What's a good reed?

[RatBatBlues]

I just went through a box of reeds, trying to pick out which were good, but I'm not sure of the criteria. Some of them were easy to play, but had a bad tone. Some were smooth sounding, but were hard to play.

Is it possible some are too easy to play? Is there anything else I can look for? Thanks.

[kcp]

Yes, in a box of natural reeds there will always be some that are softer and some that are harder. BTW #3 reeds are not thicker than say #2s, all reeds are cutted the same. What makes a difference is the strenght of the cane.

Besides trying the reeds to see wich ones are "good" or "bad", there is another way to tell. This is kind of difficult to explain but I'll try my best.
By looking at each reed, you can see it better under a source of light, close to it's center where the wedge part ends you'll see that the color is darker. That's the heart. Ideally, you want a heart that's shaped evenly, well centered, and that doesn't spread too close to the reed's tip. But most likely, Mother Nature doesn't make things symetrical so you'll never find a perectly even reed.

Saxgourmet has a Troubleshooter's guide to reed modifications (http://www.saxgourmet.com/reedadj.html) wich illustrates the different inconsitencies in reeds and how to rectify.

It takes experience to trim/modify reeds, a lot a trial and error before succeeding. You can experiment on old reeds or, if you don't want to put up with that you got to live with it or switch to sythetic reeds :wink:

[adrianw]

For what it's worth from a beginner, I have found that the Plasticover reeds seem to be more consistent. I dont know why but the feel of the 'natural' reeds seem to make my blood run cold (something like nails on a blackboard). I like the way a Plasticover reed will play dry and straight out of the box. I suppose as my chops develop I may get to like the 'naturals' but as a beginner I have a definite preference for plasticovers.

[kcp]

I love Plasticovers, good response, they last longer than regular natural cane reeds. However if you wan to try them, keep in mind that Plasticovers are slightly stronger than regular cane reeds. Ex: if you are used to play # 2½, you might want to go down using #2 on Plasticovers.

[Tenorsaxer]

for beginners like myself, plasticover all the way. I love these reeds. They give a nice pure sound, and last better than regular non-coated reads. When I get better and I need an excellent reed, I am going to switch to vibracell.

[colibri]

To find a good reed by eye, if you draw a vertical line in the middle of the reed all the way down to the ramp, the two sides should be symmetrical. Then put it on the mouthpiece.

Turn the mouthpiece around so that the shank is in your mouth, with the reed facing up. Suck air out of the mouthpiece (it will squeak) and see if the reed vibrates like a flying butterfly, with the center (where you drew the line) not moving. If it looks like that, it's nicely balanced. If the whole tip of the reed vibrates up and down, something is wrong.

Then you check the flatness of the table. Seal off the end of the shank with the palm of your hand and suck out as much air as you can. If the reed seals with the mouthpiece table and it holds for at least 3 counts, the table of the reed is not leaking air. It'll be easy playing.

If you want it to sound buzzier, shave down the top left and right corner of the reed without modifying the center.

After the reed passes all these tests, 95% of the time it will be a good playing reed. However there aren't many out of a box that will play like that.

[Cameron Wigmore]

There is a lot of information on this forum on reeds. Most of it is good. Beware - it's a futile battle. Reeds are made of bamboo cane and the wind doesn't blow in the Var region of France in a even fasion just so our reeds will feel bonsistent. That said, knowledge is power, and the more you know the easier it will be for you to find your way to the right reed.

[keilwerth14]

My teacher got me hooked on Zondas, they just work. No problems, ever.