Cordier Reed Trimmers?

[TooSaxy]

I couldn't find anything of these on this website and I was thinking about buying one for alto, but I wanted to know some things first. Can you carve reeds of different strengh? Is there a different one you would recommend? and Does anyone here have one? I would like to thank you in advance for your answers.

http://www.wwbw.com/Cordier-Single-Reed-Trimmers-i81289.music

[kcp]

I use a Cordier reed trimmer - We don't call them "reed trimmer" over here, we call them "Cordier" - I don't know of any other brand of reed trimmer.

Anyhow. Yeah you can trim (not carve) reeds of different strenghts with it :)

[TooSaxy]

will it work to make a reed blank playable or is it only for like lets say you have a hemke 3 and you want a 2.5?

[Tharruff]

Too Saxy,

Neither...

The Cordier reed clipper will clip the TIP of a reed.

It will make a 'too soft' reed a little harder. I have three...one for Clarinet and Soprano, one for Alto and one for Tenor. All of them came in cases of horns that I bought over the years. I did not intentionally buy any of them.

I use them 'occasionally' but not often.

When my reeds are shot, I generally just throw them out.

[TooSaxy]

So do you know if there is an economically sound solution to get high quality reeds.

[bruce bailey]

I have used Cordiers for years and my 40 year old ones still work! I generally start with a reed a half size softer than I would like and then clip it as it goes soft. It makes the break-in much easier.

[saxchado]

Tharuff,

Are the Clarinet and Soprano clippers one and the same, or does one simply "work" for the other?

Also, would you be interested in selling your alto clipper? I have one for Clarinet and Tenor, but need one for alto. I use them quite frequently, along with my knives, sandpaper, and all the other goodies, but have a hard time swallowing the price of a new one.

If you would be interested, please send me an e-mail at "saxchado(at)byu (dot)edu"

[bruce bailey]

Although the soprano clipper can sort of work for clarinet, the clarinet clipper is too narrow and will leave the edges of a soprano reed ragged.

[saxchado]

I figured such would be the case, but wasn't sure. Thanks for the heads-up Bruce!

[bruce bailey]

When my father played C Melody in the 20s, he would hold a quarter near the bottom tip of the reed and burn a match on the quarter and the flame would burn off the extended tip. The reed had a brown edge, but actually would save a reed and avoid having to pay 5 cents for a new one!

[j44breaker]

Hi all,

I've noticed that when I cut my reeds with my Cordier, that the blade is not "convex" enough and ends up leaving the left and right (tip) edges of the reed a bit sharp. Additionally, those two corners of the reed end up slightly above the center of the tip rail when the center of the reed is flush, due to the "straightness" of the clipper blade.

I'm wondering if this is what's causing my clipped reeds (Vandoren classique, AL3 mouthpiece) to not sound as well after being clipped. Obviously, the reed will lose some qualities. But I've found that the "shape" of the Cordier doesn't match well with my Selmer as well, and my results are the same. Would I really need to manually "shape" the tip of the reed with several slices of the Cordier to really have the reed "convex" enough to line up with the mouthpiece rail?

Perhaps Vandoren sound come out with a clipper themselves!

Anyone have any other suggestions for a reed clippers that may "shape" the Selmer and Vandoren mouthpieces better?

Thanks in advance!

[Daniel Scott]

Be aware too that clipping a reed will actually completely change the cut of said reed (depending of course on how much you clip).

However the difference to the cut itself is fairly noticeable IMHO.

-Dan