The PJ1 jig is a parallel reed design... aka the reed should be parallel with the centerline of the keg or runs parallel to the axis of the keg.
If your reed is tipped up... then either youre not filing to the jig, your material is bowed, or your cork is really tight...
That being said... 15-20 calls is nothing in the process of learning sound boards. Add a zero to that and youre getting closer. :D Sounds like to me, you're relying on the jig too much and not going anywhere after the jig - which is where you would start heading towards a design of your own. Yould make almost that many just testing different tone channel depths across the usable range - if you made .005 or .010 increment changes. And that completely ignores the back bore, tone channel diameter, keg length variation, or any hand filing.
Now, if something has changed between, say, the first 10 and the last 10... I would be pretty confident in saying its you... unless you used an abrasive on the jig, the likelihood that the jig has been altered is pretty small. And if you are filing all the way to the jig each time.... about the only other options are your added parts (reed/cork), the tone channel depth/centered, back bore variances, material, and keg length changes. Gotta look at things analytically if youre chasing something that changed, measure things, verify, check, recheck, and double check. I meet very few call makers that can measure and have the equipment to measure down to even .010" let alone .001" resolution.... Seems like 1/64 or 1/32 is about where most people stop... which is about .016" or .031" respectively... and changing a tone channel .005 or .010 is a notable change... or deck height .005, or cork notch .005 or .010. So realizing that when youre looking at things... the more accurate you can measure, the more confident you can be in replicating something.
I dont mean this disrespectfully, nor am I picking on you... but it would not surprise me if you are not filing all the way to the jig as that takes some learning and developing the skill. And I dont think it could be developed in 15-20 kegs unless you have a lot of previous skill running a file. Also, if you get little to no noise out of the PJ1 straight off the jig, youll want to tinker with the tone channel length. No, the PJ1 wont make a great call straight off the jig, but it will make an operable call. Of course, that does become a moving target depending on ones calling ability... which seems to be the biggest monkey wrench in "internet troubleshooting" for call making.
Keep at it... youll figure er out!
Wade
