How much extra.....????

[Tarheel]

OK.......Honduras Rosewood Burl, Desert Ironwood Burl, Snakewood, Amboyna Burl, Cocuswood, Koa Burl, Osage Burl, etc.........

How much extra are you willing to spend for the nicest of call blanks for a turned trumpet yelper?  Or is fancy expensive wood that important to you? 

[callmakerman]

Nice looking blanks can be important as you know when a call maker turns their magic it's going to be awesome. I spent around 150 for a really nice piece of curly Koa and a curly Burmese blackwood just to have a long box made. In the end it was well worth the price as not only did the call look amazing, but it sounded incredible.

[ol bob]

Most hunters want it to sound great, regardless, how its looks, collectors, wood is everything.

[tal]

 It's not that important to me although I certainly admire a particular eye-catching piece of wood. I think call makers can look to do their very best when working with an exceptional blank.

[ol bob]

A good call maker does his best working on a free piece of pine, or a $100. piece of cocus.

[Tarheel]

Years ago I purchased a blank of desert ironwood burl that was exceptional...and I paid way too much money for it, but I had to have it.  I used that blank for a trumpet I made for myself.  It has been used to deceive quite a few longbeards over the years, but now you would think it was made from African blackwood....the color of the wood has turned that dark.  Most rosewoods will darken, and if you are going to hunt with a call you just about have to accept what happens will happen and accept that.  For a hunting call, I find it hard to justify spending much extra money.

[Zobo]

I'm not a collector but looks matter to me in a call. I don't think a wood has to be rare or expensive to be beautiful however. And the scratches and "scars of battle" on a well used call can actually make it more appealing to my eye.

[Tarheel]

Desert ironwood is one of my favorite woods for trumpets....the blanks I've purchased for trumpets have all been the lighter colors. Hopefully, the lighter colors will stay lighter....if not, oh, well!!!

[Meleagris gallopavo]

I'm a collector that hunts with all of my calls.  I purchase very nice blanks of rare woods to have calls made.  There is a limit to what I will spend on a nice blank.  I won't spend over $70 for one.  I will say that I have found some pretty good deals, even on cocuswood, but I look for wood almost daily and I have found a few sources that are really hard to find.  There are a couple of species of wood that I still haven't found, but I'm not willing to break the bank.


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[ChesterCopperpot]

We always tend to draw the line between collector and hunter and like Meleagris said, I'm a collector who hunts with all my calls. I just got finished setting up a stupidly nice rifle and I plan to hunt the hell out of it. That to say, cost doesn't affect if I'll hunt it. I hunt everything I buy. BUT to answer the OP's question, yes, I'll pay more for a particularly beautiful and rare piece of wood. Mud cured osage is where I tend to start drooling. But on the opposite end, osage always ages gorgeously and it always makes beautiful and great sounding pots, strikers, and yelpers AND it's cheap. Plus it's domestic. Some of my favorite calls I own are cheap domestic woods, whether that be osage trumpets or walnut over poplar boxes.

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[davisd9]

Depends. I have bought focus and Brazilian rosewood with mammoth ivory, I hunt them both and any call I own. Blanks and material cost is not overly important to me if I want something by a particular builder. If I want it and can afford it, then I buy it, have a call made, and hunt with it.

[Tarheel]

Several years ago, I found a wood supplier with some fantastic mud cured osage, and I purchased some from him.  Later, that same wood supplier mentioned he had some mud cured osage burl, so I contacted him with the intention of purchasing all the burl he had. When I questioned him about the burl, he told me the burl he had would not work for trumpets because of the voids, so I asked him to set aside all the burl he came across in the future that would work for trumpets for me. He said he would do that.  Two years later I still don't have any mud cured osage burl from him, but I did find a wood shop owner who was cleaning up his wood shop office who had a box of osage burl blanks he wanted to get rid of.....he was tired of kicking the box under his desk....he said he didn't remember how many years the box had been in his office....maybe 20-30 years.  One of the best purchases I've made in a long time......

[Tarheel]

When I first started making trumpets years ago, I had a gentleman send me a beautiful wood blank to use for making him a trumpet.  Admittedly, at the time, I had a lot to learn about wood.  The customer had paid handsomely for the wood blank, and he sent it to me expecting me to send him back a trumpet worthy of that piece of wood.  I chucked the wood blank up on the lathe and turned the blank into a cylinder watching all that figure...and color....disappear with the wood chips.  By the time I finished turning the trumpet, the wood that was left was as plain as pallet wood.  I immediately called and explained to the customer what had happened.  For me, it was an uncomfortable situation.  Frankly, if I had not been the person that turned that wood blank, I don't know if I would have believed a wood blank with that much figure and color could turn out as bland as that one did.

[davisd9]

When I first started making trumpets years ago, I had a gentleman send me a beautiful wood blank to use for making him a trumpet.  Admittedly, at the time, I had a lot to learn about wood.  The customer had paid handsomely for the wood blank, and he sent it to me expecting me to send him back a trumpet worthy of that piece of wood.  I chucked the wood blank up on the lathe and turned the blank into a cylinder watching all that figure...and color....disappear with the wood chips.  By the time I finished turning the trumpet, the wood that was left was as plain as pallet wood.  I immediately called and explained to the customer what had happened.  For me, it was an uncomfortable situation.  Frankly, if I had not been the person that turned that wood blank, I don't know if I would have believed a wood blank with that much figure and color could turn out as bland as that one did.

Anyone buying blanks has to know this. What is inside can be totally different than what is outside. I have been surprised both ways. People should also know that sending a blank is at your own risk, if it breaks then it breaks.

[Meleagris gallopavo]

When I first started making trumpets years ago, I had a gentleman send me a beautiful wood blank to use for making him a trumpet.  Admittedly, at the time, I had a lot to learn about wood.  The customer had paid handsomely for the wood blank, and he sent it to me expecting me to send him back a trumpet worthy of that piece of wood.  I chucked the wood blank up on the lathe and turned the blank into a cylinder watching all that figure...and color....disappear with the wood chips.  By the time I finished turning the trumpet, the wood that was left was as plain as pallet wood.  I immediately called and explained to the customer what had happened.  For me, it was an uncomfortable situation.  Frankly, if I had not been the person that turned that wood blank, I don't know if I would have believed a wood blank with that much figure and color could turn out as bland as that one did.

Anyone buying blanks has to know this. What is inside can be totally different than what is outside. I have been surprised both ways. People should also know that sending a blank is at your own risk, if it breaks then it breaks.

Well said. 


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