Primos vs ya'lls

K

korben

New member
Hi there,

New guy here. I bought my first predator call a while back, a primos lil dog. And I've been practicing, think I sound pretty good on it but yet to test it on the coyotes.

Then I found this site and started reading. Looks like a lot of you don;t think the Primos (or any mass produced call) are as good as some of the hand made ones you can find here.

Now I've been looking at some of them custom ones, and some are awefully pretty, but I am wondering besides looks makes them better. Is it the sound? Ease of use?

Also notice most of the custom builders here use the same reeds, and put them in their hand turned/tuned mouth pieces. I will be ordering a few customs, and wondering what the difference in reeds are. Is one easier to blow? Cause if so that would be the one I would get first.

EDITED TO ADD: I'd be looking at howlers for my first custom call

Thanks for the site and excellent info.
Troy
 
Last edited:
Most of the difference is sound. Every one of the little dogs are going to sound exactly the same or close to it. You could put the same reed or toneboard in ten different custom calls and get ten different sounds. Plus most of these guys tune the reeds for different tones too. In my opinion the customs are much better, better made and sound better. Also, ive never had any of the custom closed reed calls ive bought from here cut out on me like numerous factory calls ive had. Plus they look awesome, are a great conversation piece, and youre supporting members and fellow hardworking members.
 
The bees obrien calls are one of them that I've been eyeballin'.

As far as ease of use, do the customs pretty much operate the same as the lil dog?

Which reed would you suggest for a newbie, looking for a different sound than the primos?
 
While I do use pre-made toneboards for my howlers...I don't use "generic" reeds.
I do base them off of existing reed designs, but I cut & tune each one by hand. Nothing is "die-cut".
I am just a simple, humble fellow compared to most of the guys that have been at this a long time...I'm NO expert.
And EVERYTHING I put to use in making my calls, I learned from the best on this site...bearmanric; Tony Tebbe; Kerry Carver...to name just a few.
And compared to most, I don't make "pretty" calls...just very functional.

But, IMHO......
I feel there are several things that affect both tonal quality, and ease of use (how much air it takes).
The size of the air channel in the toneboard has a great determination on how much air pressure is needed.
Example...The width of the channel in the white Lil Dog 'board measures 3/16"...the green one is 5/32"...the one used for the Hot Dog measures 1/2". So, naturally, the Hot Dog will take more air. And the 5/32" channel will take the least.
.....HOWEVER....There's also the fact that all three toneboards use different reeds.
Not only are they different designs & widths...they are also different thickness'.
The white Lil Dog, and the Hot Dog both use a reed that is .014" mylar.
While the green Lil Dog uses .010" mil.
The thicker the reed...and sometimes the width of the reed...also dictate how much air is needed. Both also go a long way in determining the tonal quality & pitch.
The thinner the reed, and the narrower the reed...the higher the pitches achieved.
They also determine the amount of lip (or teeth) pressure needed in order to create a decent sound.

Since I don't make my own 'boards, I do not know if the material they are made of makes a huge difference.
Hopefully someone with that knowledge will address that issue.

What the call body is made of affects everything, as far as I'm concerned. Including the aforementioned things, as well as the "crispness" of the sound & the overall volume of the call.
Wood; acrylic; plastic; thin-walled cow or bison horn; thick-walled cow or bison horn; even differently aged/bleached antler will affect things.

These are just my .02.
 
Will hit it right on the nail. It does sound vague, but every different part changes everything about the call. But, as Will said, all of the "production calls" of the same make and model will basically sound the same. That is where the "custom" part comes in. All of our great call makers has their own way to make them sing. Some make all their tone boards by hand. Some have their own hand made board molded out of a "plastic". Some buy awesome pre-made tone boards and put their own twist on a already great design. A lot of that part has to do with economical reasons for the buyer. But we all can take the same board and make them sound totally unique for their tastes or the buyers. If there is a particular sound or tone you are after, they can make that happen. Some sounds and tones will just take more air and practice to work right. But, you will have the call "YOU" want. A tone board made of a hard acrylic or cast board will sound different than a all wood board. And those will sound different than a board made from antler, ect.
Basically, you need to figure our what your looking for and get with any of these call makers and talk about it. Every one of them will get you lined up for what you are looking for. Plus it will be a unique looking call that can have pride in owning and showing off to your buddies. Lol
Good luck with the call choice and using it to slam some coyotes!!!!
 
Stick with the custom guys and you won't be sorry. You can't go wrong with any of them....and they are all a little different. Have fun exploring the awesome world of hand calls.
 
korbin,

IMHO, it comes down to supporting a great group of folks that share a common interest and will back their product up until they are pushing daisies.

Truth be told, any call w/bring in a coyote. Heck, the guy that won the calling contest this year only used his mouth.

But calling in a coyote with a call made in someone's garage, using the finest materials, adding some customization to it and seeing it posted here on PM will definitely put a smile on your face.
 
Last edited:
Production callers will bring in coyotes, without a doubt. But they really are not up to snuff with the custom calls like those you can find here.

What is different?

Custom calls are precision turned after countless tries at designing the perfect sound.

Different materials, wood densities, acrylics, horn, antler, etc all have unique sounds, and custom makers can capitalize on those differences for tone by combining different materials to achieve just the right sound.

Air efficiency and control. You'll never find a production call that can play as wide of range for volume, with the same control as you will find from hand tuned custom calls.

The "it factor". Custom calls look great, and knowing you took a dog with a call turned by a great guy, that might be a one of a kind, just makes it all that much better.
 
I have a few customs from the callmakers here . They are awesome to say the least. Some are to pretty to take out. Lol

As far as production calls Dan Thompson and Sceery make some good ones. One thing about the Sceery calls is you can change the voices fairly fast . Get some voices and tune some and get different sounds .

Have calls from other callmakers not on the forum , but do not know if I can post. They are great sounding too.
 
I have found the custom calls that I have from guys on this forum sound 10 times better than any production call I have. They are easier to use and look much better too. In fact the only production call left on my lanyard is a haydels ghc.
 
Last edited:
I have most of my own custom call on my lanard. and switch out for a few customes I have bought from here. personally I think customs are the way to go. I support the mom and pop shops. I do how ever always have a haydels ghc and I do also like sceery calls. but havnt really had a chance to use them yet.
 
My custom calls blow my production calls out of the water. Not only in sound and looks, but ease of use as well.

The great thing about custom calls is you can let the call maker know what you want and they will make the call "custom" to you....hints the name "custom calls"

I used to use a standard Crit'R Call, and never had much luck. The call sounds great I was just a begginer using it. However I recently replaced it with a Bunny Bomb, and have only used it once and called in a Coyote pup about a month ago...Thanks Rudy (aka badtothebone)!
 
good points by all......custom are without a doubt much better.........I make both......haydels is one of my favs for strictly production calls.......but those that make both custom and production on here are truly the ones you wanna get productions from......I could name them but you guys all know who rocks when it comes to custom turned production.....
 
yeah....++1 for the Bunny Bomb. Very easy to use and makes great distress sounds. There are many other customs that are great too.....but BB is certainly one of my favs for useability
 
Stick with any of the custom calls from any of the call makers here, and you won't go wrong.

The spinners here are dedicated to the craft, quality, and tone. And, the calls look dammm nice too. LOL!

If anyone has a question about the custom calls, please get in touch with me. I'll be glad to refer you to some of the custom call makers here who can get you the call you're looking for.

Regards,

Rudy
 
I don't have a howler from Bees, but I do have one of Wills(Canislatrans54) and it is without question the easiest blowing and best sounding howler I have ever used. I start every stand with it and can even do a pretty mean pup distress on the edge of the reed.


Chupa
 
i have many calls customs and productions several from all the call makers here and i can say that the little dog is harder to blow uses more air then customs and the sound isn't as good.
i like all calls but the little dog has never been on my favorite list. too many others that don't have a break in tone like i've experienced in the little dog.
yes i've called in coyotes with it but it wouldn't make the top 50 of my calls.
blushing.gif

don't tell my grandson he loves anything with Primos on it lol
scared.gif

once you try one of Kerry's, jims, bee's, tonys, wills, rudys, brians, and the rest the guys that hang heres calls you see why we feel this way then you will get the addiction like we have.
thumbup1.gif

did i mention they are WAY PURDIER
drool.gif

I'm with ya Bee's on the Haydels and Rods a good guy too.
 
Last edited:


Write your reply...
Back
Top