Maybe it was a misnomer calling these field grade. I guess I shall have to come up with a unique name, Battenkill or something, after one of my trout fishing streams, or maybe just classic, I don't know.
As a call maker it has always been my desire to offer affordable calls to the average hunter. When a piece of burl of a size adequate to build a trumpet from costs $40-50, a piece of Ivory costs $40-50 it puts the price near $100 before you even start. One catch with a turning tool and you are buying more material.
Buffalo horn and exotic woods are cheaper than burls and Ivory, therefore can be produced somewhat cheaper.
This style I have shown, uses a smaller blank than my standard trumpet which allows me more options when purchasing wood or using "scrap" I have already in my shop. The simpler design can be sanded, turned and finshed with greater ease and is somewhat less time consuming, therefore can be offered at a lower price.
As a call maker, I am also a "tinkerer", always changing up this and that to see what effect it has on sound. This is a great little platform to experiment with and to try out different ideas, and even if there was no interest in this design I would still continue to experiment .
The idea to make this call actually came from a customer who was looking for something in a classic design, straight bell shape like the Penns woods yelpers, and from a converstion I had with another callmaker who makes some premium trumpets, a machinist who does impeccable work.
My only desire in offering this call is to provide the average hunter a somewhat more affordable call, another option.
