Am I weird, meershaum-wise

[Megaluddite]

I may be a little out of the mainstream when it comes to meershaum pipes. I was reading an old Pipes & Tobaccos magazine about coloring meershaum pipes. They went into lots of exotic methods of coating with beeswax etc. to make the meershaum color a nice golden, brown, red etc. color faster than it should be. I'm sorry, but I really nice the purity of the original white. It is nice when the highlights come out from the char from lighting a pipe or the gradual color from smoking it for 30 years, not that I've had that long. But I don't like the darker colors well enough to want to encourage them. I think a pure white pipe with a few torch marks from lighting is actually prettier than one that has been prematurely forced into a dark color before its time.

I also play a lot of stringed instruments, guitar, mandolin etc. I take a lot of pride in fine instruments that I bought new that now have dents in the frets or scuff marks on the finish from picking, a badge that I've smoked the dickens out of it. I'd rather see marks from legitimate use than to make an item artificially "worn in."

What do you think?

 

[Harlock999]

I totally agree.
In a world of pre-distressed jeans and t-shirts, "relic-ed" guitars, and parents who think that giving their child a "cool" name gives them instant personality, I love watching things age and take on character the old fashioned way: through thoughtful and steady use.

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[KevinM]

I mostly agree, which is why I prefer briar pipes which acquire a nice patina over time. I own three meers, but smoke them as if they wre briars -- no gloves, no re-waxing, etc . . . The only way I meers differently is to keep char from forming inside the bowl. So they're mottled and unevenly colored, but to me the effort to attain proper coloration was a distraction from enjoying a good smoke. Others' opinions may well differ.

 

[Leyte]

I agree my basses are relic'd by use.

 

[Growley]

I would love to see them stay bright white. The color they turn sometimes reminds me of very poorly brushed teeth.

 

[Harlock999]

I would love to see them stay bright white. The color they turn sometimes reminds me of very poorly brushed teeth.

Too right!
I would also add that I've never really understood the practice of coating a chamber with honey to encourage cake developement. At the very least, it seems to add a very sticky component to an activity that I would prefer not to be...sticky.
At all.

 

[Hermit]

There are more of us than I thought. :lol:
I wish mine stayed pristine white too.

 

[gravel]

You may very well be weird, but I agree with your sense of style, letting the meer gracefully age and not subjecting it to a tanning bed of beeswax and face oil.

 

[idbowman]

I take a lot of pride in fine instruments that I bought new that now have dents in the frets or scuff marks on the finish from picking, a badge that I've smoked the dickens out of it. I'd rather see marks from legitimate use than to make an item artificially "worn in."

I am with you 100% on this. I'd rather have something that I've worn the hell out of myself than something that something prefabricated to look that way for me (I feel a little stabby whenever I see someone wearing one of those ball caps with the pre-torn brim). I actually don't care much for meers in any state (just not my thing), but I will say that I love to see the char on rims of pipes that I've smoked regularly over the years - give's 'em personality...my personality.

 

[SpeedyPete]

I totally agree.
In a world of pre-distressed jeans and t-shirts, "relic-ed" guitars, and parents who think that giving their child a "cool" name gives them instant personality, I love watching things age and take on character the old fashioned way: through thoughtful and steady use.

Cheers,
Chris.

Agree !!! Just look at ME, 68 years old and seasoning so nicely :cheers: Check me out on facebook at Pieter Claassen (the old fart on the mountain bike). And while your at it, google KarooStof and see what pops up.

"Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble"

 

[monbla256]

To each his own as far as how they want to "color" their meers but I agree with the concept of letting it "do it's thing" over time. I have 3 meers that I've smoked sporadicaly over 30 years and I'm sure if I smoked them more often they would have "colored" more than they have by now. But the nice shades of tan/white they now have is fine with me and I'll let those that get them after I'm gone deal with it