HELP: Tuning Old Lynch Box Call

a few years ago, my uncle Shorty passed away; i was there with him in his last few minutes on earth, and as i was going home, my cousin called & told me he had passed away peacefully ... uncle Shorty was an avid deer hunter - that part i knew - but what i didn't know is that he turkey hunted in his younger years ... i was a pallbearer at his funeral -- and some time afterwards, my cousin called me at work & said, "hey, drop by on your way home; Daddy wanted me to give you something" ... what uncle Shorty left me was his one & only turkey call - an old Lynch box call (I believe it's a Foolproof) ... it's got eye hooks on the paddle & on the sides of it ...

i've got it proudly on display in my bedroom, along with a few other turkey memorabilia ... but the thought struck me this past weekend to try & get it tuned up & to actually use & take a gobbler with it this coming spring season ... well, that's where the problem comes in -- it sounds "Ok" on one side of it, and sounds like a rooster dying on the other side ... i've done my normal, non-invasive tricks to tune up a box -- but it still doesn't sound that good ...

i know these calls can be deadly so - my Q is: how the heck do i get this thing sounding good & humming like new? anybody know of a website/YouTube video where somebody "restores" one to full glory?

it would be much appreciated any help somebody could pass along; my uncle & i were fairly close, and it would mean a whole lot to me to take a bird with "his" call ... something i don't believe he actually ever did, in fact ...

tia,
BGD

Tell us what you have tried so far. Other than adjusting the paddle screw and chalk, I'm not aware of much else that can be done.

Lightly sand the lid and sides. Put on some fresh chalk. It sounds like there is or has been some chalk that has moisture.

that's pretty much all i've done; i didn't put rubber bands on it -- should i? i didn't "sand" the underside of the paddle, or the sides of the box -- just used a scotch-brite pad to dust off the old chalk from the paddle & the sides, chalked it back up, and ran it ...

what grit sand paper?

No more than 100 grit....just enough to get the old chalk off.

gotcha ...

I would put bands on it, but not tight ones. For me the bands are more about the call not making all kinds of noise when moving it around. Or if you want to gobble with it

Then, a fancy box call holder this g or an extra rubber band with a paper towel between the box and paddle will keep it quiet while not in use.

As for tuning. I have 6 lynch box calls and they don't take much. I just put chalk on and they make turkey sounds. The paddle screw is all I mess with. I've never sanded any but I have rubbed a dry paper tower or cloth on a couple.

To my knowledge the foolproofs are all one-sided.

Semo, it's not the foolproof then -- it's definitely a 2-sided box call (maybe World Champion?)... again - i have not even attempted to use this call -- and i'm not a life-long Lynch box guy; i'll snap a pic & post later on when i get home ...

Check and see if its a Birmingham manufactured call. If so, you have something really special.

It sounds like it is the "world champ" call. One side will say "use this side to imatate the gobbler" the other will say"........the hen"

I would bet that if you get a good chalk on there it'll work. It is surely a personal preference thing but bands applying just enough tension to hold the paddle between the sides when held upside down or on its side should be a good starting point.

Remember you don't have to put rubber bands on both the front or rear center pin. But I think a call with no rubber bands ends up talking when you don't want it to.

My dad taught me that after chalking you want to take two backward strokes without making noise to smooth the chalk out. IDK if it helps but I've done it for 35 years so it is kind of engrained. Kind of like how you step in the batters box and do your pre-swing routine.

10-4, will do ... let me be clear - i do NOT plan to regularly use this call in the field - it's a keep-sake from my uncle & is already pretty special to me ... i just think it would be super cool to take a gobbler with it ... in memory of him ...

Sounds like you have the World Champion one. It's got the hen on one side and the gobbler yelp on the other. I've had the same one for almost 40 years and never did like the way the gobbler side sounds. However, many a bird has gobbled and died at the sound of the hen side of that call. It's a feel kinda thing with that call. I always change the rubber bands on the call and use another one to wrap it to keep it from squawking when I walk around. You will figure out the pressure it takes to make the hen side sound good. Sort of like you do on a glass or slate call. You just know how to hold the striker on those call and how to scratch the surface. Same with that paddle on the WC Lynch call. Good luck and I hope you kill one with it this season.



I'll have to check mine. What's the special of being made in B'ham?

Dr. B

roger that -- i'll monkey with the call a little more this afternoon & try some of these tips/tricks out ... i'm guessing the dying rooster side is the "gobbler" side ... the "hen" side doesn't sound half-bad -- but man, it sounds like a hen that's 90 years old!! can't imagine a hot/horny gobbler wanting to mate it LOL

Good choice. I lost my dad's foolproof going through briars last spring. Ripped the button off my vest.

Semo - ya, this'll probably be a one-time deal ... this season only & then put it back on the shelf

I have switched the paddle around on a few of mine which makes them sound better. For whatever reason it works on certain old lynches i have. If that does not help it is what it is.

They were made in Birmingham for a short time before moving production to Mississippi. Collectors are paying big money for Lynch calls in good shape made in Bham. I've got a Jet Slate made in Bham, but the couple boxes I have are all MS origin.

thx guys!! appreciate the help - Doc, just saw your reply - I'll give that all a shot ...

this says they were made in Birmingham from 1940-1969.


www.oocities.org/theboxcallpage/lynchboxes.html

Personally, tuning a Vintage call is like refinishing a vintage guitar, it’s highly frowned upon by the collectors and could go bad.
Now that’s a personal decision that you have to make. If I were in your shoes, I’d want to hunt it too. I’d probably just use the ok side and leave it at that. If you decide to tune it, I’d try to get box call maker to help you. They may do it for you but most call makers are tight lipped about how it’s done. Some of them are that way because they buy in to it, others just go along with it because they don’t want to face the ridicule from the others. The ones that buy in, will shun you like you and turn their back as if you slept with their little sister, if you share too much information.

Good info. I was thinking it was a shorter period than that.

Scotch Brite is all you need, you don't need to use sandpaper, the scotch brite will take off the old stuff that's all you want. Did you figure out if you have a two-sided box or one? The screw, don't turn it more than a quarter turn either way, if it doesn't get better, turn it back to the original position. It is hard to yelp on the hen side because of the positioning of your hand and moving it left to right for right handers. The right side of the box, I use it to make a jake sound. I'll yelp a few times then make a funky sounding gobble with it. That is later in the morning or if I have a tom holding up on me. I can also make a very deep cluck with it after a worbled gobble. This is because a lot of young toms are still learning a good gobble, but like most on here, I have also killed some old toms that had an awful sounding gobble. Those boxes are fantastic at making a gobble. If you want to tune it, use scotch brite to get the old chalk off ---- use blue chalk --- use small rubber bands that aren't tight, they need to be a little loose, the tight rubber bands pulls the paddles against the top of the box too hard ----- One more old trick, use a couple pieces of paper towel stuffed the length of the box, this will give the call a more throaty sound, kind of like a good muffler on a Vette vs. a fart can on a ricer.

Thanks for the info on the manufacturing site. Just checked and I have 2 from Mississippi and 2 from Birmingham in my storage box at the house. The other one is at the cabin but I think it is fairly new (1980's). Never have done any research on them. Wish I wouldn't have lost that one last year plus a different one when I was a teenager.

well - you're speaking to a guitarist, and I know all about "vintage value" ... quick story - i actually found a vintage guitar in the early 90's that the finish had been stripped on; i found a luthier outside Nashville that did *ALL* of Gibson's repair/custom work, back in that day, and I gave it to them to restore -- which they did an *AWESOME* job ... about a year later, there was a guitar show up there & i was encouraged to take it to George Gruhn to have it appraised; when it came my turn in the line, he basically refused to take the guitar -- refused to appraise it, saying it was a "player's guitar" ... since i was (and still am) a guitar player, i actually accepted that as a compliment & endorsement to play TF out of that guitar ... not gonna tell you what it appraises for now -- but let's just say that supply & demand caught up with George ...

this call is mine, given to me by my uncle -- and collectors can debate what i do with it after i'm pushing up daisies ... but i do see your point 100%

10-4 - thx for the tips!

Let’s save the George discussion for another day! Plenty to say there.
Being you’re a guitarist and understand the physics behind vibration and tone/pitch, you could probably figure out a good deal of tuning the call yourself.

ya - ole George LOL ... i don't want to disparage the guy too much; he HAS done a lot for the vintage market/community; I mean, his Gruhn's Guide was the Bible, back in the day ...

re: Lynch call, ya - i'm sure I could do stuff to it - was hoping for an "easy button" with guys on here that i kinda knew hunted w/these box calls ...

If it's an old one it may actually say Homewood, Alabama (an over-the-mountain suburb of Birmingham), which is where Mr. Lynch lived I believe when he first started making them in his garage.

I've never sanded the paddle or the box edges. Only chalked them. I got my box as a present from my dad I think when I was 15 or so back in the early 1980's so I'm sure it was made in MS.

Dr. B

This.
Please do not put sandpaper on a quality box call. You'll ruin it and make it worthless.
I have a half dozen box calls that are over 50 years old and normally they don't need anything but chalk or a slight adjustment of the tension.
Before you use any other tactics please bring to me and let's play with it. I'll buy your lunch or beer or both. Just don't screw up a good call.

Out back & everybody, don’t worry!! all i have done tonite is play with the screw & make sure all the old chalk is gone - re-chalked & it is sounding 10X better!!

BTW ... my uncle’s old Lynch was made in B’ham; shoutout to Jerry (WildlifeBiologist) for coaching me thru these simple changes

Getting excited about taking a bird this year w/uncle Shorty’s old box - he couldn’t have bestowed a better gift to me

I still hunt with a couple of Birmingham calls, both a Fool Proof and a.World Champion M.L.Lynch started making his calls in his garage on Edgewood Blvd.
They generally have his address on the inside, and quite often contact info on the outside.
The REALLY old ones have a Homewood address, not Birmingham. I've never seen a Homewood call priced where I was willing to pay for it. The old ones work great, but just be careful. They can be crushed in a pack .
The calls specify #10 rubber bands. Hooked up right, the World Championt can be shaken to imitate a gobble. The bands won't keep it silent in your pack. Use an old sock.

yup - mine has the 306 Edgewood Blvd address on the inside

After every season I blow all the chalk out of the wood grain with a high pressure air nozzel. Its the only way to get most of the old chalk off. Scotch brite is ok but it pushes a lot of chalk deeper into the grain

I remember my dad sitting on an old one and crushing it Don't know if it was old enough to be a Homewood call but 5he newer one he replaced it with was a Birmingham call so who knows. it hit the trash back in the early 80's.

Exactly!!!! That’s why I use sandpaper to lightly sand the lid and sides! Of course, you can’t get carried away or you will mess it up.

bama guitar, please don't put sand paper on it , you have a valuable call, don't mess it up, it may not sound just right to you, but if lynch made it, turkeys will love it!!!

hey guys -- so here's the call ... i have NOT sand-paper'ed the call ... just turned the screw & removed old chalk & re-chalked - it's sounding good enough to kill a bird now, no doubt ... on the hen side ... the gobbler side of it sounds very questionable!! LOL

tbh, i really have no idea how much (or little) uncle Shorty used this box call; he was NOT known as a turkey hunter, at all ... but back in the day, he was one hell of a deer/dog runnin' hunter - i honestly think he enjoyed talking on the CB radio & running the dirt roads wide open in a pickup more than the hunting itself when the deer hunting vibe changed to shootin' houses & rifles, i think it took a lot of the fun out of it for him -- he still went, but he missed slingin' rocks up the side of his truck! HA!

Never seen one with 3 holes drilled in the top like that

the flat head screw has also been called into question (as original??) ... we're doing some investigative work on this thing to confirm all of it, 257 ... knowing uncle Shorty, i wouldn't put it past him to "mod" it; he tinkered with stuff all the time, esp cars

Looks like it is in great shape.

My world champion box has the 3 screw holes in the lid. I think that's factory. The screw, I don't think so. Could be wrong.

good to know; & ya, the screw has been "noted" -- we'll see about it ... do you know roughly when yours was made (with the 3 holes in the lid)?

BTW -- for those worried about this call -- believe me, i *only* plan to hunt with it on a bluebird day ... that's what i've always done with my custom calls; if the weather's bad or there's a threat, i've always just used my mouth call and/or a waterproof slate/striker ... none of the many boxes that i own have seen bad weather

That tension screw is not original. I have a few of the original screws if you'd like me to send you one.

awh man, well of course -- i'd love that ... i'll send you a PM, Out back - thank you!!!!

No problem. Always glad to see an antique restored.

yes sir - i'm getting pretty excited about using it this season ... sent ya a PM w/my address; thx again!!

A part of that call just wants to be held under a poncho during a rain storm as you lower the bead on a bird it just sealed the deal on. lol. But I am on the fence of whether we should just use these things for their intended purposes. Lord knows most of the original owners did.

BGD, appear we may have the same tension screw. Mine is a Liberty, MS manufacture though. No idea on date. My grandfather gave it to me. The jet slate is Birmingham.

3toe, awesome man - thx for posting the pics - i guess you & I are the FLAT HEADS in the crowd!! LOL

those are some fine lookin' calls

Flat head is correct. But Ned's got an original. Yours ain't.

You'll see the difference when I send you the right one.

got it! i'm guessing the original's are tapered to fit into the counter-sunk hole ... my old flat head is flat on both sides!! LOL

I checked mine. As expected, it was made in Liberty, MS.

Dr. B

Don't know why but in my head this reminds me of the old Pace salsa commercial. Everybody is checking their calls now and saying "LIBERTY MISSISSIPPI!!" instead of NEW YORK CITY!

I have a Birmingham-made box and jet slate. Bought both several years back just to have. I doubt I'll ever use them, but I probably would for a sentimental reason as you've described. Best of luck!

thx man

The three holes were for putting a tooth pick in them to keep the call from moving too far.

Not old, but a pretty one they gave us in gift bag at Governors One Shot hunt one year

I have one of the very rare "Turkey in the Pines" Lynch box calls. I've seen em from $800-$2000 . Got it from Mrs Lynch after M.L. died.

I just thought of your new nickname.... "one up". 😆

Haven’t heard of that one.

look it up

Mark, shut up and get in the truck.....

You guys have some museum quality stuff.