ORIGINAL: NMFowler
I make calls, and feel your pain on occasion. The best advice I can give you is a little goes along way. When I'm tuning, I start with the reeds set in further than you know they should be, and pull them out maybe 1/32 of an inch at a time until you reach your desired pitch. Sometimes that small of an adjustment is all it takes, and if I go too far I'll restart the whole process, because if you try to push the reeds deeper into the call you can put a fold or crease in one.
Oh yeah. 1/32 might as well be a mile. Its like trying to catch the wind in the bottle sometimes. One night you'll think you have your call tuned perfect... next morning it will sound like a kazoo being blown by a dry mouthed retard on coke. Just wait til your comp call locks up on you at states.... had that happen a few weeks ago.... I didn't win...
Start long.. if you want a high pitch... you are going to have to cut it short.. but remember that a short reed is easy to blow through and stick. Its a very delicate balance... think like trying to set and mend a broken butterfly wing. When all else fails, send it back with a 5 spot and let the maker re-tune it.