Difference between box call styles Cost, Turpin, others...

[SCGobbler]

I am not new to turkey hunting or call collecting, however I am new to the different types of box calls.

I know what a cost style looks like I own three of those styles, but what about the other types of box calls?

Turpin style, Cost style (already mentioned,) I know of at least two other styles of box calls.

What are the styles other than cost and what makes them different than another?  I know one style has a specific S-curve built into the soundsing chamber which makes it specific, etc...

Could any of the box call makers speak to this topic?

I am looking for a box call history lesson!

[Jake St. John]

Since I make and specialize in Old style box calls (Turpin and Stribling),  I will address the less known, Stribling Style box call.  I had the privelidge of having a neighbor down the street own an original Stribling box.  I also got to know and hunted with Dr. E. H. Winn from here in Greenville, Ms.  He passed away a few years back.  His family has one the largest collections of original Striblings that I have played and seen (20 or more).  His son and grandson hunt these calls today.  They were made the 1950's through 1970's when turkeys were making their comeback on the Ms. River.   The orginal Striblings have straight vertical, up and down sides like the old Turpins and Gibson boxes.  They are on a little wider frame than the the Turpins.  They are all played by tilting the paddle downard toward the center of the box, and sliding the paddle on that plane.  The difference in the original Stribling and all box calls that I have seen, is the unique paddle design.  If you turn the paddle upside down, you will notice how the paddle is flat and rounds off into a 45 degree angle.

Rounded paddle that I make left.   Orginal flat Stribling design right.
 
This is where the double tone comes from or is helped when it falls off the tone board or side of the call.   Mr. J. C. Stribling ran a Firestone Store in Rosedale, Ms.  But he sold his box calls there to hunters on Merigold Island, Caulk Island, Burke Landing, and others along the Ms. River south of Memphis.  Turpin had a name and was more well known, but Stribling calls are unique and deadly in the hands of one who knows how to play them.  Mr. Stribling was a master tuner.  I could never master his technique.  I had one or two turn out O.K.  I make a modified Stribling with a rounded paddle and get a really consistant call with the same sound.   A lot of the information that I have shared is written about in East of the Slash.

Here is the second Stribling Reproduction that I made in Jan, 1987 and I hunt every hunt.  I call mine a Stribling Cutting call.  I copied the orginal from my neighbor's down the street.




 

[SCGobbler]

Very interesting.

Never heard of a stribling call.

[M Sharpe]

 I'm interested in hearing more about this s-curve configuration

[Shadetree Callers]

 There are too many differences to list here but in a nutshell ... Turpin and Gibson calls were made with straight sidewalls and large sound chambers . Turpins had a very thick lid and Gibsons used a thin cedar lid . Then M.L. Lynch came along and built the laminated boxcall with angled sides , routing to lighten the sides for better vibration and a mortised base . Lynch also developed the one-sider boxcalls named the Foolproof Caller. Neil Cost took the Lynch design to a new level by building a one piece , hewed out body and added checkering instead of routing to lighten the sides for better vibration and rasp .
 Turpins and Gibson calls require you to manipulate the paddle to get the proper sound by angling it inward . The Lynch and Cost style calls are much more user friendly in that the lids are run flat across the soundboards and have a spring under the lid to support it which also helps it run easier .
Bob

[WillowRidgeCalls]

As Bob and John have pointed out a few of the differences, the biggest difference is in the height and shape of the bodies. A Turpin has a rounded end box and measures out at 8" x 2-1/8" x 1-1/4" call. A Gibson has a flat front with an angled cut back end at 10" x 2-1/2" x 1-1/8" body. Both are a flat sided call, and there is a difference in the thickness of the paddles. Both calls YOU have to play, where a Cost style virtually plays itself, just by sliding the lid over the rails. I'm like John, all I build are Turpin and Gibson box calls.

[GR8CALLS]

There is a lot of over simplification going on w/ this discussion. First off, "Turpin Style" and "Gibson Style" both have numerous variations. From the purist side, the sound chambers are similar,  and then they aren't. There are about six different sound chambers for the original Gibson calls. Turpin, like any call maker played around w/ different designs and final settled on two basic calls. The "Hen Box" and what everyone calls the "Turpin Style"

Hen Box:


Turpin Box:


And the ant in the ointment.....A Turpin, Gibson style: I have only seen two of these, but you can bet there were, more!


Here is a Gibson (original):


Bill

[M Sharpe]

There use to be a couple made with dual sound chambers as well wasn't there?

[GR8CALLS]

Personally, I have not seen a Turpin or a Gibson w/ double sound chambers. That isn't to say there wasn't some experimental call or two made that way.......just not aware of one.

Bill

[West Augusta]

Y'all are forgetting the longbox. 

[Shadetree Callers]

We certtainly wouldn't leave out the longbox, just trying to keep it simple. Mark, I think you are talking about the Lohman Dual Chamber and there is also the Moss Double Tone which has dual soundboards. Gotta love the longboxes Steve !!!

[GR8CALLS]

Steve

Not wishing to leave the LB out, but in some sense of the word, the Gibson was the birth of the long box and looking at Turpin's works, there were what could be considered LB's in his progression, also.

Bill 

[Jake St. John]

I concur with you Bill.  Here is the original Stribling Box that Dr. E. H. Winn let, Eustace IV, his grandson pick out for his 15th birthday present.  I made a reproduction of it for him on the right a couple of years ago.  I also made a long box that I entered in Nashville with the exact same size box.  The box cavity size is 7 inches on this orginal.  My regular size Stribling boxes have a 5 3/4 in. cavity size.   I just wish the long box I entered in Nashville had come out with the sound of Eustace's old orginal Stribling.  One fine sounding old box as was the replica.