Seems like what defines an actual custom call is pretty loose these days. I guess I am a literal kind of guy. Custom means I had a hand in determining the surface, color/wood, tone I want, etc.. I draw the line if you are in one of the box store catalogs you are no longer custom.
No point to all this, just ready to shoot a turkey in the head.
I may be wrong but I think what most of these guys mean by custom call is they are totally made by hand with higher grade materials and are tuned a different way than the bigger companies like knight and Hale or primos. Not knocking these companies cause I use some of their stuff but I think that may be the difference.
I hand turn all my pot calls and strikers one at a time on my lathe. I cut and mill some of the wood I make calls out of, but not all of it because I use a large variety of exotics and domestic species. The only part of my calls that I don't make is the slate, glass, aluminum, etc.. Not sure how a pot call can get more custom then that! Adding on the custom aspect, many call makers, including myself, offer a large variety of woods and wood combinations, and I think that adds on to the custom part as a customer can select whatever wood and surface they would like, making it an extra special call. Also, most custom calls are a fraction of the price compared to the ones you'd find in large stores and are crafted much better and sound more realistic. In my opinion, when calls are made by a CNC they are no longer custom.
Just my .02
Couldn't have put it any better.
Could never understand one calling a cnc call a custom call...
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Maybe some people have a hard time distinguishing custom and premium from one another. Not all custom calls are a premium product and neither are all premium calls custom.
Quote from: Gooserbat on February 05, 2016, 04:07:55 AM
Maybe some people have a hard time distinguishing custom and premium from one another. Not all custom calls are a premium product and neither are all premium calls custom.
100% Right on the money there! I have seen a lot of calls that are in my definition "pretty" and that's fine for collecting but don't have the "performance" behind them...(I don't pick pretty I pick performance).
MK M GOBL
There are a bunch of "custom" call makers and not all of them can make a good call. There are also quite a few custom call makers that use a CNC machine.
Sent from the Strut Zone
100% Right on the money there! I have seen a lot of calls that are in my definition "pretty" and that's fine for collecting but don't have the "performance" behind them...(I don't pick pretty I pick performance).
I work to hard to pay for eye candy without the performance aspect, that sits on a shelf.... :character0029:
I'll take ugly, that sounds turkey any day.... :icon_thumright:
If one can get pretty with sound, so much the better. The word custom is rather elitist to me. And I certainly have no problem with elitism. I would hunt with any caller that made the sound I was seeking no matter what the materials or how much personal detail went into the caller. Pretty is as pretty does.
"Custom" means making something to the customers spec. what type machine you make it on makes no difference if you own the CNC machine program it and run its just another machine you are a call maker if you buy a pot from someone else you are not making it you are assembling it big difference when you make 100 of the same calls even though you make them they are no longer custom its more of a production run. If you make 100 pots all different they are custom. That was how it was explained to me over 50 years ago I can't see how it would be different today
Definition of Custom Call is a call made to a particular customer's order. Jmo
If I can text or call the person that made it and talk about the call with him that's custom enough for me.
If i buy one of those put together slate or glass pot kit's off ebay and put it together is that a custom call..?
Quote from: Greg Massey on February 05, 2016, 11:18:21 AM
If i buy one of those put together slate or glass pot kit's off ebay and put it together is that a custom call..?
That depends on whether the kit was purchased from a custom call maker ;D
One made by a human. Kids in Asia don't count.
Quote from: Gobble! on February 05, 2016, 01:04:14 PM
One made by a human. Kids in Asia don't count.
:TooFunny: :TooFunny:
Quote from: dirt road ninja on February 05, 2016, 10:22:39 AM
If I can text or call the person that made it and talk about the call with him that's custom enough for me.
X2
Sent from the Strut Zone
I totally agree with turkeywhisper935 on that one. That's what I would consider a custom call would be to me also.
I like that Gobble ,,,,funny ha ha ha ha
If you get it directly from the guy that made it, it's custom.
My experience has been that I call the maker and talk about the surface I am interested in. They ask the tone I like. Also discuss wood preference and color. It is made to my specs and usually sent with extra strikers to try. I pick the ones I like and send the others back.
I think there is a distinction between handmade and custom. I have a handmade call from a guy that runs his own shop, but I do not consider it custom. He has a line that he sells that are all the same. I may put a Yeti sticker on it to make it custom.