# Neil Cost and Larry Hearn box call *Update* Trumpet and Billy Buice call pictures



## Town2Small (Dec 25, 2012)

Hey guys got something i thought yal might like. My PawPaw was pretty close to Mr. Neil and Mr. Larry and he still has a few of their calls. Mr. Neil custom made a few calls for my PawPaw one for him. and one for me(not pictured) its locked away in his office. One of the Cost calls pictured was one of his personal ones. We were digging around in his safe for some shells today and he broke these out. He told me a few stories, one of which i really enjoyed so i thought I'd share with yall. 
As I'm sure you all know Larry Hearn invinted a trumpit call which was his personal one. He eventually wanted to patent the design so he made an acrylic one to send to New York. After sending it to New York they told him they coundn't patent something that didn't work. So he had to fly to New York and show them how to use it, and buddy could he make that thing SING. PawPaw was always pickin at Mr. Larry about letting him have his personal one so he told him one day "Larry, how much do you want for the call." Mr. Larry threw out an ungodly price so he wouldn't want it. Well PawPaw agreed and paid him just to aggravate him. Well years went on and after Mr. Larry passed Eric, Mr. Larry's son came to PawPaw and asked for his fathers call back and how much did he pay for it. PawPaw let Eric have the call but wouldn't let him pay for it. A few days passed and Eric shows back up with the acrylic prototype Mr. Larry sent to get patented and gave to PawPaw. I'm going to try in the next couple of days to get PawPaw to let me take a picture of it and show you guys.
The call in the middle is one of Mr. Larry's calls. Old Masters is the name of it. PawPaw told me only 20 or so were made.


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## M Sharpe (Dec 25, 2012)

Nice old calls. Really interested in seeing the trumpet.


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## J Gilbert (Dec 25, 2012)

Neat calls and a cool story for sure


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## GLS (Dec 26, 2012)

It's nice having a history such as these have.  Great looking calls.


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## RWilk (Dec 26, 2012)

Only if those box calls could tell their stories, nice calls


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## ryanwhit (Dec 26, 2012)

I've seen more recent dial tone calls - did someone else take the design?


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## Gut_Pile (Dec 26, 2012)

Very nice boxes, the middle dial tone box looks just like the dial tone box that Billy Buice has a patent on and makes. Mr. Billy also puts the "purring" notches on the side of the paddle as well. Would love to know more about that box call. 

Look forward to seeing a picture of the trumpet


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## ryanwhit (Dec 26, 2012)

Gut_Pile said:


> Very nice boxes, the middle dial tone box looks just like the dial tone box that Billy Buice has a patent on and makes.



That probably explains the ones i've seen


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## Mark K (Dec 26, 2012)

So who copied who?? And how can two patents be issued for the same design??


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## Gut_Pile (Dec 26, 2012)

Mark K said:


> So who copied who?? And how can two patents be issued for the same design??



I'm going to do some research on this tonight when I get off work. I need to hear the story from Billy again to make sure my info is correct.


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## Town2Small (Dec 26, 2012)

I'm thinking Larry and Billy worked together on them. Larry's son Eric is a good family friend


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## Gut_Pile (Dec 26, 2012)

Town2Small said:


> I'm thinking Larry and Billy worked together on them. Larry's son Eric is a good family friend



Cool, I know I have heard of Larry Hearn, I'll call Billy tonight and get the story. That dial tone looks identical to the one Billy had in his shop last time I was there. I bet they worked on it together.

Thanks for sharing


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## gobblinglawyer (Dec 26, 2012)

Wow!


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## Gut_Pile (Dec 27, 2012)

Talked with Mr. Billy last night. He in fact did make this box call. Mr. Billy and Larry Hearn were great friends all throughout life and spent a lot of time together. If you look on the call you should see the initials BJB, for Billy J Buice. There possibly is some wording on the inside of the box as well if it is part of the "masters series". Give me some more details on the box and I can get with Mr. Billy about it tonight and find out who he originally made it for and what the wood is.


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## Town2Small (Dec 27, 2012)

Cool. I'll talk with my pawpaw sometime this afternoon. I'll also see if I can take a picture of the trumpet call also


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## Town2Small (Dec 27, 2012)

Just talked to pawpaw, he sent me a picture of the trumpet and two of Billy's calls. He said he knew Mr. Billy pretty good. Next time you talk to him ask him if he knows Carl Cleveland


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## Gut_Pile (Dec 27, 2012)

Awesome. Thanks for the pictures! That trumpet is very interesting looking. Wonder if Billy built it as well? 

I'll talk to Billy tonight and mention your grandfather


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## Town2Small (Dec 27, 2012)

That's the one Larry made to have patented


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## Gaswamp (Dec 27, 2012)

think I saw one of those hearn/buice boxes on Ebay recently


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## JMB (May 13, 2013)

I'm a little late on this, but figured I'd pipe in. The box call (Dial Tone) of the late Mr Hearn was made by my father, Billy Buice back in the early 90s as part of a limited production run of prototypes. His initials ( as stated) should be on the inside of the box on the bottom. I believe 20 protos were made of the dial tone and this was the first run as it has the delrin dial with an arrow. Later models had wooden dowels, Colo Bolo if I remember correctly, with a notch cut so you could use a coin to adjust the position of the lid. 

The trombone yelper was conceived after Larry and my father worked with the Tom Turpin yelper design; dad fashioned several variations including glued, fixed mouthpiece designs, wingbone, and later the interchangable mountpiece design which my father is best known for. Larry and my father started working on the trombone design in the late 80s together to make what finally became the yelper in your photo, also known as the Crown Yelper.  Both the Crown Yelper and the Dial Tone were part of the Old Masters Company which was never realized due to Larry's untimely death. The yelper there is a proto Larry had made up (to my knowledge he never made his own call) and there are VERY few in existence. The first were made of white delrin by my father and were taken to a machinist by Larry who made the acrylic version you have. Larry and my father met back in the late 1960s and were great friends until Larry passed. Together, they pretty much put the trumpet yelper back en vogue. The interchangable mouthpiece system and the trombone design were patented by the late Larry Hearn, my father, and the late Parker Whedon. The purring lid I do not think held a patent, but the Dial Tone did and I want to say it was held by my father and Larry only. I do remember Larry telling the story of the patent office requiring a visit regarding the trumpet call, believing the call would not render a sound and needed proof. Man, that's been a long time ago and what great memories of watching those two in the shop. I was barley old enough to hold a gun when Larry and dad started teaching me how to call turkeys. Those were truly the Golden Years. Dad would tweak the calls just a bit and call Larry who would come over in just a few minutes (they lived about 5 minutes from one another during the 80s). Larry, always the showman, would marvel, offer suggestions or accolades, and the two would disappear to the basement shop for hours. I would sit at the top of the stairway since (they didn't want to be bothered by a young 'un when the real work was being done) and listen as they talked and played calls. The day we heard of Larry's passing, I was in high school and had gotten home and my father was sitting outside. He told me when I drove up. Larry had just been at the farm a few days before and they had planned on partnering up with the Old Masters Company. Dad still talks about Larry with a fond tone and mentions him often when we are hunting together. 

Hope this sheds some light on things and I'd really love to see that trombone call sometime. It brings back a lot of memories. 

James


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## M Sharpe (May 14, 2013)

Excellent history lesson James. Your father is truly a master at call making and a great man to be around. He holds a world of knowledge from the past about calls. I can, and have, listened to him for hours talk about such. I suspect the next call I get from him will be the  one he called the "Jamie" call.

Mark


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## Gut_Pile (May 14, 2013)

Great write up Jamie. Thanks for sharing


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## bullit (May 14, 2013)

Neat stories... thanks for sharing!


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## ccleroy (May 14, 2013)

Nice write up Jamie, your father is a great man and callmaker.....It's like Christmas Eve everytime I speak with him, the knowledge and story's I've gotten from him are something I cherish.

Ricky


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## Gobblertwo (Jun 4, 2013)

Really enjoyed reading this and seeing these calls. I was Neils protege for 7 years and have spent time around Billy Buice and both are fine gentlemen and great callmakers.


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## Gut_Pile (Jun 4, 2013)

Gobblertwo said:


> Really enjoyed reading this and seeing these calls. I was Neils protege for 7 years and have spent time around Billy Buice and both are fine gentlemen and great callmakers.



Would love to hear some of your stories Mr. Steve. Good to see you over this way!


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