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Hi Just did. Your cork seal in the butt is a bit different than the early rod I have, mine has the yellowish foam plug, however Ive got a couple of Lee Wulffs personal pre production models and one of them has the identical cork filler in the butt as yours does.
That rod as well as another early serial numbered production model both have the correct wrap colors as yours however both have the now classic Lee Wulff Signature decal and rod info decaled on.
The other early production model has a serial number as well, being the first year the Wulffs were available.
Im guessing yours has been used enough that the imprint on the seat area was caused by the reel, not a machine fitting, in that I have one with the green grip cap with almost the identical seat imprint from many years of careful fishing and the cork being wet and drying repeatedly. Also it has suffered from the decal being off, a very costly issue with this series of rods.
Anyway send me the guide spacing tip to stripper via email and I will let you know, I will have to remeasure my early rod to confirm if its early or later production.
Still a nice rod and Im sure quite desirable.



Late model grip on mint rod, no imprint for ever having a reel mounted, not the lack of additional machining
into the cork, its a very close fit, once a reel like a Hardy lightweight is fitted the impression gets pretty bad
if its left on for awhile with the rod getting wet and drying repeatedly, I have a used copy with exactly the same
reel foot indent into it after may years of careful fishing.

This is a prefect decal on a mint rod and you can see that the large wide decal is subject to poor fit and often
these decals will peal right off on a well used rod, I have one like yours that looks like it never carried a decal.

Typical early rod serial numbering


Note in first year promo that the one piece rod has the cork or foam filler in the butt

here is another Wulff, this time an unfished rod however the previous
owner had mounted a reel to it several times to get the balance right
etc now, nearly 40 years later you can still see the imprint of the reel
foot into the cork, a costly reduction in value for what otherwise would
have been a mint rod.






Richard

Hi Ribs,
Well in the case of this rod it appears to actually have some possibility of having had the actual mortised cut down on a machine cut, besides the yes, very present indentation and stain, I agree 100% with both of you. Having over half a dozen of this model now including two prototypes, one early serial numbered model and three later models.
The flat portion and quad grip were supplied final finished from a European maker to Garica Conolon by the case.
However with a little insite as to some of the current offerings of left over supplies of the original grip/seats, I would suspect they were set aside for not being perfect, up to standard and sometimes had cosmetic flaws as well.
Frankly those Ive thus far used don't fit the factory rings. I.E. the diameter is thicker than required on the machining area of the mortised area of the seat. Frankly even if you sand down the larger ID the indent still wont fit a reel foot without terrible indentations and compression. (Factory Rings, same ID as the seat itself).
Ive personally solved that problem because the rings I use (none were ever supplied with grips and were from another sourse), are from the Orvis Repair shop for the older 1-2-3wt superfines. Those rings are a slighty bigger ID than the factory 2070 grip would have had and a very small reel foot will fit perfectly. What am I saying, the foot of a Martin (earlier american made versions) 60, 61, 63 fits perfectly. Another fit is the long gone hardy clone the HK-44 Garcia fly reel.
Still another is the Ryobi magnalite 355 designed around line weights 6-7.

As to this rod, its got issues, the lack of the decaling is the most costly, the presense of the tube and sock the most inclusive.

I would suggest that the tube and sock be sold seperately, best place here on our forum where PayPal and Ebay fees dont exist, I don't want to fix a price for the seller but sense I do collect this model I would be interested at $150 for them plus shipping.

Then list the rod itself on Ebay with a starting price of $150, that I would would bid, and thus the price would only go up from there. The fact that the guide spacing is none typical and indicates and early first year (1970) release rod, could add some value to that price, even reflecting lack of decal, tube and sock.

Frankly I buy rods just exactly like this one just to fish them, and $150 is a good solid price.

Again Frankly if you list it on Ebay for $150 your gonna have listing fee's, sales fee's and if its as now stated PayPal fees, $150 relates down to around $135.

If the owner wants to sell it without all the hassle then list the tube and sock here at $150 plus shipping and the Rod at $150 plus shipping (hard PVC tube needed so shipping will run around $30 with the tube cost), check or MO, or PayPal Plus 5%, that would be my reconmendation.

YOU might get a dollar or two more over the $300 plus costs, lets say break even $350 plus but is it worth it in the end? Ebay can take weeks, alot of reasonabily offered tackle sales here close in minutes.

Richard