Gobbler Nation

What is the purpose of the checkering on the Cost-style boxes? Decoration?

Old Gobbler said that the checkering breaks up the surface so that a proper note can be made. Lynch did the same with saw cuts. Others utilize unbroken sides that work fine, but Neil said the checkering was more than decorative. Gil

Ain't that somethin'. Thanks.

The first one on the left I bought in 1978; the last one I bought was in 1994. It is next to the first one I bought. I still have those two. I had a dozen or more go through my hands. Most were given to hunting buddies as gifts. All the rest were converted into $.

I have asked this before to someone on this board but do they sound that much greater to justify the cost?

There are contemporary call makers who make calls that make just as good a call. Cost calls are fine, but their value is in who made them and the fact that he no longer is alive. He also taught by his example and with a few makers, a direct mentorship. Gil

As a callmaker I can tell you that the checkering does influence the tone of the call a lot if done correctly. What it really does is to weaken the side wall and make the call more tunable in the construction while still retaining some strength in the side walls. It is much more important in harder woods than softer woods. For instance butternut, poplar wood responds pretty well in a smooth sides call. Cherry, Limba or walnut is more difficult in smooth sides. Lynch and others have used different methods to achieve the same effect. Different ways to skin a cat. A smooth sided call can be tuned just the same but the result is often walls so thin that the calls are much more fragile. It is also a very attractive means to an end. Given the 2, its no wonder that checkering has been adopted by so many callmakers. As for the lid of the call, not so much. It can have an effect if deeply checkered but nowhere near the dramatic effect as checkering the sides can make. As a call builder, there is a lot more too it than this but in a short explanation the answer is yes, it does have a very real practical reason for being there. Not just a pretty extra touch.

As to buying a call with checkering or without it, its really about the sound of THAT PARTICULAR CALL for a hunter. In short, will it hunt? If you don't care about looks, that is what matters. As a collector, that is a whole nother level. And at that level, it may or may not matter if it EVER hunts. Neil Cost set the standard with his checkering and massive popularity and collectiblity. The rest of us simply followed...
Just another opinion from the peanut gallery.....