the bar back, it locks into place, and then drop the new flint in. You need to put your fingernail between the thumbslide and the tiny metal catch, and the thumbslide will slide back into place. If you don’t do this, the top will not close. You can also see in this picture where the flame hits the metal area, which can be wiped away, but it’s due to the shorter nozzle. The lighter features a long “ignition” wheel, which is great for guys with big thumbs. It rotates quite easily and sparks well. I find that the lighter is taller than many other lighters and a bit slimmer at 2.76 in. / 70.21 mm in height and 0.39 in. / 10.07 mm in width. It weighs about 2.6 oz or 73ish grams. On the front-facing side it has the Rattray’s logo on the bottom right corner. It produces a nice soft flame that works like a champ to light your favorite tobacco. The internal tank is a plastic tank, but this is very common in many new lighters manufactured today. Before Rattrays introduces a new lighter, they actually send it (the prototype) to the repair shop that they use for all warranty services to review the lighter and make sure that it’s of high quality. Oliver tells me the return/repair rate for all of their lighters is low, and that is also because they concentrate on flint-style lighters as they are considerably more reliable than the electro-jet flames. The official repair center for these lighters is located here. Vintage Styling Now let’s talk about inspiration because the first thing one of my pipe club members said when I showed him the lighter was, “Wow, that looks like a Dupont.” As mentioned earlier, it’s the same manufacturer that makes one of the lines for Dupont as well as Pierre Cardin, so you can assume some shared styling. Borrowing ideas for lighters is nothing new; the “Old Boy” was originally a Dunhill lighter style. But when thinking about styling, we also look at the name – Dupont has a lighter named “Le Grand.” The Le Grand features both a soft flame and a torch flame for use with pipes and cigars. Now, price-wise, an ST Dupont lighter will set you back $1,500 and is geared squarely toward the luxury gentlemen’s market. That said, S.T. Dupont lighters have been around since the 1940s and are as much of a jewelry piece as it is lighter. When flipping the cap of most of the Dupont lighters, you get this resonating “ping” sound that is synonymous with them, and unfortunately, the Rattray’s Grand does not emit that type of sound. Kirby Allison did a great review of many of the ST Dupont lighters here, and its quite possible you will see a review from me at some point covering the best Dupont lighters for pipes and including some buying tips on the used and new market. In Summary There are some pros and cons to […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 575. We have a special show tonight to celebrate the start of our 12th year. In lieu of an interview, Brian will be joined by another popular pipe podcast host – Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and he is the former co-host of the now discontinued podcast, Country Squire Radio. Country Squire Radio ran for 10-years and is still one of the most popular pipe-niche podcasts. Having these two pipe and tobacco brainiacs bouncing off of each other for over 45-minutes will be a blast. We will be preempting our usual first segment to start right off with JD. We will have the usual music, mailbag and rant at the end of the show.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 574! Our featured interview tonight is with Michael DiCuccio. Michael is the President of TinBids.com, “The Pipe Collector’s Auction Site” where you can buy and sell vintage and rare tobacco tins, tobaccos, pipes and accessories. He has been collecting for over 30-years, and has a personal pipe collection of over 1,100 pipes. Michael also has his own IT company and is a self-proclaimed “computer geek”. At the top of the show we’ll get caught up on a backlog of emails and messages from our listeners with some great questions and comments. We will still have our regular mailbag segment at the end of the show as well.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 573! Our featured interview tonight is with J.B. “Brandon” Frady. Brandon is a new pipe maker making the Ash Cooper line of pipes which just launched earlier this year. His pipes are freehand and artistic shapes and designs. He is also a freelance writer for any type of project, but has been published for music reviews, concert reviews, and a single anomalous video game review, and other writings in a couple dozen professional publications. His full time job is with State Farm Insurance. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.
I’ve never owned a four-square billiard. I’ve had plenty of pipes with paneled sides, but this venerable classic has always eluded me. Truth told, I’d always considered it something of a remedial shape, a pipe to be made when a conventional billiard exhibited too many flaws, or when the lines went wrong. And, I considered them too “simple.” For as long as I’ve been smoking pipes, this quaint but cunning shape has held little interest. Then, something conspired to disabuse me of my prejudices all at once. One day, a few months ago, an Instagram friend taunted me with photos of a beautiful example of the shape that he’d just gotten. I was instantly smitten. Then he showed another. And another. As I looked at his photos, I saw things in the shape I’d never really noticed, sending me down the rabbit hole to look at hundreds of photos of as many examples I could find. It turns out it’s far from the simple shape I’d thought it to be, but rather one that’s clearly challenging to execute well. While it shares the overall profile and proportions of a conventional billiard, including the slight forward cant of the bowl, those panels have to be even, perfectly square, and, importantly, must not destroy the balance of the shape. If the bowl doesn’t have that very slight forward tilt, it looks like it’s falling backwards. Too much tilt, and it’s just weird. If the panels are cut too deeply, the walls could become too thin, and at its worst, it makes the thing look like a cube on a stick. The cut and gentle curvature of the four vertices are as important as the panels themselves. The shank, too, must be carefully and consistently square along its length, as must the taper of the stem. Though based on the classic billiard, it became clear looking at Frank’s pipes, and so many others, that if it’s going to be successfully executed, the pipe maker has to start out with the four-square in mind, rather than using the shape to “fix” a billiard gone wrong. As a bonus, the panels and facets exhibit the briar’s grain in a unique and interesting way. There’s also the practicality of the shape; the bowl has good capacity coupled with light weight. I had to have one, and so began my quest. A Dunhill EK would be nice, but finding one in good shape that wasn’t more than I was willing to spend turned out to be something of a fool’s errand. I went looking for a more modest example, maybe something French. After weeks of searching, I came across a “shop pipe” stamped for Garfinkel’s, an old Washington DC tobacconist that has always held deep significance to me. In the 1980s, a friend in our local pipe community introduced me to Garfinkel’s by way of their magnificent Orient Express #11 mixture. Produced for them by Sobranie, to this day I consider it the finest example of genre ever created. The balance of Virginias, orientals and Latakia were absolute perfection, resulting in a rich, complex and always fascinating tobacco. I started buying a pound of it every month, eight 2oz tins, until the tragic day when Larry Garfinkel called me to ask if he could send me two pounds that month. “Sure, Larry. Why?” It was his last two pounds. It was this tobacco that was the most significant inspiration on my own blending journey. I have no idea what magic was performed to make it so special, but it was, and it is. Garfinkel’s may be gone, but the memories linger. There were other spectacular blends in the Garfinkel’s catalogue, including a range made my Robert McConnell. The Olde Scottish Cut Cake #6 seen in the photos was another special one. In those days, I wasn’t much interested in Virginias, so I never explored them very deeply, but if I had, I would have squirreled away a lot more of this one, too. This is the last of only a few tins I’ve had over the years. And then there was Shottery, Armon, Ridgeway and Marlowe. I wish I had many tins of all of them. I digress. This Garfinkel’s four-square seemed perfect, a bit of serendipity, and it was made in France. I got the pipe for a good price, and waited for its arrival. When the package reached me, I tore into it quickly; my enthusiasm instantly collapsed when I got to the pipe itself. The pipe was covered with flaking and blistered shellac, and wore a bit of road rash from careless handling. The panels, while cut fairly evenly, were not flat, but comically concave. The top was badly scratched, and the stem was crusty, dull, and in need of serious restoration. Perhaps worse was the condition of the airway. Ironically, though the bowl had been reamed almost to bare wood, I don’t think the thing had ever seen a pipe cleaner, and it was tough work just to get a thin one through it. And, it wasn’t just the shank – even the stem was heavily caked with thick, tarry goop. The wretched stench, too, from ages of cheap aromatic tobacco was epic. But, there were no visible fills, the overall size, shape and proportions were good, and under the years of grunge, there might be some pretty nice wood hiding. Time to get to work. It took a lot of alcohol, and dozens of pipe cleaners to get the airway clean. The drilling through the shank was okay, but it was very tight through the stem, so a little blueprinting was in order, funneling the tenon, smoothing out the transitions, and opening things up to a more consistent cross section. The shellac had to go. Since the pipe was destined to be completely refinished, I sanded the whole pipe smooth, spending a little extra time on the scratched and chafed top and ensuring that the stem and shank were well mated. […]
no show
Anything that starts with Ozzy has to be good!
I added a player into the page that will work.
Reload the page and look for the play button below the link.
where`s the play button?
Little button that says Audio MP3 just above the iTunes link
Thanks for the help, Kevin. I`m sort of slow tonight. Looking forward to the show.
Brian, Hi there, nice clear radio show. Now listening 🙂
The Radio Show was worth the wait!
Running down the road with my laptop streaming the show!!!!!! Love it!!!!
Excellent !! Great idea !!
Got started a little late, but enjoying the show… Thank’s Kevin and Brian
Nice Show,Looking forward to future programs. Nice Job Brian,Kevin.
Ozzy Rocks!!! Awesome intro!!
Will have to download later. Work computer is obsolete.
Simply priceless but how do we download it for permanent posterity?
Got it on now.
FYI … I aint gots Itoons so how do ya download it?
Excellent show!!!! Will definitely enjoy listening to future episodes during my evening pipe experience!
I enjoyed the show.
Download it here.
[code]https://pipesmagazine.com/wp-content/2012/radio-show/09-2012/01/pipes-magazine-radio-show-01.mp3[/code]
What was your favorite part, Patty? The song from the band in New Orleans? 😉
Wow Brian, you sure covered a lot of material in a very short time. Look forward to future shows and new topics. Your “complaint” section at the end was very entertaining too. Keep up the good work.
Great show Brian!
I suggest some weekly tobacco trivia.
The over the top entire lengh of a CD song was my favorite! I can hardly wait to download that exciting part again!
Great suggestion on the tobacco trivia Patty! Ha! I knew you loved that song.
The host was fun, cool, and laid-back!
Good Night fellow Pipe Smokers! I’ll be sure to be tuned in next Thursday at 8:00pm
great show. More More More. Enjoyed listening to it while I was working in the shop and enjoying a few bowls.
Good show!
Nice job Brian! Great segment on the pipe shows. I attended my first show this year at Columbus. Certainly won’t be my last. Hope to catch up with you at Chicago next year. I’ll be listening next week.
I enjoyed the show Brian is a very entertaining host.
I just got a chance to listen and I enjoyed the show a lot. I am new to pipe making, but this is my second go round at smoking them. I smoked cheep tobacco in the navy 25 years ago. I quit soon after I got out. I decided to pick it back up last year and I saw a pipe kit from Tinsky and the bug bit me. Now I am on an intense learning quest. I am looking forward to listening and learning. Keep up the good work you have a pleasant voice goes good with a quite smoke after the kids go to bed!(I am a single dad of 2 little ones my days are chaos)
Sitting on my deck, listening and smoking a bowl. Very funny, informative & interesting. Like the idea of some pipe trivia in each show. Well done.
Brian, good show. I enjoyed it very much. I look forward to your next show.
Thanks.
Great show!Congrats!Quite enjoyed it but, I would suggest a “noise gate” for the “tape hiss”.Granted I do love the analog warmth, but the “hiss” takes away from the professionalism put into the recording.Not to criticize as it may have been unnoticed while being live.It’s just that I personally could hear it since I do recording myself.Great show overall and can’t wait for next week.
Great show, loved the music, lots of usefull info. Thanks.
Hey thank you I had a great time and plan to tune in again .
Bravo!
Awesome show! I really like hearing about his history in the pipe world. Kevin you definitely chose the right person!
I’m glad you guys enjoyed the first show. I thought it came out pretty good, especially for the first attempt. Just wait for the future shows. They will be even better as we get more practice at this. Thanks for listening, and tune in again next Thursday at 8pm eastern, please.
Nice job, Kevin and Brian. Good start, look forward to the evolution of the show. — Sandy
Good show last night, helped me forget I was living in a small city south of Texas and I was somewhere else with other pipe smokers. Cheers!
That was a great show, really enjoyed it. Looking forward to the next cast!
Brian,
I have sent to all the TAPS Pipe Club members, in Raleigh N.C,notice of your excellent
radio program.Loved the format,humor and the content.Looking forward to the next installment.Happy smoking!
Great job guys!!! Brian, the Brigham Klondike #619 that I picked up in Chicago last May is smoking like a dream!! The perfect VA pipe!!!
Brian….Enjoyed the first show…..bought back memories of talking to you at shows when you worked for PS…..Good luck and I will see you in St.Louis…
Larry V. from the former “Moore’s Tobacco Shop” Danville, IL.
Good show! Subscribed on iTunes
We need a archive link that will contain all the broadcasts so we can download them to a desktop or notebook in MP3 format.
Brian was fantastic! I’m hoping he will tell us more about himself in upcoming shows. As I recall, he told me that his parents were hippies and he was brought up in a commune at various times, and, while he is close to his parents, he rebelled by embracing the world of tobacco. If that’s true, we’d love to hear more. For those of you who have not met Brian, he truly is a great guy.
This was just a wonderful first show!! It will be great to see how this show develops over time. Highly Recommended.
I really enjoyed the show I sure hope you stick with you did an outstanding job oldd boy.
An auspicious beginning Brian. Interesting hearing your bona fides. With your varied background you should make an excellent host.
Loved the show, can’t wait for future installments!
I thought that was absolutely amazing. I loved to humor and the info that was involved. I will certaintly be tuning in next week to listen. Great job and loved the Greg Pease joke.
Great show Brian! I listened to the podcast and you can count me as a regular! Bravo!
A terrific show, Brian. I enjoyed all aspects of the program, including the “rant” on your cruise experience. I read yesterday of a new farpotshket British study that tested a very small number of folk, and came up with the “possibility” that second-hand smoke affects memory! What next? However, I can’t remember where I read it, or how many people were tested. Perhaps I should avoid smokers. I’m sure it has nothing to do with me being in my late sixties. Perhaps a rant on these knuckle-head “scientific” studies. Now, where the hell are my glasses?
Really enjoyed your show! Entertaining. Keep up the good work!
Great show Brian. Next episode, let us know when and where the new tobaccos you will carry will be avaiable.
Excellent show. Great information and style. What was the best was the Cruise ship information. Brian, I agree with you and I will never go on those cruise ships. They apparently do not want us and I do want to be where I am not wanted. They would rather have a bunch of drunk, overweight, cigarette smoking customers. Well too bad for them.
Great show, Brian! I really enjoyed it. Had a feeling it would be good, knowing you, and sure enough… Looking forward to more!
Great show. I’m a loyal briar pipe man. Can you convince me to buy a meershaum?
Just got done listening to the radio show and really liked it! Had alot of great info and insight. I have to admit, I have been involved with the youtube pipe community and to be honest i’m pretty burnt out with it!! You can only watch so many videos with a guy doing a YABO and lighting a pipe.
Keep up the great job and look forward to next week….Joe
Fun, lively and down to earth. Great host and subject. Thank you PM!
I thought this was a wonderful, relaxing show with good humor and attitude. Keep up the good work! I felt the cruise ship rant ran a little too long — though Brian’s narrative style kept it interesting. I enjoyed the whole show so much I don’t know where the time went.
.
I second Patty’s suggestion for a weekly trivia segment. It’s interesting, and probably no coincidence that 4noggins was one of the e-mag’s pioneer sponsors, and here they are again stepping-up to support this unique format. Hmmm, I think I’ll place an order for a big batch of their Prairie Wind blend.
Excellent Show Brian! Enjoyed the Industry “insider” info. and humor. Would like to hear more of your dealings with Dunhill,Stokkebye etc., and other fun “war stories” you might be willing to share…
Great Job! The time flew by quickly – Can’t wait for more!
Ejoyed the first episode have not heard 2nd yet o but I will this weekend!
fun radio show, thanks!
fr dave
Nice show. I felt a little sting when you mentioned YouTube presenters not having good information. I understand you weren’t making a sweeping statement, but I still winced a bit.
Cheers.
Long over due. Great job!
Is there somewhere else to get other than iTunes? I was getting the previous 20 episodes via iTunes, but today, I was logged out. Now, when I lot in, I can’t download the shows unless I put in my credit card information. I don’t really use iTunes for anything else and I’m reluctant to post that info. But, I’d love to get Episode #21….