How important are sound files to you when buying a custom call?

[Al_at_THO Game Calls]

Thanks Parker, but it really was not a big deal.  I had a great job with the USMC. 

I was in the Space Program.   Most of the time I just hung around and took up space   :D :D

That's one of the big reasons I dont hunt coyotes with an AR 15 like a lot of guys do.  After all that tme, I just want to finally shoot something different LOL.

Back to the topic of sound files.   Maybe we need a short tutorial on how to do them. I think if you are going to ask a lot of money for a call, it's not a bad idea.   I think if a customer ask you for one, you should be able to provide it.   It only takes about 5 minutes to make a sound file.  It's not really hard,


Al @ THO

[Troy of Run -N- Gun Game Calls]

That would be great,Because when it comes to computers I have not a clue.

[BigB]

I have bought the majority of my open reed calls without hearing them.  I've been impressed with some, and dissapointed with others.  I will continue to add to my collection, but I will want to hear the call that I am buying before purchasing it in the future.  The sound from the call can be from either over the telephone or from a sound file.  Mass produced molded open reed toneboard calls won't make it into my collection in the future.  Ifn a call maker get's his own toneboard molded, there is no harm with that.  I agree with the others, a true open reed custom call has the call maker's own toneboard in it.  JMO

As a buyer of calls, I think that sound files will either aid in selling the call or hurt selling the call.  I would definatley listen to the sound of the call before buying it if there was one available, no matter who the call maker.  I would also listen to how the person runs the call as well.  A caller that can manipulate the sounds from the call shows that they really know how to build and tune calls, and more often than not, the quality of the call will be very high as well.

I would love to see a tutorial on doing sound files.  That would be very beneficial to me as well.

Brian

ps I would buy one of Al's calls any day without hearing it!! ;D ;D  They are that good.

[Vince at VECtor Calls]

Sounds good.  Bring on the tutorial! 

Only thing is.....I'm sending my wife to you Al when she wants to know why I need a mic for my computer.  She knows I don't sing!   ;D 

Parker

[Al_at_THO Game Calls]

OK, I posted a short and easy tutorial to recording sound files in the Tutorial Section of the main site.

Gave you the part number for a cheap microphone, a free web site to upload your sound files too, and even a link to Goldwave which is more advanced but a really powerful program if you really "get into it".

If the tutorial confuses you - kidnap a teenager for an hour and you should be all set.

Al @ THO

PS - thank you for that very nice comment Ben - the Custom Predator Calls web site is being rebuilt as I write this, and one of the things we have done is to add sound files to each of our calls for sale on the site.

thanks again

Al @ THO

[Troy of Run -N- Gun Game Calls]

Once again thanks Al for helping us out.Some day maybe we can do something for you.

[Poor Valley]

This is a realy interesting discussion, especially since I am about to make some sound files. I make turkey calls, but what I sell is sound(I'm not a custom call maker) all my calls are designed and made to reproduce(within a narrow band) the same sound. I sell in a few stores and to people who contact me via the internet. I don't have a web page. When I start with a new store I give them a set of "counter calls and tell them if they leave the calls where their customers can play the calls they are more prone to buy one of my calls. Sometime the counter calls disappear, but the ones that leave them out sell plenty of calls. The others don't. Thats been my experience over a 4 year period.

A large number of the internet contacts begin by asking them to tell them about my calls. This leads to several email exchanges til he either buys or disappears. The way I intend to use the sound file is to incoperate it into a Word file that also includes other info about the calls that will answer most questions. I believe it would benefit me greatly in that I can provide a significant response and not have to spend so much computer time when I need to be making calls.

I know my situation is a little different but thought my approach might be of interest to someone else.

[Braz]

I think that is a very good way of handling the inquiry. However, don't just send out a form letter. Respond personally and mention that you have something to attach that will assist them. I, for one, get turned off at form letters. Now if it is included a part of a personal response, that's different.

I really like the idea of leaving your calls out on the counter. Yep, you do loose a few, but there are ways of handling that too, buy putting a small chain on both the call body and striker. But even without that, the cost is just considered part of the advertising cost. Can't do that so well with predator calls however. Or duck or goose calls either. Have to have some way to sanitize them after the customer blows them, and that is a pain.

[Poor Valley]

Thank you sir! I appreciate your suggestions and I will use them!

[dogcatcher]

Braz, we get some of my best days at the weigh ins for varmint contests.  We will have a tailgate full of calls and the hunters will slobber on them and everything else.  No one seems to mind that the guy before him was just blowing the call.  But then after 24 hours of hard hunting for coyotes and other varmints their brains are not really functioning that well.  We have one call for each reed that we have that is a sample.  They find the sound they want and then I we take a call body and insert the reed that they are wanting.  They even get to pick out the call body from the ones we have made. 

Marvin

[Braz]

Marvin, I personally wouldn't worry much either. But I still get a drink from the stream when I 'm fishing.

[dogcatcher]

Braz when these guys come in after hunting for 24 hours straight they are tired, filthy and just want to get weighed in and hoping for a place in the money winnings.  Some of the teams will also have driven over 500 miles to various places that they have lined up to hunt on.  The guy that won the last one said he drove almost 900 miles in the 24 hours, seems like a lot but I would trust him.  When they get to the check in they usually are popping tops on "tea" and or pouring straight "tea" out of the jug.  The last thing they worry about is a few germs on a call.

Marvin

[crazy_cottontail]

I seen the call that started this. Yes it looks good and i probably won`t pay that much for it (Wife would kill me). One thing that was posted by the maker is that the horn is just a tube that the sound travels through. I may be a newbie to this with less than a year but come on. I have 6 horns in the fridge that i gotta cook and i bet none will sound the same with the same board it them. I`ve put the same board (my maple boards) in 3 different body's i`ve turned and they always sound a little different and horns are a whole different animal. The wall thickness and shape make the final calls sound. I made my brother a deer grunt with a cow horn (ya i know i gotta post a pic). I can put that reed assembly in my all wood duck call looking grunt call and it is a whole different animal. (ya i need to post a pic of that Frankenstein call to ) Glad to see ya called him out on that even though he didn`t get it.

                                                Later

                                                    Rich

[Braz]

It's interesting that the fellow now says there is a little break in the sound, but that's normal with antler. For that much of my money, it better not have any break.

[Al_at_THO Game Calls]

Well, I listened to the sound file several dozen times.   To my ear, it is way too high pitched to be a howler.  And this was the point I was making with him.   

I would have been quite unhappy with that call had I bought it and

1) I heard the sound.   

2) I got to see how SMALL it is.  The horn is not over 4" long.  That is way too short to make a decent howler. 

And yes, the statement that the tone board makes the sound not the horn was silly.  Yes, the toneboard plays an important role, but the horn, both in length and width, thickness, all have an effect on the sound. 

A tone board that breaks on a call that size, with that big of a bore, would surely break badly on a call with a 3/4 or 5/8" bore call because the tone board has inherant flaws in it.  I have several anler open reeds that do not break anywhere, and to try and sell a call that "isn't too bad" for that kind of money is why most calls today sell for far less than they should.   The market is flooded with good wood turners who have yet to master the craft of making calls.

I just quit responding to the thread.  I think the sound file says it all, and justifies my position.   I am sure that if someone buys that call they are going to be quite dissapointed with not only the sound, but the size of the call. 

Al @ THO