So many Mondo choices

I don't own a Mondo but I blew the original and the LT at the RNT shop last year. For me, a guy who doesn't blow cut-downs, the LT was easier to run and got me closer to the "bark" that cut-down calls are known for.

 

The original takes quite a bit of air to run but if you can run it, you can run anything. Sounds nasally and has that raspy piercing echoing through the woods bark that Cutdowns are known for. The LT is about 20% easier to blow and has 95% of the sound of the original. The LA I found is somewhere in between those two but has a bit more snap to it, I was surprised at how good it sounded. The Shorty versions have a little difference in tone but the same basic principle, I can feel a different tone when I blow but I can’t hear much difference when it’s echoing back at me. I just like a little more to hold, the regulars are more comfortable in my hand- personal preference. If you push me to pick one I know will cover everything without getting light headed then I’d pick the LA....I mean the LT.....I mean the original because it’s not a real cutdown if you aren’t getting light headed.

 

I run the original Mondo. Tried one of the short models. Seemed to me it took just as much air as the original. I did cut a VERY tiny bit off the original reed.

 

I would really like some info on the new mondos too. I have the original and the LT. It seems like the original blew easier for me and I could get better sounds out of it. I’m wanting a new one and don’t have a chance to test them. I’m sending both in to get tuned and thinking about picking up the LA. Also wonder if the shorter ones have a different sound.

 

The LTS is much easier to blow than the original mondo. You might loose out on the bark but I don't have an air compressor for lungs.

 

Have yet to run a LTS.
Ran a few LT's mondos since they came out,but still go back to the tried and true 2011 Mondo.

 

RNT should provide a mondo scale to represent where each one lands in the spectrum. This thread caused me to pull the trigger on a LTS today. Ran a Mondo last year but about pass out on the 3rd or 4th note of a high ball. It's not a difficult call to blow but it takes a lot of air. I kept telling myself I could learn it and probably still can. Otherwise absolute great call. I know that's a conflicting review but it truly does sound like a duck and not a duck call. Might try a LT if the LTS does indeed lose bark as mentioned earlier. Or a LA?? It's only money.

 

LTS is a sweet call. Try it, it still has that mondo bark but not like an original.

 

Are callmakers having problems with soundfiles or videos of them running their calls? Do they get constant complaints from people whining about not being able to sound like Jim does?

I honestly can't fathom why they don't have youtube videos or whatever of every one of their calls in plain sight on their site, can't fathom why any call maker would think it not important to let the customers hear what the call sounds like.

They must be getting sued by customers because it cannot, in this day and age, be tough to have a soundfile/video up on the site.

I'd love to see Jim line them all up and run a full meat/live routine on each one, then discuss which is easiest to run, which has a smoother flow, etc..., to help someone decide between them. Thing is, if the meat routines sound exactly alike, you may as well get the call that's easy running.

If they actually sound different, even when tuned correctly, and I'd expect Jim knows how to tune a call, then that, coupled with easy blowing, or better flow, or better volume, whatever, can come into play for a decision.

Of course maybe leaving soundfiles off the site just makes it so people end up buying all of them and trying them...