What strength Legere should I try?

[maestroelite]

I've read on ww/bw that they run about a half strength harder than van doren blue box-which is about a strength harder than what I usually use, 2.5 ZZs. I want to try something a little harder than what I'm using now, so I was thinking maybe a 2?

[saxcurious]

This is Legere's official strenght chart.
http://www.legere.com/strength_charts.htm
So... apparently the alto reeds run harder, but the tenor and bari are close; I play tenor reeds and the same number as a Vandoren Traditional feels about right.

[maestroelite]

:roll: Didn't think to look for that heh.

Is the studio cut reed brighter? I have a studio cut tenor reed that seems to be a bit more of a jazz cut-similar to a ZZ reed.

[TMadness1013]

Yeah the studio cut is definitely brighter & buzzier...not good for classical, but works great for a nice jazz sound.

I played Vandoren blue box 3.5's on my alto AND tenor...now I'm using a Legere 2 & 3/4 on alto, and a 3 on tenor...so what Legere says it pretty accurate.

You can also send your reed back once for a full refund, or a different strength. Good luck!

[1saxman]

Any more comments on Legere? The other sax player in my band showed up with a 2 1/2 for tenor on his Dukoff #8 one night. It was too hard to play. They evidently run very hard. I'm looking into trying the Studio Cut and I'll post the results.

[Mike Cesati]

They run very hard. I like 3 1/2 tenor reed and I bought a 3 Legere and it was way too hard. I never did anything with it but I would go at least a whole strength down from cane.

[retread]

I agree with Mike Cesati. My experience on bari is that the chart on their site understates the stiffness of their reeds.

[1saxman]

I bought two Legeres tonight for tenor, a #2 and a #2 1/4, Studio Cut. I was surprised at how well they played, but even the #2 took more air and pressure than I have been using lately. I blow Guardalas on everything but baritone, and use a 'King Curtis' on tenor (or a Laser-Trimmed 'King'). After some noodling around, I tried the #2 1/4, and was again surprised, because I could play it. I have been using Rico Select Jazz #3 Soft for years, so this is quite a switch for me. Generally, I am pleased with both of them and plan to keep them. I also plan to use them on the gig Saturday. I am looking forward to just slapping one on and having it play the same every time with no wetting or other routine. I particularly liked the way the high notes popped out and the overall more 'woody' tone. The low notes are less 'blatty' and deeper, and the tone gets brighter as you go up as I feel it should. I have lost some of the 'liquid' or 'lushness' in my sound, but the trade off is a much more responsive set-up and repeatable performance. After practicing for about an hour on both reeds, I put on the best reed I had from last week, and it was a joke. I couldn't wait to get the Legere back on. The real test comes Saturday under combat conditions. If these work out, I can see trying some different kinds of synthetics once in awhile. For now, though, they may be the answer for a lot of problems I have, such as my soprano, alto and bari sitting there getting dry. I don't use the bari on every gig, but I do the alto and soprano. Particularly for the soprano I'd like to find a good synthetic.

[1saxman]

Okay. The Legere did not make the cut on the gig. I left it on all night out of sheer mule-headedness, but it was nowhere near as good as the average cane reed I would play, except it was better for altissimo. My partner in the band tried a 2 1/4 on his Dukoff #8, and it turned out to be a great set-up for him. For me, the reed was too thin, hard to play (#2) and stuffy. I didn't even try the 2 1/4, although it played okay at home. On the subject of 'hard to play'; the reed seems to start tones easily enough, but makes me work harder to try to get the volume and depth of tone I'm used to. It's not too 'stiff', just too 'stuffy'. I did notice a little redness on my lower lip from the edges, but it didn't cause me any trouble. I plan on working on the reed to see what I may be able to do with it, but I may change my mind and just send them both back for a refund. I have a few Fibracells coming to try out, so I'll post what I think of those. I'm hoping to go synthetic on at least soprano, alto and baritone, since they are my secondary horns. I know the Legere can work great for certain players, styles and mouthpiece set-ups. You just have to try and find out for yourself. The reed is certainly capable of the 'woody' sound they advertise.

[1saxman]

I put my regular reeds back on today and it felt like I was back home, so the Legeres are outta here.

[1saxman]

I tried Fibracells, too, and they also suck. I guess after playing wood for over 40 years, why switch now? I must have blown a hundred on synthetic reeds in the last few weeks. I actually haven't tried all the Fibracells - I have some in the new grading system (traditional numbers) but I don't have much hope for them. The cane reeds just have more 'life' to them, along with a natural 'wildness'. I don't think they will ever be replaced.

[area51recording]

I spent a couple of years trying every synth reed I could find- Legere, Fibracell, Bari*, Hahn and Hartmann. I probably liked the Fibracell best of all of these, but I finally decided to try cane again and first played Hemkes, which although didn't 100% ring my bell I still preferred to synthetic. Then I got turned on to Vandoren ZZ's (thru this forum and some of you good folks) and that was that. first box of 5 and loved every one of them. I'll keep a couple of Fibracells in my case for the odd outdoor gig, but other than that I'm done with 'em.

[1saxman]

Interesting - what style do you play, and on what kind of set-up? I'm into big sound, and use a Guardale King Curtis with a #3 down to #2.5 reed. I have to cover lots of different styles in my gig, and find the Guardala very flexible in that respect. I go from early Brecker to Clarence Clemons in the first two songs of the set (Pick Up The Pieces and Freeway Of Love). Next comes the Country ballad 'Crazy' in which I do a Boots Randolph-style ride. I guess I'll try these 'ZZ's. I actually got tired of reeds in general and picked up a few orange-box Ricos which played great (after my standard tone booster cut - see 'reed drilling'). One thing we sometimes forget in the saxophone business - THE REED MAKES THE SOUND! I've seen guys (myself included) try everything; ligatures, necks, mouthpieces, horns before trying different reeds. I also experimented with baritone reeds on tenor over the last two weeks, which worked, but going back to the tenor reeds after that was inspirational. Going back to cane after a couple gigs with Fibracell on soprano was a big turn-on, too. So, in the end it was worth it to try the synthetics. Every time I get sick of cane, I can pull out a synthetic, then go back to cane for a free pick-me-up!

[wersax]

I use the Legere Studio 2.25's on tenor and they work ok for me; I am permanently mad at cane reeds!......... :twisted:

[area51recording]

Saxman, I'm kind of in the same boat as you, in that I'm stylistically all over the map. I play with several bands ranging from blues to classic rock to big band style jazz. I started playing tenor at the age of 30. Iwas a trumpet player before that (as well as keyboard which I still play) and other than a handfull of lessons the first couple of months I'm pretty much self taught. My setup is maybe kinda different. I play a Rico Royal Metalite mouthpiece, don't remember the number but I think the opening is .095 and a Conn 10M which I believe is from 1968. I've been using Fibracell Premium 3-1/2 and lately ZZ 3-1/2 reeds. I can get a big bright sound with this setup when I want it but can also play mellow if needed. The biggest problem I had with the synth reeds is that I really could'nt make the altissimo work well w/them and it also didn't seem like they would last that long for me, especially if I used them on a real hard blowing gig or 2. The ZZ's may or may not hold up better, I don't know as of yet as I'm rotating my first box of 5 and as of yet have not played more than a gig or 2 w/each one, but I like my tone better, my altissimo seems to work better and even if only maybe 3 in a box play(which up till now has been my experience in a box of 5 reeds- although all 5 in this first box of ZZ's were players- maybe I just got lucky) I'm still better off than spending $9-10 or more for a reed I only get a few gigs out of.

[Bar-Ron]

Same here. Tried Legere and Fibracells, Vandorens, Hemke's, Alexander's and number of Rico's. Legere on Baris has to be 1 size harder than a Hemke 3 1/2 or even 4. On alto I found them to be 1/2 size harder than Vandorens and stuffy sounding.
Fibracel's seem way better than Legeres but brighter. Good jazz/Rock sound or outside concert stuff. Even tried Plasticovers. Good for general band use but I still come back to a nice wood read that can be made to work right. Any brand of wood beats any brand of synthetic for sweeter sound however Fibracells seem alright for bright hard playing.
Sad how the synthetics brag about their superiority, but I guess they wouldn't sell if they stated " Average responding reed . Plays with less tone with more difficulty and cost 3-5 times more! Will outlast any reed on the market from lack of use!"

[area51recording]

As a side note to my above post, I recieved in the mail today 2 boxes of ZZ's from WWBW. Tried them all for a short- wet the reed a little and slap it on the horn and play some mid range stuff no louder than mf- and out of 10 reeds in 2 boxes only one felt like it wasn't gonna be a keeper- and on that one the cut of the reed looked a little wierd. This is kinda freaking me out- I've never bought 15 of ANY brand reed and had 14 of them play pretty good right out of the box. This is especially important to me because I don't like to go nuts working a reed- for me at least if it's not working at least decent right off the bat I may be able to improve it by sanding or whatever, but it'll never be exceptionally good if it didn't at least start out playable. I dunno- maybe I'm having good luck w/these 'cause they match my setup and embouchure/playing style very well, but in any case I'm not gonna complain! :D
PS Wersax, I used to live in your neck of the woods, right up the street from the Big Chicken as a matter of fact. What's the gig scene like in ATL these days?

[wersax]

Decent, but not great Area51recording; and I'll have to check those ZZ's out.....I've heard good things about them...........BTW, I just got a Brancher metal tenor B31 today that matches up with Fibracell 3's well......and so it goes.......best wishes.......