I'm a little surprised that no one had said that if your starting out , it is best to start with a Clear two reed call (No cuts in the top reed)

A two reeded call is mucheasyier to get sound and mouth practice to opperate all mouth calls. Tape cutting goes into this as well. A new mouth call has tape that is factory cut and is most times to large for most to run. This can be trimmed back by taking of 1/16-1/8 around the outside edge to make it fit more comforable. Take off enough to allow yout togue and gums to work the call right. The air seal has to be there to allow the beginner to huff air without it excaping above and from the sides of the call.

Can you cut off to much tape from a mouth call , Not really , but the comfort may not be there as you like.

Now Talk about Pro's on a mouth call , you listen to TkyCaller because I've seen him walk over some of the Pro's at dedturkey.com

...BT