Hahn sythetic reeds

[maxbarisax]

I just ordered a #3 hahn synthetic reed from sax alley and would like to see if anyone knows anything about them or have played one. If anyone has any experience please let me know about the pros and cons and how they sound. Sax alley makes them sound great, better than legere in comparison to cane reeds.

thanks,

max

[djackson_manchester]

been using a 2 1/2 hahn on my alto for nearly a year now and I love it. At first you think jeez this is a bit bright and zingy , but after a coupla days you get used to them - first decent reed I've ever had responds amazingly particularly in the altissimo, the cut is a bit shallow compared to regular cane reeds but boy are they convenient - no fiddling with bits of fine sandpaper, no soaking before a gig, no going soggy on you during a gig, they don't go mouldy and with a bit of practice you can make 'em sound pretty warm. I've largely been using it on a Runyon 22 #5 on a Martin Medallist alto , which is a fairly mellow set up anyway. You won't sound like Johnny Hodges with a Hahn , but you won't have to worry about reeds again either. Just watch the tip when they're new, it's a bit sharp on the edge which can hurt your tongue, but it soon goes a bit tatty. Evan Parker uses one on his soprano, which is good enough for me !!

[maxbarisax]

Thanks so much for replying. Did you get yours from sax alley too?, or do you know anyone else who sells them? I should be getting mine tomorrow or monday so I can't wait to see how they work. Also, how long does each reed last? I only ordered one for each of my saxophones, alto and baritone.

Thanks,

max

[Rackety Sax]

... Evan Parker uses one on his soprano, which is good enough for me !!
Gasp!! Evan Parker uses a synthetic reed?? Well, that's all the proof anyone should need that you can do ANYTHING on them.

[tophatsax]

Anyone know how these compare to the Premiere Fibracell (not the new design)?

[maxbarisax]

Sax alley says that they sound better than fibracells in comparison. This is my first synthetic reed. They have arrived and seem to play pretty well. The baritone reed is great and very loud down low but plays too bright in the upper registers. The alto is the exact opposite. The alto's problem may be because it is too hard. Overall They sound very very similar to cane reeds.

[wersax]

maxbarisax,
IMHO, the Hahn reeds are a good reed, not my first choice, but good. They respond well, are consistent from reed to reed and are very good in the altissimo. To me the one drawback was the resistance.....these reeds, the Harry Hartmanns and the Coderas are all made from a similar material, some carbon fiber stuff, and they all respond similarly (I've played all three a lot). Out of these three reed brands, the Hahns are the best, hands down, at least in my experience. All the carbon fiber reeds play funny to me, with too little resistance, though, and the Hahns are no exception. With the Coderas I had intonation problems as well. For me, the Fibracell Premiers are the only synthetic that has a similar resistance to cane, especially with the new material they are using. However, and I know that I'm stating the obvious here, since everybody is different, you'll have to try them out and see what works for you..........

[MM]

Wersax, can't you get the resistance you want with a slightly harder Hahn reed? Since this is an obvious thing, I suspect your answer is "no." If so, what goes wrong if you try a harder reed?

[MM]

It's probably worth mentioning what horns we're tried these on.

I tried a couple sometime ago. The tenor #3 seemed a reasonable strength but the alto #3 felt soft. Once in a while I'll use the tenor reed...it even got me through a bit of bass clarinet in a show recently. I've lost track of the alto reed but never liked it, possibly for the reasons wersax mentions. My fave synthetic remains the older Fibracells, though I've never a tried Bari brand.

[wersax]

Wersax, can't you get the resistance you want with a slightly harder Hahn reed? Since this is an obvious thing, I suspect your answer is "no." If so, what goes wrong if you try a harder reed?
I couldn't; I tried different strengths. The reeds are good, don't get me wrong, they just aren't for me. The harder reeds were dead for me; I used a #3 with a #9 (.120) tenor mouthpiece on a mid 50's Selmer for about 6 months. Lot's of gigs. The stuff the reeds are made of feels funny to me. I like the new Fibracell material, it feels more like a cane reed to me (or I should say, a cane reed that doesn't squeak or die after one gig!).........And I didn't like the little rubber "thingy" on the reed either. I had difficulty changing reeds on stage with that thing on.........but we're all so different, and reeds, mouthpieces and horns are such personal things, that Hahns may be perfect for you..........and Sax Alley and Tim are great!

[Bill Mecca]

Question for those who have played both (or all) how do the Hahn, or Coderas(carbon toptone) compare with a 2.5 tenor Fibracell in strength? Ive been playing synths for a number of years but am right now trying to dial in the right reed for this new mpc. BARI brand works, but tires out my embouchure, and the 2.5 fibracell is just about right.

TIA.

[wersax]

Question for those who have played both (or all) how do the Hahn, or Coderas(carbon toptone) compare with a 2.5 tenor Fibracell in strength? Ive been playing synths for a number of years but am right now trying to dial in the right reed for this new mpc. BARI brand works, but tires out my embouchure, and the 2.5 fibracell is just about right.

TIA.
Bill, I've played these three reed brands a bunch, so I'll give you my impressions on them.
The Coderas are really different. They are bright and extremely sensitive to growling and split-tone easily. The very soft strengths have big intonation issues and the harder strengths didn't play well for me (stuffy). I settled on mediums, used on open mouthpieces (.120 to .125). They play well for blues rock, old R&B, etc., but I might play jazz with a piano in the corner of some small room one night, then be in a big room with a section the next, so this reed wasn't versatile enough for me. And it tended to break up a bit in the altissimo.
The Hahns are a good reed, very consistent in quality. For me the deal breaker with these reeds was the feel or resistance. While the Coderas have very little resistance, the Hahns have more, but not enough for me. If the resistance is just right for me, reed matched to mouthpiece, then I have more control (I know, Duh!). The black rubber cushion on the reed (similar to the tan cushion on the Harry Hartmanns) made it hard to change reeds on stage (with a metal lig, might be different with a Rovner style lig). I ended up tossing the little cushion things and playing without them. They sounded fine that way.
The new(er) Fibracell Premiers work really well for me; they feel much more like cane, IMHO.
FWIW, I spent a lot of time and $---just under $20 for Hahns, just over $20 for Coderas and $10 or so for the Fibracells---trying to be thorough in my evaluation of these reed brands with lot's of gigs played and lessons taught with all three brands on at least half a dozen mouthpieces. I did this because cane reeds were not working for me and were driving me crazy!
However, we're all different so your results will vary. For example, I find the Coderas very bright and best suited as a "raunchy" reed, but I've noted comments on SOTW threads about how the Coderas were dark and full sounding. So, get out your credit cards......

[Bill Mecca]

Thanks for the detailed review. I just ordered a couple new fibracells so the credit card will stay encased in my wallet for the time being (Christmas is coming ya know) ;)

I'm a raunchy kind of R&R guy so who knows....

Thanks again.

[ArnoG]

My original link was given to me by Otto when he lived in florida-it was stolen in korea--- to my demize I had a real struggle finding another link that played like the one I had
I finally found one, BUT now reeds became a real issue maybe one great out of 2 boxes----I tried a Hahn 3 1/2 ---
the first thing i did was try to wet it--old habits die hard:-)
I was reluctant to blow into the horn- for me it proved to be the answer to my reed problems along with a conventional ligiture the hahn has served me well for many years now---Thanks Tim

[AustinBrister]

I just got a Hahn today from tim. So far it is pretty good, I'm opening up to the sound little by little. My embochure is learning it's subtleties. I'll post a clip in a while (few days if you guys would like! PM me if so, I always forget to check back to my posts.)

The hardest part so far is trying to get a good sound at a moderate dynamic in a moderate range.

[redbone1]

Would like to throw my 2 cents in.

I found Hahn reeds about 3+ years ago (I think, it's been awhile aways) - maybe a little longer. I had to find which size works - ranged from 2, 2.5 and finally settled on 3's, but like any reed, it depends on your tip opening and you. Was first ordering them from Europe before Tim at saxalley started carrying them stateside.

Have been playing only Hahn ever since. Tenor (Guardala Studio), Alto (JJ DV 7) and Soprano (Selmer c*). I had to get used to them (took me about 1 to 2 weeks at first - would go back to cane, back to fibercell, etc., but kept going back to Hahn and finally honed it in) and man am I glad I did. They last, and are very consistent. I've been doing the cane thing for 34 years, and as long as the Hahns stay around, will never go back to cane. Whisper lows, solid, reliable altissimo.

I love them - but that's my personal preference. Everyone has to do what works for them. Hahn works for me.

[Stephangus]

How long are your Hahns lasting? Had mine for about a year now- played it on and off. The tips a bit jagged, but it still plays okay on some pieces. Killer shred sound on the Jumbo Java. I have it on an STM Link 8* I bought yesterday because it's the only thing the lig will hold down, what with that pad.

I don't love this reed, though I want to. It's very dry here. With cane reeds, I have to cat lick my alto piece every 32 bars to keep the squeaks away. Bought a Legere but it's too soft. I'll try another soon. Not a Hahn- not for the sound I have.

Trying a Fibracell on a Dukie right now (Tenor) as per recommendations, but I think I went a bit stiff.

[saxmanager]

I had been interested in synthetic reeds for a few years now, and got some Legeres from Mark at the NAMM show here in Cali. I play alot of outdoor gigs and concerts here in SoCal, and the weather extremely dry, which we all know really messes up cane reeds. I was going to buy some more Legeres and sent Mark an email, but he never answered. I heard about Hahn on SOTW and ordered a number 3 alto and tenor on sax alley's call, but they were too hard, so I exchanged them for 2 1/2s. These played great! Nice tone, with a full sound in the low register and great altissimo. Not as good perhaps as a great cane reed, which is why I'd still keep using cane in the studio, as long as I can find a great cane to play on. But live, you pick up the horn, moisten the mouthpiece in one swipe and the horn plays perfectly, NO MORE WARPED REEDS! I'm going to order some more for soprano and bari and maybe I'll even try one on clarinet.

[dirty]

The Hahns seen good enough for those times when you just can't find or can't use a good cane reed. They don't seem as full (to me) as cane, but they respond well and seem to work fine as a backup for when your reed craps out on you halfway through rehearsal or a gig and you don't have time to find another good one.

[michaelH]

Has anybody had success reworking a Hahn reed? The one I have is too
hard for my liking.

- Michael