Brand New Callmaker

[Big Rack]

My Dad just started turning a few pots and making some calls. What you think?

[Bowguy]

I work construction so I tend to notice things others may not. The sound holes although I can tell he used a dif pattern look like they're not spaced similarly.
Beyond that it's the sound. Post it up.
And I'm not being anything more than trying to help w constructive criticism. If the holes aren't spaced evenly. Have him make a template. I'm no maker so perhaps there's a better way. Only a suggestion

[Big Rack]

Heres some sound on them. Be easy on me im not a stage caller.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFQ0fMrXkLlUDHFqQvwtY3Q

[Sir-diealot]

I like the sound of the Slate over Slate, the Oak Copper sounded decent, maybe like it needed to be conditioned more but decent other than that. The only one I am critical over is the Cedar Glass, it starts out sounding really decent but then there is what to me I can only call a hollow sound to it near the end.
Just like you are no pro caller I am no pro at listening to them so take it with a grain of salt, I definitely think you are heading in the right direction. Like I said I am not pro call grader, just some knucklehead with a keyboard.

[Bowguy]

Thanks for the sound files. Here's the thing, it's hard to get the best out of anything if we're limited. Let me explain if I could. When I first started taxidermy I went to school than started competing.
The competition wasn't to prove anything though I did real well. First competition I got a first, best in class, best in show and the pheasant challenge award. The state taxidermy assn pres put out a challenge for everyone to do a pheasant as an added award. I won it. Kinda blew me away.
Anyhow I continued competing. Not to repeat the luck but as continued education. See every time I was critiqued I looked at it as help you keep getting better.
Imo your timing is slightly out of cadence. Please don't take that wrong but it's hard to get the best sound out of something if you can't get all out of it? Not sure if that makes sense. There's one maker I can think of whose calls I actually think are good. I'd never have bought the call after hearing him claw the call on a video except my buddy bought one and insisted I played it. I ordered one before I left his driveway.
So here's something perhaps you'd want to consider.
A-start competing so you learn your personal weaknesses and can improve on em
B-get an Ace to run the call for you to help promote the calls.
Don't take anything remotely like anything but a desire to help. If someone can't play the call at its best than we don't know what we're missing. Hope that made sense and I hope you not taking offense.
We all start every endeavor somewhere and typically not at 100%.

[Spitten and drummen]

Im going to be as straight as I can with you. Its more to building a great sounding pot than just glueing in a soundboard and putting a surface on top of it. Really good callmakers experiment with diffrent measurements until they find the perfect one. Most will tell you they have chunked many in the trash that doesnt cut it. Since you posted the soundfiles and asked for honesty , I will give it to you. In my opinion they sounded bad. Everyone has to start somewhere and as with anything , the more you do it , the better you will get. If he hangs in there and keeps experimenting , he will get better. Just giving honest feedback. Good luck and keep at it.

[Big Rack]

https://youtu.be/K_lDMn0Ehjc

[Spitten and drummen]

https://youtu.be/K_lDMn0Ehjc

Hahaha. Your are right. They do vary and I call it like I see it.

[outdoors]

I haven't seen nor herd of anyone hitting it off at the beginning ..............

[Jrkimbrough]

Keep at it!  It's definitely a lot of trial and error.  Keep a notebook with all measurements in it of calls you make then make notes of the differences in sound.  I might also make note that it is also key to keep measurements of the soundboards you use because they can be of different thickness which with adjust the gap between the bottom of the playing surface.

[1iagobblergetter]

I'd say keep at. I think everyone would like to get it right the first time,but as others have said it's alot of trial and error from what I've been told.
Probably the only way a guy might not throw a bunch of calls away in the beginning is from alot of help from someone that did or buy them from someone else that knows what they are doing. That's what I do..
Hats off to you for working at it. I have neither the time or desire to tackle something like that.

[EZ]

If that's his first attempts...not bad. Got a ways to go before he wows any judges or picky customers, but I believe that slate will kill a gobbler or two!!! Thanks!

[Yoder409]

Keep at it bro !!!

The first slate call I ever made.......... I made out of a piece of treated 1X6.  It's what I had on hand when the notion took me. I still have it.  And I could probably kill a turkey with it.  But, in retrospect, it sounds pretty poor.

Took me about a year........year and a half......experimenting with EVERY variable there is.  Finally I got to the point where the majority of the calls I built were calls I'd hand to anybody, and very few got tossed in the garbage. 

For me..........it was all trial and error of my own accord.  YOU have a wealth of call-building knowledge available to you, right here at OG.   

[M,Yingling]

looking good ,, if your happy with the sound go for it stick with it go kill some turkeys with them and if planning on selling  get them into the hands of other hunters to try out ,,give a few away sell a few get your material cost back let them work in real world of hunting ,, get feed back   dont have be comp caller to do sound files just show how the calls work no matter how call sounds always like hear that roll over , , personally i dont hear to many comp sounding turkey in the woods lol ,,if every  call sounded the same what would be the use of building your own .. also pick your look and keep with it

[Big Rack]