Houndstooth,
Welcome to the site. There are a lot of great callmakers here. You will fit right in.
I have wondered how box call makers could make their calls without infringing on somebody. After all, the box call was patented in 1897 by Henry Gipson. Let’s face it, most short box calls look just like one made by Neil Cost, Lamar Williams, or Albert Paul. Or at least they do to me. There are some that definitely stand out as different such as boxes made by Irving Whitt, Richard Hudson, Marlin Watkins, and John Eddleman. And the design on some of the calls made by the Clark’s, Tom Laska, Todd Self, Tim Clayton, Scott Witter and others set them apart. Some callmakers such as Darrin Dawkins and Bob Harwell make their short boxes smaller than most. I can look at calls made by the folks mentioned above from a distance and know who made them. Their styles stand out. But for the most part the callmakers all make short boxes that look alike. But yet you hear very little complaining about somebody copying another person’s design. I was enlightened by a forum member as to how the calls could be made alike without somebody screaming patent infringement. I am sure most on here already knew that answer.
