Advice for a setup...

[Datsaxman04]

I play on a meyer 6m refaced like a vintage new york meyer and I was wondering what kind of reed to use. I was considering RJS, LaVoz,or Hemke. Currently I'm playing on Alexander DC 3 1/2. I like the sound that I get but their inconsistent. Now my question is, of the reeds that I wanted to try, which reed would have a similar cut to the alexander dc as far as the thickness of the tip, heart etc.??? Thanks..


Chris

[Razzy]

RJS and La Voz are American cut reeds, unless you get the filed RJS which is a French cut reed. La Voz to me feel kinda cheap and RJS are pretty stuffy, or "dark" if you prefer. Hemke are French cut and lean more toward the classical side of things, I guess, more of a dark sound but again I find them stuffy. Some guys get great results from these.

I played RJS unfiled for the past year on my Meyer 5M and they seem to have lost their projecting capabilities. I switched to the Vandoren Java a few months ago and the difference is overall one of more clarity and a more open, projecting sound. Best of luck in your search!

[Datsaxman04]

Java's tend to play bright at times, at least to me. I want a dark sound but, with the edge, which is why I played the dc's for a while.. I jus thought that the rjs or hemke would give me a better shot at that dark but projecting sound.. But thanks though, I guess I'll try the java's again, it never hurts,lol.. again thanks

[Razzy]

La Voz tend to have more overtones than Java, and Java more than RJS. But with RJS, it's to the point that even the good ones don't project well and feel kind of stuffy.

[JJavaT95]

I'd also recommend checking out V16 or ZZ. Both have a slightly thicker heart than Java. I've found that there's some nice low-overtone presence in the V16.

[Datsaxman04]

I've played on the V16 and ZZ and there both way too hard, and the tip is too thick, making it hard to get lower notes out. Unless you switch to a smaller size which I haven't tried yet... So maybe that'll be the next step.. I jus need something that responds well in all registers.. Thanks for your imput. The eternal struggle. Finding your own sound...

[JL]

I've played on the V16 and ZZ and there both way too hard, and the tip is too thick, making it hard to get lower notes out. Unless you switch to a smaller size which I haven't tried yet... So maybe that'll be the next step.. I jus need something that responds well in all registers.. Thanks for your imput. The eternal struggle. Finding your own sound...

For what it's worth, I find the ZZs to be about 1/2 strenth softer than V16s. In other words a ZZ 3 is roughly equivalent to V16 2.5.

Datasax, ALL reeds are inconsistent, so you'll have to accept that fact. If most of the reeds at a given size are too hard then go down a half step. Also, if you want a darker, rich, full sound, I think the RJS unfiled will help give you that. I played them for awhile, and they seemed to last fairly long, but when they die, they die quickly.

[badfella518]

Maybe just a regular old Rico will give you the sound you want. Surprisingly there fairly consistent, and have a really fat and dark tone. I'v never tried RJS but Lavoz have a lot of cool overtones and hemke are really easy blowing and classic. come to think of it, do try the hemke3 or 3.5.