how to tune a pot call

[harvester]

I have a pot call that sounds terrible. I have tried different strikers to get a desirable sound but nothing sounds real good on it. So...

How do you tune a pot call after it is assembled? Is that even possible? I'm new to this and thought that I would give it a try. For instance, the one I have in mind has a dull sound to it  and I would like to try and get a better sound out of it. What steps would need to be take to tune the call? Would you use sand paper and try and remove some wood or put it on lathe and reduce the amount of wood on the bottom of the pot. It has probably 1/4 of wood on the base.

Thanks.

[Gobblerstopper]

Putting the call back on the lathe would probably require removing the surface and soundboard to do it safely.  At that point, I would take notes of all the measurements on the pot and throw it in the firewood pile.

Turn another one and try something a little different.  Maybe a thinner bottom, wider pedistal, smaller lip for the surface to sit on, different glue, more space between the calling surface and soundboard (or less) or a taller pedistal (or shorter)  Change only one thing or so and see how it turns out.  Try to keep everything else as close to the same as possible.

What are the wood, calling surface, soundboard material and strikers that you tried?

[harvester]

Its a custom pot I bought. I sent the first one back and they sent me another one, it sounded a little bit better but still sounds like crap. I used all of my best strikers on it and some other ones that where laying around. Nothin seemed to help it. I may take the sound board and slate out of it and just see what they done and everything. Its junk anyway IMO, I wouldn't even give it away. I was just wondering if there was anything I could do that may help it, IT DEFINEATELY WON'T HURT IT. 

[Gobblerstopper]

If it is a custom pot, I would get my money back, let the callmaker know what you thought was wrong with the call and go on my way.  Most callmakers take as much pride in their reputations as they do the calls they put out.  Most that I know also want to know when a customer is not happy, why and how to make it right.  If they do none of these things, then they might as well start giving calls away.  Most of us rely on word of mouth to get customers to "try" our calls.  I say "try" because I don't consider a call sold until I know the buyer is happy with the call.  Until then, they are just trying it out with payment in advance. 

When I first started turning calls, one of the few custom callmakers that would help anyone out told me something that I haven't forgotten.  He said "when a customer is happy with a call, he tells a couple of people.  When a customer is not happy with a call, he tells everyone."

I have found there is some truth to that as there should be, but every chance should be given to the callmaker first to make it right.  If he doesn't then he has some work to do.

[lightsoutcalls]

I agree with Andy about customer service.  Give the callmaker the chance to make it right or buy the call back. 

On the other hand, I have received a couple of calls back this year that the buyer swore he could not get a good sound out of.  I ran the calls when they arrived and would have easily submitted both of them for callmaking competitions.  That said, you might check with the callmaker and see what kind of technique he uses to run the calls to produce the sounds he gets from the call.  Striker angle, striker pressure, how you hold the call, where you hold the striker, where you run the striker on the call and striker tip and call surface conditioning all play a part in the sounds you will get out of the call.  (I am not questioning the abilities of the original poster, just throwing out some basic info. for information sake.)

My top priority is customer satisfaction.  If the only way to satisfy the customer is to put his money back in his pocket, that's what he gets.

[harvester]

The callmaker went above and beyond to make things right but the call still didn't sound nothin like a custom call. I can't bad mouth the callmaker for not trying to make things right. His calls just ain't what they need to be, to be considered custom. He needs to learn what a really good call sounds like. IMO. I have several custom and high production calls and this is by far the worst one I have ever used. I tried switching strikers, different pressure, running the striker on different parts of the call from 1/4" from the edge to the center. It just ain't got it.