whats up with my power crystal?
 

i bought one of those nice custom power crystals with the mahogany pot. it sounds nice and can really sing when i can get it to work. i conditioned the galss like the box told me to rubbing the surface one way and then again across the grain. after i work the glass it sounds good, however, if i let it sit for a day or so it seems not to work as good unless i refresh the glass. is this normal or am i just screwing things up. that is very possible! ha ha i am using the purple heart striker that came with it and it seems that the striker wants to slide on the glass and make a squeeky sound instead of the sounds it is supposed to be making. is it the glass or is it my calling skills or lack of?:)

RE: whats up with my power crystal?
 

The crystal calls can be a real pain in the butt to condition. I have had no luck with using sandpaper. Instead find yourself a conditioning stone, Primos makes a great one called the Slick Stick. It comes with a diamond stone and a regular stone. It will condition a glass or crystal pot in no time. Several other call manafactures also make conditioning sticks/stones. Also try some differn' t strikers on it, the purple heart is great but I also like the Mystic Stick, Rosewood and acryllic on it.

RE: whats up with my power crystal?
 

Have you tried scruffing the striker? Sounds like you might need to condition it too. take the green scotchbrite, that comes on that stick TScott was refering to.ON the Power Crsytal itself I found that 150 grit paper worked and instead of back and forth motion I went in a random circular motion. It sounds gfreat and I don' t have to do a whole lot of conditioning on it after that.Just touch up every once in a while.

RE: whats up with my power crystal?
 

I' d say your problem is the striker for sure. I clean mine with either scotch-brite or 220 grit sandpaper, and I clean them just as often as my call surfaces.

One word on conditioning your call, I wouldn' t worry about going all different directions. On my calls, I sand across the surface and thats it, then the striker is going the opposite direction of the ridges. Thats all you need.

PBB

RE: whats up with my power crystal?
 

how and with what kind of pressure do i sand and condition the striker?
do i sand the very tip or what?

RE: whats up with my power crystal?
 

Click,
I use a 3M pad and just " dust" the top off if there is light build up. If the build up is still there then I will put a little more pressure. I try not to put too much pressure because I don' t want to smooth the wood, oh yeah, this is on the tip. If I have to I will sand it to rough it back up.