I received a Pre-owned Water Weasel in D today from Eagle Music Shop in England and to my surprise I saw not a red part on the bottom of the whistle mouthpiece where the bottom lip goes but rather a brownish like part. Is this normal? Is this age? I did notice some pipe writing kinda disappearing on the tube. I'll try to include pictures in links below. Did I get a Water Weasel?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WVxCTrCipWEFNyeY7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WRPy3z5gBRdZpjC19

Not having owned or played one, I only know of the late Glenn Schultz's good reputation, not the norms he tended toward as a maker. But FWIW, in this video around 0:21-22, the player wields his Water Weasel F so that you get a quick glimpse of the fipple plug, and that one is definitely brown, but of lighter color than in your pic.

My inexpert opinion is that you have reason to hope.

_________________
"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

I had a set and a friend lost the mouthpiece when he borrowed them....bought another in D in hopes that the head would fit my three bodies...it didn’t....longer story here that I won’t go into now....the head of my original set had a brownish, wood looking plug of some dense material...the whistle I bought for the replacement head had a very red plastic type of material....I was surprised by the red, you are surprised by the brown...it’s most likely an original WW.

This plug is brownish like and feels like, and looks like wood, if it is I don't know. I hope you were able to see my pictures to get an idea of it.

Do you think this was one made before the red plugs were introduced then?

I looked at your video and saw the plug. It looks like it is very similar and brown, but actually my plug to me looks a little lighter in brown color. But yes it looks like it probably is the same type of plug.

Interesting. To me, it's unmistakably the other way around. But then, online sellers frequently issue caveats reminding one that on these machines we use, color display varies: "The doodad's color may not be exactly the same as on your computer screen."

If you've got remnants of PVC code writing on the front of the whistle - a signature, and I think endearing, feature of Schultz's Water Weasels - odds are still better yet that you have the real deal. The big question, then: How's it play?

_________________
"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

I learned a little from a former member who offered to make my newer head fit my old set....sent them all his way and never heard from him again....in our correspondences, he mentioned that Glenn started out with the brownish material ( not wood), and it is some kind of resin....at some point he switched to the red plastic plugs...so the wood like plug is from the earlier ones....I’ll look at some old emails, if there, to confirm.

There is disappearing/rubbed away writing on the bottom of the whistle. Something that starts with what looks like 5/8. On the top near the whistle head is the logo. I've included links to some pictures of the writing and the logo. It plays just fine and tuning seems good!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RvquJRLaYtSAZ9Jx7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/sNEtHBm9q9d1YjCg6

Thank you! I appreciate any information you could provide.

If his life wasn't cut short, then he was a scoundrel.


This could be one of those cases where the (or a) owner intentionally tried to get rid of the code print. It was not unknown for people to do this to their Water Weasels, and although aesthetically understandable, it was also a topic of debate: some liked the print for the defiantly funky look; and after all, that's the way Glenn designed them, so for that reason some saw the removal as a questionable imposition. In practical terms - and putting aside the possibility of counterfeit labels - if the code print were legible you'd have an easier time verifying this whistle's identity. When I first looked at the photo, I couldn't even see any print at all, and I wondered what you were talking about until I really focused hard. It's barely there at all! I'm pretty sure that such wholesale erasure could not possibly be from the wear and tear of normal playing. So in a negative sort of way, I think the odds of it being a real Water Weasel are even better yet.


The label shows a trace of dirt accumulation especially along the lower edge; that speaks to years of use. If this whistle's a forgery, someone went to a lot of trouble in the minutiae.

_________________
"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

So just for clarification, you think it is a real Water Weasel because it does have markings that someone purposely tried to remove, which you say was often done? I guess markings at all would also indicate it being real.

And also you say it is real because the logo dirt indicates use over time that would be difficult to counterfeit easily?

It looks like in the writing it is a 5/8 then an O.D. or it could be a zero and a D then there are numbers after that.

Mine has the plug just like yours. Which was why in your earlier post regarding cleaning i wondered if it were some kind of wood. Or it could be a resin with a wood tone or a mix of fibers and resin. Who knows...

But it looks like you got the real deal to me.

Mine did not have a label. But mine were pretty early.

Glenn once told me the brown fipple plugs were made from Ciba-Geigy epoxy resin, and the pink ones were made from some kind of modeling polymer that he salvaged from the scrap bins at GM. At least that's the way I remember it. I don't have that particular correspondence archived, and my memory isn't what it used to be.

_________________
Regards,
Gary Humphrey

♪♣♫Humphrey Whistles♫♣♪

[Raindogs] The ones you see wanderin' around after a rain. Ones that can't find their way back home. See the rain washes off the scent off all the mail boxes and the lamposts, fire hydrants. – Tom Waits

Glad to hear I got the real deal. Seems like Water Weasel whistles are hard to find.

Thank you for the information, Gary! I have actually been considering one of your whistles. I may try one out in the future. I live in Dandridge, Tennessee and I like the idea of having a Tennessee-origin whistle as a Tennessean myself!