Removed

[iahntr]

Well too bad ya decided to delete your post.
The way I understand the "rookie ring" thing is that it isn't slight sanding or tooling marks,
it is the accent rings that he is talking about. Not that it really matters at this point.
I agree with your post a few up, make em for fun, the way you want to, if somebody wants
to order one a certain way, that's not too hard to do.    I personally like em and do them
on most my calls too.
I've heard nothing but good things about your calls,
and plan to add one, one of these days. I thought the one out of the really old wood from the log cabin was cool!
and think when I do get one it would be one from that. Keep up the good work, your calls look great.
         Scott

[Troy Walter]

Brad does outstanding work his calls look and sound great.As far as the burnt rings remark it is presonal so you should keep it personal and not put it out in the open.

[vvarmitr]

I am wrong!

I apologize to Yotehntr!

I will buy his call since it is my fault it didn't sell.

What else can I do to make things right? 

[iahntr]

I'll play   
I don't think the issue is whether you are right or wrong, as everyone is entitled to there own opinion, I think the issue is how you handled it.
Do you honestly think that calling them rookie rings isn't likely to get a rise out of a guy? Then you came back and said you'd "apologize to no one"
for your "personal rant" because it's personal.  Yet you replied to yotehntr on a call he had for sale. Then basically saying any call
maker that uses them is "trying to show how deft you are on the lathe", or "trying to improve what God did", or saying that "you know they screwed
up and are trying to cover it up".  You don't see that as being a little sarcastic and might get a rise out of some people ? I know I gotta rise out of it. Personally I like the rings, and so do several other people. That's cool if you do not. I know I enjoy it if somebody would contact me and say, could you make me a call like the one you posted, only I want it like "this", without "this", or this part a little bigger, smaller, longer, etc. To me it adds there personal touch to it, and makes it a little more "custom" to that person. I also don't think anybody asked you to buy his call, or think that it's your fault whether it sells or not. I know yotehntr offered to make you a call without the burn rings. 
      Scott

[Yotehntr]

vvarmitr apology accepted!  no purchase necessary!.... There's the fella I met up there at the LBL.

[FinsnFur]

Let's not kill each other.

I gotta say Brad, I liked the accent rings myself also, how many folk is that now? I wouldn't let one bold opinion discourage me.

I know guys that been turning calls for 20 plus year and use accent rings. Keep up the good work Pard

[FOsteology]

I know guys that been turning calls for 20 plus year and use accent rings. Keep up the good work Pard

Richard Grantham comes to mind..... and he sure isn't a "rookie" when it comes to calls and call building!

[THO Game Calls]

FWIW -

No one answered your question, so I will take a stab at it with an opinion. 

When designing a call, most call makers start out with a one dollar piece of walnut or maple, not a 30 buck blank of fancy burl.

Because the wood used is rather plain, the call maker does a few things to "liven it up" some, sometimes with the burnt rings, hence the name Accent Rings.

As the call evolves, and the call maker becomes more comfortable with the design, those accent rings become a part of the call.   When the call maker uses a piece of really pretty wood, no matter how pretty, because he is used to putting those accent lines on his calls, the call looks "unfinished" to his eye without them.  So they get added.  Also, if the call is a Signature Call, then the call maker might also want to include them because it is his Signature Call.

I have one of Brad's call right here on the desk.  It is a wonderful piece of crotch walnut, and yes, it has the accent lines.  I think the call would be beautiful without them, but they certanly do not detract from the call.

That being said, I certainly understand you point.  I designed my bonker with the same feelings in mind.  I wanted a call that would show off stunning pieces of wood with a simple clean design.   But I would not hesitate to make one of my Classic styled calls out of a nice burl and add the accent rings to it, as, they are a part of the call design. 

The above is just my opinion, and if nothing else, I hope it gives you one mans reason for the Rookie Rings on his calls.

Al

[Yotehntr]

Al !!!       "I have one of Brad's call right here on the desk"

That's not a paper weight!!!   I have been told they look like chess pieces 

are you playing chess with it???

Put that thing on a lanyard!!! It want's to go huntin !   

[vvarmitr]

Thank you Al!    I've questioned this Accent ring thing to callmakers since the days we were happy to be at PM.    You are the only one to give any kind of a  answer.

I thought to explain why the accent rings are so unappealing to me on certain calls & okay on others, but I see from the previous posts here that I should have become an English Major rather than a studier of the wood arts.  I just wouldn't be understood.

FOs: One of my prize possessions is a Richard Granham call. Yes it has rings on it that accentuate the straight grain walnut.


Now here are accent rings! 

[THO Game Calls]

Brad -

First of all, thank you again for the call.  But it wont go on a lanyard.  I use a call bag     Easier, quieter, and I can carry a lot more calls.  Nothing really wrong with lanyards, but I hunt out of tree stands too much to have stuff hanging around my neck. 

I will use your call in the woods, but, it will have to wait until the fall as I would not want to kill a momma coyote nursing her pups, or the daddy coyote providing for them, or god forbid, because they are so easy to fool this time of year, the pups themselves.  Even though it is legal here in NH, and Vermont, and even though man has done everything in his power to eradicate the coyote from the face of the earth for more years than you and I combined have been alive, and  yet they have not only survived, but thrived and expanded into places they never were before, I have been told by those in the know that my killing of one or two during the summer will surely put a real dent in the coyote population.  So it will have to wait a few months at least.



vvarmitr

You're welcome, and again, I certainly understand where you are coming from when talking about wonderful pieces of wood. 

I will probably ruffle a few feather here with the following comments, but -

It used to be that call makers had signature calls.  You could tell who made what just by looking at it.   The call maker designed a call, tested it on his own, and then offered it to his fellow hunters.  It was a call that he knew would work.  Back then, you didn't see as much 

<<<<<((((($$$$ EYE CANDY $$$$)))))>>>>>

as you do today. 

Things have changed, and now we have a lot more call makers.  Instead of competing with themselves, to make a better call, they compete with each other and the emphasis is now on wood, a pretty call years ago would elicit a response along the lines of  "well, it sure is pretty, how does it sound"? where as today, a pretty call will elicit a response more along the lines of "you sure did that piece of wood proud"!

And the competition between call makers has spurned a lot of fancy wood, and an obsession with making each call fancier and fancier to catch the hunters eye.

I know this to be true - look at my stippled bands - it affects ALL of us. 

I'm getting to the point now, where if I were to buy a custom call from someone, the only question I would ask would be - "what calls do you take to the field when you go hunting"?  and if the answer is anything but "my own" I don't think I would buy from that person.   There are so many call makers today, that it is getting harder and harder to separate the wood turners who make calls from the call makers who turn wood.

Al

[Yotehntr]

Opps! how'd that screery call get in there?   

[vvarmitr]

Ruffed feathers?  You'll probably be drug out into the street & shot!  :shck:

However, you've made a very good point!