barefoot

I haven't tried the commercially prepared "fiddle rosin", but I did collect raw pine rosin and cook it down last year. I had amazing results with it. I applied it to all my boxcalls and every one of them sounded much better. It holds up when it is wet also. I haven't had any formal instruction on how to apply it, so I just sort of chushed a small fragment into the wood with my finger and spread it around, rubbing it in well. I have heard some say that you should take a high friction cloth, like wool, and rub it in vigorously , heating it up with friction and melting it into the grain, much like you would melt wax into a bow string. I tried it on one call and didn't like the results as well. May have just been that call, who knows?

A buddy of mine and myself were visiting the night before opening day, last year and were swapping lies as we turkey hunters have been known to do (surpassed only by fishermen) when the conversation turned to who has the "WORST" sounding call. Well I have one that I havent ever found the sweet spot on and put that up for my entry. He pulled out an old Lohman that used to belong to his father. That call sounded HORRIBLE!! You never knew if it was going to squeak, squawk, or what-- IF you got a sound out of it at all. He leaned back with a smug grin and just knew he had won the bet. I cleaned the chaulk off of it and pulled out some of the rosin. He knew me well enought to get worried and asked me what I was doing to his call. I just grinned and pulled the lid across the box and the sweetest yelp came out of that Lohman. That smug grin turned to a look of udder disbelief and shock. He almost cried when he realized he had gotten his fathers boxcall back.

So, to answer your question, Since "fiddle rosin" is about the same stuff, it works well on most calls that I've tried it on and I just crushed a small fragment into a powder and rubbed it into the lid.

Good luck!!