Most of you who are or have invested in a Waterphone will want to protect it with a case. I have found a series of cases I can recommend for the Whaler, Bass, and MegaBass Waterphones. These are the SKB Drum cases made from impact plastic and come in 12, 14, & 16 inches in interior diameters. They are reasonably priced with the 16 inch case being about $89. from Musician Friend (telephone - 1-800-776-5173 Musicians Friend seems to have good shipping price to Hawaii and their turnaround time to here is about one week. I make no profit in these cases but do think them a wise investment. If you know of a less expensive source of quality cases please let me know. If you want a case this is what I recommend: At the same time that you place your Waterphone order with me call Musicians Friend and have them send me a case by Priority Air Mail. I will ship your Waterphone to you in this rigid case rather than a cardboard box. The case does not come with insulation so I use packaging materials like recycled foam and newspaper when I ship as insulation. As the case is considerably heavier than a box the shipping fee is 4% rather than 3% so figure that in when your place your order with me. If you prefer you can have the case sent to you and I will ship in the cardboard box.

More on Waterphone Preservation -

Below is an important alert to Waterphone owners in high sodium environments.Since moving to Hawaii it has become obvious that high sodium environments will do harm to the materials used in constructing the Waterphone. As there are numerous grades of stainless steel I would have preferred to be making the Waterphone from a marine grade if that had been possible. Doing this would have skyrocketed the cost as making marine grade pans would have been a one off item and each Waterphone would have to be TIG welded. Each Waterphone would have cost several thousand dollars if it could have been made. In order to get around this I use a lower grade of stainless which in a high sodium environment like Hawaii or other coastal areas requires additional care. Otherwise the materials will began to deteriorate. First - Always use distilled water. After playing, put your Waterphone away in its case or in something with a cover it so air borne sodium does not come to rest on it. Keep a coat of one of the two products below on the interior metals and all of the exterior metals except those that you will be playing like the front surface of the tonal rods and the bottom pan. After you follow the preserving directions in the Waterphone Information Publication I recommend that you find either a cork or a rubber ball that you can snug down into the aperture so that the odors are contained. A case helps in this also. Over time the odor lessens but the procedure may have to be repeated. In extreme conditions like on-ocean I recommend the cleaning/preserving procedure be done more frequently. Follow the directions in the Waterphone Information Publication for application. The choices as I know them follow. There may be others.

WD-40 - Available almost any hardware or Dept. store. Helps in resisting rust. I use this product unless the conditions are severe as in coastal or on ocean environments.

LPS-3 This is for more severe conditions. It protects better but is more expensive and has a negative odor. WD-40 isn't exactly sweet smelling while LPS-3 is obnoxious but does a great job at protecting metals. Most hardware stores and automotive stores care this product.

One of the last procedures I do when making a Waterphone is to give it a treatment of WD-40. If you live in or will be using your Waterphone in a high sodium environment and would like that I give you instrument an LPS-3 treatment please request this when you order. Richard Waters - Hawaii