Dead Reed

[MB-913]

Usually how do you know a good reed is out of work (dead) ?

[Mike Cesati]

For me they just thin way out. No fatness,resonance, gets real soft.Some get harder to make speak. Thats why you should play on a few as comparison . Once you switch( still the same brand & strength) to a fresh reed you'll know .It usually makes me realize how dead the one I'm using is.

[RS]

I find that a reed starts to thin out after two or three days (maybe eight or nine hours) of playing. But I usually try to squeeze a fourth day out of it. Rarely do I use a reed for more than four days.

[-TH]

In my case alto reeds seem to last "forever".. I can play the same reed for months and the sound quality remains excellent (no matter what brand or size of reeds I use). But on tenor my reeds die very fast. Two gigs on a same reed and the reed is history. On tenor I use RJS 3s or 2H and they produce a nice sound and the quality is good but they just don't last for long.. Anyone having this kind of problem?

[RS]

Yeah, my bari reeds last three or four days like I said. I can get an alto reed to last a couple of weeks. Maybe three weeks. But I'm less picky about alto than bari which is my main horn.

[Frank D]

Feels "soggy" when playing, can't get any edge or bite to the tone when you want it. Palm keys and altissimo more difficult if not impossible to play. Low notes and subtones are great, though.

[Sigmund451]

I find, depending on the type of reed it can go either way. Some go dead as doornails, kinka like playing a piece of lumber, while others get more buzzy and dirty loosing their core tone. Either way if you find your self sounding pretty bad dont immediately assume its a bad day...check out another reed. If that doesnt work....well...then maybe you just suck that day :wink:

Nobody bats a thousand