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Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on June 13, 2007, 05:45 PM:
Some guys just can't wait, and some are gonna have to.
I finished a couple more calls this week, both "made to order", which is my favorite way to make calls.
When I know who they are for, instead of just making them, I am way more inspired, usually by the words of the person who's getting the call.
Both of these calls fall into the "Oh man, I wanna keep this" catagory, which doesn't happen very often.
I've been playing around with the profile, and angle, at the end the bell tube, and I am really pleased with the results.
Ninthinning is going to have to wait to see his call, I was so excited to get it in the mail, I forgot to make a scan of it.
Higgins, on the other hand, says he can't wait, he wants to see a picture of it. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
It's made from the Arizona mesquite, with a natural (clear) finish.
On Tim's call made from the same wood, I used a dark finish to try and hide the yellow, but on this call we let the natural color stand out.
The body is a "quarter round" shape, the top is the 90° corner, and the bottom is the round.
They really do fit in the hand nicely.
It's got a mid-length mouthpiece, not as long as a Critr Call Standard, and not as short as a She Howler.
Under the call is another idea I'd been kicking around for a while.
It's the end of a "Cufflink Cutaway" buttonhole lanyard.
When I make a call, I cut out a piece where the top of the toneboard will be formed.
Then one day I needed an oversized button, because the buttonhole on my old military pants was loose. I thought of using a "cutaway", like an elk horn button, and the lanyard idea was born.
The cutaway with Rich's call, came from Rich's call.
With mine, I slip the button through the buttonhole of my jacket pocket (opposite my rifle), like a cufflink.
That way I don't have to have a lanyard around my neck, and if my call falls out of my pocket or if I drop it while calling, I won't lose it.
It's also the right length that if I use my right hand to call, I can lay the cord over the stock of my mounted rifle, and it's right there to grab with my hand again.
I hope you guys enjoy your calls, I know I enjoyed making them for you.
Krusty 
[ June 15, 2007, 12:06 PM: Message edited by: Krustyklimber ]
Posted by smithers (Member # 646) on June 17, 2007, 05:05 PM:
Very nice offset of colors on that one Krusty. Looks sharp! I really like the shape and look of your toneboards.
Posted by ninthinning (Member # 900) on June 18, 2007, 03:27 AM:
Krusty,
My call came last week. As a collector and call maker I thought I had heard and seen it all, but no. This Krusty call has several unique design elements combined with innovative technique and sound. The sound my call makes is really fantastic. It makes the most agonizing, painful distress screams. This is the first open reed predator call that I have used that incorporates a double reed design, very sweet. The sound created by the double reeds is original and unique. The air channel is also different than that of other calls. Glad I finally got my hands on one of these fine calls. Bear season starts here in NY in September and this call is going with me to the Adirondacks. The call was just going in the collection but a call like this is going to work for a living.
Thank you,
9th
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on June 18, 2007, 06:00 PM:
Smithers,
Thanks, I thought the yellow was going to be too much, but you're right those colors go together "naturally".
Ninthinning,
Wow, that's some review.
I'm glad you like the sound, and I am kind of suprised you hadn't had a chance to try one before, there are a few others who also use the doubled reeds.
Once you are used to the call, you should be able to do very good bear cub bawls with it.
I am so glad you decided to use the call, not put it in a collection.
That, is the biggest compliment I could get.
Could you post a picture of your call?
Krusty
Posted by Bofire (Member # 221) on June 18, 2007, 06:26 PM:
Krusty made me a bunch of calls a few years ago. My favorite is a flame maple double reed. I sent him a message about this but here it is for everyone to read.
I know my record is pathetic compared to you real experienced callers but it is my best yet.
Last year between August 1, and April 15 this year, (I kept it in a little log book)I called and shot 19, my son James, I called, he shot 6, Ken G. 3, and Glenn 2. All with that same flame maple call. I started leaving my ecaller home.
Thank you Krusty, you did and do make a fine call.
Carl
Posted by Rich Higgins (Member # 3) on June 18, 2007, 08:16 PM:
Krusty, I received the call. Thank you very much. I will post a pic tomorrow as believe that the pic you posted did not do it justice. I'll post my thoughts about this call then.
Again, Thank you.
quote:
I know my record is pathetic compared to you real experienced callers but it is my best yet.
Last year between August 1, and April 15 this year, (I kept it in a little log book)I called and shot 19, my son James, I called, he shot 6, Ken G. 3, and Glenn 2.
Carl, you are waaay too modest. You called and shot more coyotes than the large majority of the members of either of the clubs I belong to.
Congratulations for a very respectable year.
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on June 18, 2007, 09:29 PM:
Rich,
I hang, fully and completely in suspense, waiting on your words.
Photos rarely do a call justice.
I gotta track down a DVD player, and I'll be back with a review of my own.
Krusty
Posted by Bofire (Member # 221) on June 18, 2007, 09:37 PM:
Thank you Rich, I have learned alot in the last few years. I got to hunt some target rich areas, But the ( never under estimate having lots of targets ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
REAAL TRUTH, LOL,is,(its magic) I am about half serious about this, its MOJO, its that damn call, I used a lot of calls and called ALOT of stands, used my ecaller, not every time I used it,( the maple dualreed) but often enough that getting that call from me will require gun play! LOL !Coyotes came in.
I know you guys have had times when certain calls could not fail.
It is sort of a curse, if I dont try my hardest, sneak the furthest, I'm not taking he full advantage of the calls mojo.
somehow I am sure Krusty has somthing to do with it.
I'd say something like ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
"gee I sound loony" but I know this post is for predator callers, an you guys are as bad as me!! LOL (mebbe worse)
If the call fails I may have to check in somewhere. ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
Carl
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on June 18, 2007, 10:13 PM:
It's too bad I put all my mojo into calls, and gave it away. ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
There couldn't have been very much of it, if I were you guys I'd use it sparingly.
Krusty
Posted by Rich Higgins (Member # 3) on June 18, 2007, 10:14 PM:
Carl, I absolutely believe in MOJO. I believe in the 6th sense that coyotes sometimes have also. That would be a good subject for discussion if you were to start the thread.
Krusty, there should be no suspense whatsoever. You know what you made for me.
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on June 18, 2007, 11:20 PM:
Rich,
It must be easy, living in the world, like that?
...Just "knowing" you did okay, just because you know it. ![[Cool]](cool.gif)
I never "know" what I sent, in the way you mean.
I'm not good at being proud.
(*Carl embarasses the crap out of me)
I waited a couple days before I heard from you, so there's already a build up of suspense, and because I know you'll give it to me honestly, I really am on the edge of my seat waiting for your opinion.
I also waited a loooong time, before you finally accepted a call from me, so I've been looking forward to this for a lot longer than you realize.
After I made Tim's, I knew this was an offer you couldn't refuse, so yeah there is some "pride in workmanship" inside me.
But remember... I am not the pompass know-it-all, I am the annoying tell-it-to-me... so tell it to me like it is!
Krusty
Posted by smithers (Member # 646) on June 19, 2007, 07:58 PM:
Krusty, your calls evoke pain and anguish with every breath and it is a damn shame that I didn't get one a long time ago!
A smidge of mojo never hurt anyone. Except for one guy back in '82. He slipped and fell in a puddle of another guy's mojo.
Krusty, I am the same way when I make something. I have a hard time seeing the good in it, some of the time. I usually see the faults. Could have been better here.... touched up there.
[ June 19, 2007, 08:00 PM: Message edited by: smithers ]
Posted by Rich Higgins (Member # 3) on June 19, 2007, 08:52 PM:
Tyler was with me when we picked my call up at the mailboxes. I listened to him blow canine distress on it all the way home. We both liked the sounds Tyler produced on the little call and we knew it sounded great, but I had only given it a cursory glance when Tyler opened the package and, as I said earlier, Krusty's pic did not do it justice. So I was actually more than a little surprised when I examined the call closely
. I had expected to see what the pic showed. In the photo the bell looks like it is just cut off flat.
The bell on my call, however, has a very subtle concave contour to it. The volume chamber is flared out to the mouth of the bell and the lips are symetrical, of exact and consistant thickness, almost flat, with just a hint of a rounded taper to it. The barrel has a subtle triangular shape to it. A lanyard groove is placed 1/4 inch from the toneboard and is the precise width of the cord.
When Krusty made the top vertical cut for the tone board, he continued that cut around the circumference of the barrel and used this as the posterior wall of the band groove. The groove is the precise width of the band.
The tone board curvature is about standard but the airchannel doesn't run the length of the board as do all of the other open reed calls I have seen . This one has a hole drilled though the center of the call and the hole emerges at the apex of the curve making a very short elliptical air groove. It is fitted with a dual stack reed with an indent punched into the top reed to keep the two seperate. The sharp edges of the board have been very gently rounded.
The underside of the tone board has a very subtle concavity that perfectly accommodates the lower lip. The finish of the well figured, multi-toned mesquite is as subtle as the rest of the call. In fact the over all appearance suggests that the smoothness of the surface and all of the corners were produced by wear from long use. Even the "cuff link" button at the end of the lanyard is unique to me.
Subtle elegance is the only way I can think to describe this call. It reminds me of an English Leather advertisement. The simplistic design belies the thought and time that was obviously invested in this piece.
I know that you put a little heart and soul into this call. I'll bet it was hard to part with it. It will be valued and appreciated. Tyler plans to use it at the state championship next month.
Krusty, thank you.
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on June 20, 2007, 06:46 PM:
Rich,
Now that's a review worth waiting for.
Ain't that just like a kid, you guys pick your call, and he plays with it all the way home.
The bell is what I call the "elephant's snout" shape.
You're right the pictures don't really show it.
The oval air channel, is a shortcut.
As you say, the hole is made through the call before I cut out the toneboard.
I stick a drill bit in the hole to use as a guide to make the cutaway. I angle slightly up and away from the drill bit.
If there's still enough thickness that the air channel won't "collapse", by the time I get the curvature right, I leave the ovalated hole the way it is.
If the top is soft, I use a drill bit in my dremel tool, to burrow my way up and out of the air channel just behind the band.
This is where I can really screw up a call, at about the halfway point of building it.
The bit can catch as it comes out, and it gets dragged over the side of the toneboard, and if I'm not careful over my thumb and fingers.
It puts a big scar, in an otherwise tuned toneboard, and has sent more than a few calls to the scrap bin.
The lanyard groove, and the band groove, are where I'll usually say I messed up a call.
I went through several bands before I found one that was uniform (some have a bulge).
The band groove really is made by sawing a shallow line around the bottom of the toneboard, so is the lanyard groove.
I saw the band line back half the distance that my chainsaw file is in diameter... that way when the file has filed halfway in, it lines up with the "backstop" wall.
Then I use a compass, to scribe a line that's parallel to the band groove, for the lanyard groove.
I try to make both grooves exactly the same.
Dude, there is a sick amount of sanding time in that call. lol
There are no sharp edges that I could get to with sandpaper.
And it's got three coats of polyurethane, the first two rubbed down with ultra-fine steel wool, and the third handrubbed to hell with an old t-shirt!
You see pretty good.
There is a huge amount of refinement in my call making, and the way I put all the information I was given (by other callers and call makers alike) into the way a call plays, and feels, and looks.
I always tell guys that get one of my latest calls "you're lucky you waited, so you could get one of my good calls... these are way better than my old stuff".
I know where your call is screwed up, but I am getting really close to making a "perfect one", with nothing about it that I am not happy with.
Tyler probably doesn't need any of my mojo, but if there was ever a call that had some, you got it.
Thank you Rich, this has been a wonderful experience.
Krusty
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on June 20, 2007, 06:55 PM:
Well, shit! I need to send mine back for a subtle retrofit.
Good hunting. LB
Posted by Bofire (Member # 221) on June 20, 2007, 07:48 PM:
Krusty dang you! NO Fair. "new ones are better"
Ok so show me the inventory, I'm a push over.
Do I get any trade in on the new models? and NO the flame maple aint on the block, or the Holly, or those matched two triangle shaped ones, hmmmm this aint gonna be easy.
LOL
Carl
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on June 20, 2007, 09:13 PM:
Leonard,
Send it back? Heck I thought YOU were the retrofit department.
Did you ever get that call of Vic's working?
Carl,
You are one of the guys that has enough Krusty Kriers to prove my point.
Look at the hazel calls I gave away at bear camp. Crude would be a compliment.
Then look at the triangle calls, a step up, but still just barely not junk.
By the time I made your flame maple call, I had settled into a style of my own, and was beginning to refine my production methods.
Now, I am experimenting with artistic forms, and no longer refining "the machine" that a call is.
I've got a few calls in stock.
I have a bloodwood distress call, with a holly and bloodwood turkey striker that goes with it.
They are a spectacular set.
I also have a medium sized hickory call, a small cherry call, and a skinny figured maple burl call.
Krusty
Posted by Bofire (Member # 221) on June 21, 2007, 07:22 AM:
OK guys, this is a crappy picture of, "crude" calls. I'll let you all be the judges, Krusty is way to critical of his work.
I'd like to see your calls, mabbee I'll have to drive to Seattle some weekend soon. The call on the right is my favorite.
Carl
[ June 21, 2007, 07:32 AM: Message edited by: Bofire ]
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on June 21, 2007, 08:01 AM:
That one on the right is a copy of mine!
Yeah, I can tune a call, but how do I get that cool elephant trunk barrel?
Good hunting. LB
Hey, who said I had Vic's call?
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on June 21, 2007, 09:54 AM:
Carl,
You didn't picture one of the early hazel calls (James had one).
They are very crude.
The second call from the right, the holly one I called "Slim", was one of my all time favorites.
It's half of the first matched set I ever made, Slim and Sluggo.
If they got a name, they were special to me.
Leonard,
Your call is the "pinnacle" of the design style of Carl's call.
I'm pretty sure I made his first.
The Leonard's Special is abpout half again as long as Carls calls, it's actually the longest distress call I ever made (only rivalled by Keekee, Jim Champion, and Vic's giant wooden howlers).
The best way I know how to "retro-style" a call, is to start over with a redesign, and a whole new call.
Just like I told Rich "To try and make your call into something it's not, would just take away from what it is."
I'd have made you another call years ago, if I thought you had any desire to have one (including the one you already have).
You are hard for me to "read", and I don't know if you even like or use the call I made?
Hey yerself, lol, YOU said you had Vic's call.
Krusty
Posted by bowjunkie (Member # 887) on June 26, 2007, 11:08 AM:
damn fine craftsmanship right there Krusty those are just sweet please add me toget a couple from you when you build some more ...
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on June 26, 2007, 01:29 PM:
Bowjunkie,
Thanks for the compliment.
Add you to what? I don't work off a waiting list.
I only agree to make a couple "custom" calls at a time, and that process generally takes a couple weeks (to a month).
There's usually 10 or 12 calls that are works in progress.
Many of them are just stubborn, and don't want to be calls yet, and some are waiting until somebody wants them.
More often than not, I have a call or two that are ready to go, just like I do now.
quote:
I've got a few calls in stock.
I have a bloodwood distress call, with a holly and bloodwood turkey striker that goes with it.
They are a spectacular set.
I also have a medium sized hickory call, a small cherry call, and a skinny figured maple burl call.
If anybody turkey hunts, and uses a slate pot, I have a bunch of strikers, I'd sell dirt cheap (or give ya if'n I really likes ya).
I'm sick of looking at 'em.
Krusty
Posted by bowjunkie (Member # 887) on June 28, 2007, 11:32 AM:
Krusty can ya post a couple pics of the set
thanks Ed
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