Vibrator Reeds?

[JMac]

Does anyone remember or have any info on these?

Vibrator Reeds, Hanover, Pennsylvania - part of the Musical Instrument Corporation of America (MICA). The vamp has several grooves cut into it. They could date from the late '50s to the early '70s judging by the packaging, which has no date printed on it.

I am curious if they were actually manufactured in Hanover, Pa?

[Jedi2427]

I would be curious to hear about these reeds also... especially if they are what the name implies. (See Reed Slicing in this thread) My experience with Slicing the lower vamp of the reed is that it increases the resonance of the sound by way of added vibration of the overall reed.

[Mango Birkie]

I remember them from the 60's. They were great reeds then. Grooves in the bark of the cane and rounded corners at the bottom, if I remember right. I don't think they have been made for many years.

[retread]

In the 50's we (rightly or wrongly) considered them beginners' reeds. Serious players...are you ready for this...used Rico, as I recall.

[super20dan]

i have an old album cover showing one on john coltrane,s link.so he must have used them.

[Michael Ward]

You beat me to it super20dan I read somewhere that Trane used Vibrator reeds. Did he also use La Voz ?

[Vortex]

Cannonball used vibrator reeds too, www.cannonballadderley.com has a picture of him endorsing them in a magazine add.

[Doc Frazier]

Vibrator reeds are the only reeds that I have used for probably the last 20 years. I buy all that I can.

Doc

The Saxy Guys Saxophone Quartet

[JMac]

How and where do you find these, Doc? I have fought the temptation to play one, as I am afraid I'd fall in love with a reed that's unavailable. Aaaaahhhh .... unrequited love

[Vortex]

Does anyone have an idea of how to measure and create the grooves in the heel that Vibrator reeds had?

[JMac]

I'll look at them a little more closely over the weekend, Vortex, and let you know what I can.

I don't have precise measuring instruments, so I guess you'd have to consider any info I give as anecdotal and not scientific. I will let you know the number of grooves on the vamp, about how far apart they're spaced, their shape, how deep and how wide they appear to be. The only reeds I have are for alto, so you may need to extrapolate the info I have for tenor. Anything else you'd want to know?

As far as creating them, I'd imagine it would be easiest to lay out the line by scoring it with a knife or razor using a straight piece of metal as a guide. Then, go back over it with the edge of a file.

As I recall, the groove only went through the 'bark' layer of the reed (a la filed reeds) and was as wide as it was deep, with a rounded shape overall. I will verify that, and I guess the shape of the file you choose would depend on whether the groove is a 'V' cut, 'U' cut or channel cut, etc.

Heck, you just might want to experiment with different shapes, widths, and depths to see what gives you the result you're looking for. It may vary from brand to brand, strength to strength, or reed to reed? Take notes and photos to post on Bootman's site along with his other reed experiments, and you might get a process named after you (Bootman's reed drilling = Vortex's reed grooving?) or, if you're really lucky - Kim C. Pelletier will do a drawing based on it 8) !!!

http://www.kimcpelletier.com/doodles/reedrilling.jpg

[Doc Frazier]

JMAC, I do a lot of web searching music stores and most of the auction sites. What size and strength reed are you wanting to try?
Doc

[Vortex]

Excellent, I play alto to no extrapolating is necessary (alto and tenor reeds aren't that different in width anyway). Knowing what kind of file-groove to use would be useful, but mostly what I need to know is how many grooves to make and where they are horizontally on the bark.

[Doc Frazier]

JMAC and Vortex...... I have looked at all the sizes of Vibrator Reeds that I have (Bb sop, alto,C melody, tenor, bari, Bb clarinet and alto clarinet), they all have 4 grooves evenly spaced across the heel of the reed. the depth is .020"/0.5mm, the width of the cut is the width of a wide blade for a Dremel tool. Oddly some of them have square cut grooves and some were round cut, makes no noticable difference in sound quality. I hope this helps.
Musically HIS,
Doc
www.JandJWoodwinds.com
The Saxy Guys Saxophone Quartet

[JMac]

Vortex - Doc Frazier has the measurements above. The alto reeds I have have a rounded cut, not the square cut.

Doc - I actually have five [still sealed] alto reeds that came with a vintage horn I purchased (one #2 and 4 #2.5s). In my post above, I meant I was afraid to try the ones I have - for fear I would like them too much and never be able to find any more! I'm going to put a couple into my rotation, the cane and cut appear to be high quality. Your offer is very kind - thank you for the offer and the information!

[Doc Frazier]

Make sure you soak them in water for 1/2 hour before you play them for the first time or they will split.
Musically HIS, Doc

www.JandJWoodwinds.com

The Saxy Guys Saxophone Quartet

[Doc Frazier]

Let me know if you like the 2.5's, I can make a good deal on some.
Musically HIS, Doc

www.JandJWoodwinds.com

The Saxy Guys Saxophone Quartet

[Dave Dolson]

I remember those reeds from the late 1950's. I had some for soprano when I was 16 or 17. All I recall is the grooving and that the one I had were HARD!

Just to be specific, don't the grooves run N/S (from the bottom toward the tip) on the reed's end (not across)? AND, may not the grooves serve the same general purpose as does Bootman's reed-drilling deal? DAVE

[saxophrenic]

Yes, I remember now - grooved reeds and there were drilled reeds too - Charpen they were called. They did play nice. Saw them in the early 60's and then lost touch with them.

It seems like the Charpens played easy with no break in and lasted longer than the Rico's. I bet they were of harder cane before they were drilled.
:wave:

[Vortex]

Oh yeah, on Bootman's page he has pics of Charpens that came already drilled, not to be confused with Chiron which made Vibrator reeds. I'm working on getting the file just right, in the old pics it seems like Vibrators had the 4 grooves pretty close to the center with a sizeable margin to the rail.