Thursday, May 21, 2015





                                             Acrylic Duck & Goose Call Maintenance

I want to share some tips and techniques on how to keep your duck and goose calls running at their highest performance.   

Barrel:

I recommend cleaning out the inside of the barrel periodically. This insures that dirt has not made its way to the tone board where it can affect the sound.

 I DO NOT recommend any alcohol or solvents. Standard dish soap with warm water will do the job just fine.

How To Clean

You can wrap a soft cloth around a ¼” dowel to scrub the inside of the barrel. Simply run your barrel under the faucet to remove any soap or dirt. If you would like to remove light scratches, I recommend using any automotive paint scratch removers. (“Scratch X” or the headlight polishes). Either of these is available at Wal-Mart or at an auto parts store. You can also polish your bands with these.

Insert:

Remove the cork and reed. Set them aside. All of our reeds are machine cut and engraved.

The engraving tells you two things.
a. Size and type of reed.  
b. Reed orientation. (Which way to put it back in.)

How to Clean:

1. Take a toothbrush with warm soapy water and scrub the tone board area to remove any build up of dirt.

2. I like to clean out the insert bore as well. This can be a little tricky since the hole is            ½” or less. A good way to do this is to sharpen a ¼” dowel like a pencil. Wrap a small amount of a soft cloth around it soaked in soapy water and run it through the hole. 

3. Finish cleaning the tone board by running under the faucet to remove any soap/dirt.  


O-Ring:

Inspect the o-ring for cracks or wear. The o-ring is what seals the call and insures a proper insert fit. 
Replace as needed. 

Reed and Cork:

Anytime you clean your call, replace with fresh cork. You can never really replace cork too often! 

Inspect the reed for any bubbles or delamination . If your reed is damaged, it will need replaced. If it is not damaged, wash it on both sides with soap and water to remove any dirt.
                  
Re-installing your reed & cork:

Place the reed on the tone board with the engraving facing up so you can read it.

Put the reed against the back of the cork notch. 

Bite and moisten the new cork gently to compress it slightly. 

Hold the reed down and slide the cork under the cork notch until it is seated against the back of the cork notch. 

Trim off the excess cork with a knife. (If there is any gap between the cork and the back of the notch, it will leak air and your call will not function properly.)


Final Step:

Place the insert back into the barrel of your call. You should have a cleaned and properly running call after this maintenance. 

If you would like to view a video on how to replace your cork and reed, click on the link below to watch on our YouTube page. 

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