Hemke

[badfella518]

Hi every body, just wondering what you all think of hemke alto sax reeds. I like their tone but they seem to wear away quickly and lack response.
ANY COMENTS?8-)

THANKS ALOT

[bronzZoot]

My experience has been that they are on the bright side, even if you use a higher strength reed. The short life aspect is enough to convince me not to use them. Does anyone know why these reeds wear out so fast? Is there a design aspect that causes this, is it the cane, or is it a magic trick? :shock:

[Alto Giant]

THe deep tones are really easy to play with them and the offer a good intonation and controllation over the full registers.

I can really advice you to try them.

AG

[Keith Ridenhour]

Are you breaking them in correctly?? I find I seem to come back to Hemke 2.5s for tenor no matter what else I try?? They have a dark core but lots of loud if you need it?? They easily last as long as my Vandoran 2s or others I play. K

[sris27]

Ive been playing on vandoren 3.5s but tried a box of hemke 3.5s recently. I found my tone was a lot more fuller and darker with hemkes but they would die within 3 or 4 days. Does anyone know of any reeds with the same sound and response but with a longer life? thanks !!!!

[Pinnman]

Hemke = full, dark and long-lasting.

[Saxland]

I found that Hemke's wear out really quickly if the mouthpiece rails are not balanced.

[MM]

Yeah, I'm in the "Hemkes die quickly" camp. Ditto for their clarinet brothers, the Mitchell Lurie Premiums. But sometimes it's nice to have something you can slap on to get you through.

[Pinnman]

I wonder what we all do that leads to the differences in outcome!

[Rex]

Pinnman -- I'd suggest we all have different starting-out and ending-up points for what we prefer in response/feel, tone, etc. in a reed. Some start out with softer reeds but don't spend much if any time breaking them in or tuning them; others strap on some pretty big lumber then work it pretty hard to break it in (break it down?) to a usable point. I'd suspect the reeds in the fomer group don't last very long, but, the "big lumber" guys probably don't remember how long they had to play that too-stiff reed to break it in, in the first place, before it really became playable. I have fallen into that trap, finding myself playing with too much fatigue all of the time. There must be a happy medium somewhere. I think the most important things are to keep your reeds clean, flat, and to massage them to seal the pores and reduce as well as even out moisture absorption. Then you will know which reeds are good players, and how you might want to adjust them if necessary (with a reed knife and/or rush). Breaking in reeds doesn't have to be exhausting, difficult or time consuming -- maybe a better description is reed care.

[Pinnman]

I'm sure there is much in what you say, Rex. Oddly enough, I am in the soft reed, easy start category and, for me, Hemkes last well. The other reed I like is Java which I find a little freer in character and sound and also lasts well.

But reeds, like so much else of our likes and dislikes, are very personal and one man's meat, as they say, is another man's poison.

[sopranofreak]

Switched to Hemkes for my sop quite recently - the only reason I've retired the first box is because I've moved from a 2.5 to a 3. I love the sound and response and they seem to last just as long as any other reeds I've tried, unfortunately they are kinda rough on top and are shredding my lower lip. C'est la vie: one must suffer for ones art...

As for reeds being personal - so, so true. Just look at the varying opinions on Alexanders and how long they last!

[VaSaxPro]

I use Hemke's (3) on my C* (S80) and they work great. Granted every 3-4 reeds I run through there's one that craps out after about a week, but most will last me as long as my La Voz Mediums. They have a great rich sound that livens up my old C* and helps give me great response for the classical solos I play in college. I'm testing Hemkes out (shaved down 3's) on my 6M Meyer and they have a good full sound for rock and roll leads. Again, like everything with saxophone, it's personal preference.