Chiff and Fipple Forums

A few months ago, I bought what was billed as a "vintage 70's Shaw pennywhistle" off ebay. Was he making whistles that long ago? The whistle (standard high-D) is a lovely bit of work. The carving of the wind-channel is very precise, and the fipple looks to me to be mopani -- I didn't think anybody outside of Africa was using that wood back then.

Reason I'm posting is: somebody has scribed the letters "RED" on side of the whistle, next to where "SHAW" is stamped into the front. They must have used a diamond tipped tool to do that, because the lines are deep but very narrow (it took me 2 months to notice them). The letters are beautifully formed: the legs of the R sport these cool little reflected serif's, and the E looks like a logarithmic spiral.

I'm wondering: was this whistle owned by a jewelry maker named RED, who decided to carve his name into the whistle? Or is this something the maker did? Has anyone seen this kind of engraving on old Shaw whistles?

Thanks!

Probably a former owner. Could be initials rather than a name.

I've seen all kinds of things engraved into musical instruments like this. Some kind of identifying mark. Usually not well or beautifully done! You didn't show us a picture, but the engraving sounds professionally or at least skillfully done.

I would tend to agree that it is a previous owners initials, the sort of thing you do when you know there may well be other people with the same instrument, especially if you play with others.