Bb Clarinet reed on a soprano sax

[rivetgob]

I recently read that Branford Marsalis uses a Bb clarinet reed on his soprano sax mouthpiece. I have tried it myself and surprisingly it plays and sounds OK. Surprising because it is narrower than a soprano sax reed. Does anyone else use this setup and what advantages have they experienced?

[pknight]

I have not tried this, since I don't play clarinet, but my son has used bass clarinet reeds on his tenor. He did this originally because he had lots of bass clarinet reeds and a borrowed tenor. He claims it works fine. No better than using tenor reeds, but no worse.

[singlereed]

I also read that article about Marsalis - he bought some 'Reeds Australia' clarinet reeds when on tour, I wonder if the shop didn't have any soprano sax ones and he needed some, quick? It prompted me to try Reeds Australia Vintage soprano reeds on my sop and I like them. I did try a clarinet reed on sop once and it worked, but I can't see why a pro like Marsalis would use a reed cut for a clarinet mouthpiece? Just possibly, the cut of the reed suits the lay of his mouthpiece better than the soprano sax ones, I suppose it might work because whilst we play mouthpieces with a wide range of lays, any given brand of reed has only one cut - within some very wide 'tolerances' .... 8-)

[senior]

I play clarinet and just recieved a new sop sax. I have a wide variety of clarinet reeds so I used them to give me an idea of what I needed to buy for the sop. Worked fine but alignment of the reed is more critical.

[Gandalfe]

I use my soprano sax to play duets with my wife playing clarinet. I seem to be able to get closer to a clarinet sound on my soprano sax with a clarinet reed. But I haven't done extensive work on this yet so it is based on a limited number of trials.

[GHawk]

My standard soprano reed is a Vandoren blue box #2 clarinet reed. They respond extremely well and sound incredibly rich.

[Alto Giant]

I tried this when I read this topic....It doesn'T work at all with my mpc..(Otto Link Tone Edge *5):|

[Gandalfe]

Hmm... to each his own. It works on my Otto Link Tone Edge (plubber) *5 just fine. I am using a Glotin reed. I should try some others.

[Dave Dolson]

I've tried it a few times over the years; decided it would work if I was in a pinch and had nothing other than one clarinet reed. But, I much prefer soprano reeds on soprano mouthpieces - the fit is better, the tone is more solid, and the response is better - for me. DAVE

[bruce bailey]

Although it gives some more vamp to the reed, I always found that the sides pinch my lip.

[DD]

For a 'fatter" sound on clarinet, I have sometimes used a sop reed.

[OOlufoks]

It's interesting how these things work. Branford mentioned that he uses the #3.5 DC soprano reeds when playing jazz. I guess he moved on. He's always sounded great on soprano anyway.
I use soprano reeds on my clarinet because it fits, its sounds good, and I don't what to go through the hassle of finding the right brand. Maybe if I play the clarinet more frequently, I'll pay more attention to the reed selection.

[Clarinophonist]

I use clarinet reeds on my soprano as well, however that is because now days i dont care about reeds, as long as it plays, ill play it.

[amymcg]

I'll do it in a pinch, but I get a better response from the reed when it's a soprano reed. I've also used tenor sax reeds on bass clarinets, but again, necessity. A little less difference that way though than clarinet/soprano