After I posted this, today, Blackfalcon sent me this PM. I asked him if I could post it and he said sure. I think it is a very good start on this discussion. Now we need to see some others join in the discussion and get some pictures up.
Thanks to Dave for this very interesting read
Braz, Saw your post about duck call tone boards, and there are more than two styles. I have looked around on the net and haven't come across many pictures of inserts yet,,but can post a link for you to look at. The earliest duck calls used a tongue pincher style, patented by Elam Fisher, also BGI produced a similar call.They were a lot like crow calls in design. Next development was the early Illinois style, a flat tone board and a cork was used to hold the reed in place, basically shaped like a bottle stopper cork cut in half or third. From there, it evolved to the Reelfoot or Louisiana style call, where the cork was replaced by a wooden wedge, shaped about the same as the cork from the Illinois style, you would place the wedge on top of the tone board and reed and push it into the barrel to hold everything in place. These types of calls you could adjust the tone by moving the reed without having to cut it. The Cajun call makers added their own modification by shaping the tone board with a twist in it to increase the raspy sound the call was able to produce, and to give it the bouncy squeal of a hen mallard with a crop full of rice.
Finally, the Arkansas tone board, a notch to hold a flat cork was cut into the insert, the reed is place on the call, the cork is inserted into the notch,holding the reed flat on the tone board, and then the reed is trimmed to tune the call. This is also referred to as a J-frame, and is the design used by modern call makers predominately. Some makers continue to use the Louisiana or Reelfoot style as it gives you a softer timber call sound and that was what they were taught.
http://www.ccaacalls.org/ccaaglossary.html#louisianaHope this helps,
Dave
When I asked him if it was OK to post, this is the post he sent. Has some additional info and another link.
That's fine Braz, if I have made any errors they will be corrected I'm sure,LOL,
I will try to get some pictures also later unless someone else does it first.
The history of duck call making is very interesting, we hear a lot of people complain a lot about copying these days, but it was the way they rolled back in the early days of duck call making. It is interesting how some of the early companies such as founded by Philip Olt contributed to the evolution of the modern duck call and even influenced the Louisiana and Cajun calls! Here is another tid-bit you might find interesting,,
http://www.wildfowlmag.com/destinations/WF_1007_08/index.htmlDave