Anyone customize the cuts on their mouth calls?

[RalphWTO]

 I'm a bit of call/gear junky. The combination lead me to find a box of diaphragms from a few seasons ago that I thought I lost in an old gear box. I have since purchased a few of the same calls so I was thinking about trying to add a cut or two, see what happens.

Thinking I'll start with a ghost cut first.

Has anyone ever tried this before? Open to suggestions if you have.

[GobbleNut]

Not only have I tried it, but I have been recommending that mouth call users customize their calls for years.  There is a turkey in just about every call somewhere,...it is just a matter of finding it by modifying the cuts until you figure out what cut/configuration works best.

[coyote1]

I have made a few v cuts into combo cuts and some combo cuts into batwings while trying to find out what cuts work for me. Main problem I ran into with making calls into batwings ( particularly 2 reeds) is they become easy to over blow. One would need a thicker top Reed to work well. I have turned some 3 reeds into calls I'm currently using. For the sake of experiment it doesn't hurt imo.

I'm still new to mouth calls only been at it a little over a year. This is just what I have found messing with different calls and talking to people who have built thousands.

[Gooserbat]

As a call maker I recommend that you do.  I learned a lot of what I employ into my designs by experimentation.  Yes your going to mess some up.
Yes your going to create something and not be able to duplicate it again. 
Yes your going to buy more calls in the long run.
Yes in the long run your going to learn what works best for you. 

Case in point I recently had a customer email and ask about a call they had bought a few days prior.  It was a reverse combo cut and preferred a batwing.  I told them to cut the other side out.  A little while later I received a second email telling me how it was now everything they had hopped it to be. 

[compton30]

Here's a great write up by GobbleNut on this very topic:

http://oldgobbler.com/Forum/index.php/topic,85536.0.html

[RalphWTO]

Thanks for the feedback, fellas.

I'm going to start experimenting this weekend

[compton30]

As a call maker I recommend that you do.  I learned a lot of what I employ into my designs by experimentation.  Yes your going to mess some up.
Yes your going to create something and not be able to duplicate it again. 
Yes your going to buy more calls in the long run.
Yes in the long run your going to learn what works best for you. 

Case in point I recently had a customer email and ask about a call they had bought a few days prior.  It was a reverse combo cut and preferred a batwing.  I told them to cut the other side out.  A little while later I received a second email telling me how it was now everything they had hopped it to be.

Sam you forgot "Yes when you mess it up you'll want to buy a few more Gooserbat's to replace em with!"

[Gen.27:3]

Yes, I have cut some calls. Some it made better, others, well not so much. But if you have a call that you don't like, playing with the cut just might make it a great call.

[Dtrkyman]

I don't, but my friend builds call for several companies and I just have him build me a bunch to play with, for me the cut matters less than the amount of tension on the stretch!


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[MO HUNTER]

Absolutely! I would buy 5-6 mouth calls a year. If I didnt like the way they worked I threw them away... I was sitting there one night thinking, hmmm... can I make these look like the ones that run well, that I use. So I got a pair of scissors and did work! Some have been a disaster, and some have been better than I ever expected. I think it is fun just tinkering with them.
Hack em up man! You never know.

[SemoRiverRat]

yes, but it got very expensive with calls being 7-10 dollars a pop so I finally just broke down and bought a jig,  no doubt about it some adjustments are almost always necessary to get the best sounds.

[compton30]

An important point that needs stressed here is that before you start cutting up your calls, you wanna make sure that the current cut on it absolutely will not produce the sound you want, especially if you paid 9 bucks for a yelper! Cutting a call means you cant go back. Once that's determined, you're making MICRO changes with your cutting. I'm talking slivers. It often amazes me how shaving a small amount of latex off can bring a call back from the brink of the trash can. Another note to be aware of when altering the top reed, make sure your scissors are 100% only under and cutting the top reed. Accidentally snipping a bottom reed is a death sentence for a call, in my experience.