Will I sound better with a custom glass call?

[deerbasshunter3]

I currently have a Primos Ole Betsy slate call, and can work it pretty good. My question is (to the experts):

Will I be able to make any better sounds with a custom glass call (matched with striker by call maker), or is a call only as good as the user?

[MK M GOBL]

First you need to be proficient on the call, if you have that skill then Yes a better quality call will sound "better". You can take the best call made and put it in unskilled hands and it won't sound like squat, take someone who has mastered the call and they can take a "basic" call and make it sing.

MK M GOBL

[deerbasshunter3]

First you need to be proficient on the call, if you have that skill then Yes a better quality call will sound "better". You can take the best call made and put it in unskilled hands and it won't sound like squat, take someone who has mastered the call and they can take a "basic" call and make it sing.

MK M GOBL

So, probably a waste of money until I master pot calls with the one I have?

[MK M GOBL]

Guess you would need to judge your calling skill level, I guess when I started with a slate call I had a Primos "Battey" Slate, used that call for a few years until I came across a Cody World Class Slate, I heard that call at the Deer & Turkey expo just because a guy showing other product had one. That call sounded great! thought the guy was selling them, when I asked him how much for the call? he said not for sale, wouldn't sell it for nothing but he did give me the info on where to buy one! Have had mine for over 20 years now and it has been the demise to a lot of turkeys

If I were you and you heard a call you like the sound of go for it, just take the time to master it.

MK M GOBL

[Bowguy]

Good advice. My opinion is you can never be great w a bad call. A friend of mine bought some production calls. I brought over a couple customs. The sound dif was very obvious to him. He got some custom calls n now is a maniac!! The sound dif is pretty extreme. Just use a good call maker. They're not all created equal, some are worse than others

[wvmntnhick]

I currently have a Primos Ole Betsy slate call, and can work it pretty good. My question is (to the experts):

Will I be able to make any better sounds with a custom glass call (matched with striker by call maker), or is a call only as good as the user?

It's a lot like building a $3000 custom rifle to shoot better. If you can't shoot, the gains may only be marginal. You'll probably notice they're easier to run id personally never look back. Spending the money on a custom will probably give you the determination to improve your calling either way. Just a thought.

[deerbasshunter3]

Question: Cabelas had calls out to play, and one of them was a glass pot call. It was not conditioned, so the striker made absolutely no sound. I am assuming that if it were conditioned, it would have worked?

[357MAGNOLE]

In my humble opinion I find custom calls from reputable makers easier to play than the off the shelf mass produced commercial stuff.

[compton30]

Question: Cabelas had calls out to play, and one of them was a glass pot call. It was not conditioned, so the striker made absolutely no sound. I am assuming that if it were conditioned, it would have worked?

Yep. When I got my first crystal call I was like "wtf?" whenever I tried using it without conditioning. Looking back I feel like an idiot but it was the first call I'd ever seen like that.

[wvmntnhick]

Question: Cabelas had calls out to play, and one of them was a glass pot call. It was not conditioned, so the striker made absolutely no sound. I am assuming that if it were conditioned, it would have worked?

Yep. When I got my first crystal call I was like "wtf?" whenever I tried using it without conditioning. Looking back I feel like an idiot but it was the first call I'd ever seen like that.

That made you feel like an idiot? Heck, I bouht a Primos wingbone (plastic) call at one point and blew on that thing for 2 months trying to get a sound out of it before I gave it away. The other fella figured it right out. At the time, (13-14 years ago) I'd never seen one and didn't realize they ran on suction. Lesson learned.

[Spitten and drummen]

I have heard mass produced calls that sound better than some custom calls. Just because its custom , does not make it better. I have a ton of calls that i have collected over the years . Some are mass produced calls but would hunt them in a second. Example - last year hunting a heavily pressured bird for over a week . I thew all kinds of calls at him over that time. ended up killing him with a preston pittman copper call in a plastic pot that i paid 30 bucks for in the 90's. You just never know what they want to hear.

[SteelerFan]

That made you feel like an idiot? Heck, I bouht a Primos wingbone (plastic) call at one point and blew on that thing for 2 months trying to get a sound out of it before I gave it away. The other fella figured it right out. At the time, (13-14 years ago) I'd never seen one and didn't realize they ran on suction. Lesson learned.

laughing with you, not at you! We ALL have our "ghosts" 

[scoot12]

Yep,  buy a call you like the sound of and you will be much more confident with it.  I have some productions calls that sound a lot better then some custom ones.  Listen to real hens and you will soon realize cadence and rythym of you calling is more important then the sound of the call.  That is what I have experienced but this is my opinion only.

[MK M GOBL]

I guess one thing for me is I have never bought a pot or box call I haven't heard in person or run myself first, I will tell you from the store when you are in a building, store, convention those calls will sound different to your ears than once you have it in the field, this is because of what the calls sound is reflecting/rebounding off of, same as early season to late and how tree/brush cover changes the "sound" of a call. There is a limestone valley I hunt and the way those call reflect off that surface is different than when I'm on the ridge.

MK M GOBL

[bbcoach]

IMO, it's all about confidence!  I also run an Ole Betsy and she is my GO to call.  I love the sound it produces with a laminated or hickory striker and so do the birds.  My hunting buddies have told me on numerous occasions that this slate sounds fantastic.  I also have other custom slates and glass calls that I run as well as the Ole Betsy but she is what the turkeys like and I like playing it.  You can spend hundreds of dollars on calls but if you don't have that confidence in them they will never make it to your vest.