Legere Tenor Sax Reed

[Wailin']

Legere Tenor Sax Reed

Can someone rate these reeds please.They're advertised from wwbw.com as made of a new low density material that is extremely similar to conditioned cane, the Legere reeds represent the best synthetic reeds on the market today. Perfect for ALL types of playing.

[robbieg]

I've used Legeres in the past, and they sound pretty good. However they are a lot more freeblowing than a cane reed, and seem to have a more open sound to them. Its kind of an odd reed, it doesn't look natural at all. Its a translucent white. One time I was using one on clarinet and I think I sounded more like a synth pad than a clarinet. They do last a long time however, I think I accidentally split the tip before I blew the thing out.

[TMadness1013]

I use a studio cut 2 & 1/4 strength on my Barone NY 9.

I also use a regular cut 3 on my vintage Conn for classical playing.

Both are perfect for my needs in terms of response, timbre, resistance, etc.

IMO, the Legere's are the only synthetic reeds that are worth the investment. Especially for classical.

Do a search on the forum for legere reeds, they've been discussed and debated by many of us.

[Roger Aldridge]

Wailin',

As mentioned above, there are several existing threads on the Forum about Legere reeds that might be helpful to you. Check 'em out.

Personally, I initially settled on using Legere reeds on clarinet. I didn't care for Legere saxophone reeds when I first tried them. I tried all of the Legere clarinet reed cuts (regular, Quebec and the "three dot" prototype) in different strengths. After spending several weeks getting used to Legere I settled on using #3 Quebec on clarinet (with a Morgan RM28 mouthpiece). I'm extremely happy with this reed -- in particular, as I like a darker and thicker clarinet sound. It has a surprisingly rich and warm sound. Whereas, I didn't care as much for the regular and three-dot reeds.

It took me longer to get to the point of being comfortable with Legere on tenor. At the time I was using a Morgan 3C mouthpiece on my 1934 Buescher New Aristocrat. I tried both the Legere regular and studio cuts in different strengths. I quickly rejected the studio version. You see, I like a reed that has a bit more resistance and a stronger heart (ie, thicker cut). So, I focused on seeing if I could get a regular cut Legere tenor reed to work for me. Long story short, I could not get the quality of sound that I wanted with Legere on my 3C mouthpiece. I then experiemented for a couple of months with Morgan mouthpieces in different facings. Finally, I discovered that I get the best results with a #2.5 Legere and a Morgan 6L. This set up sounds GREAT (you need to understand that I'm very picky about my sound) and has excellent response throughout the range of the horn. Amazingly, once I settled on my tenor set up with Legere no one could tell that I'm not using a cane reed. Not even my buddies in our big band sax section.

I started off trying to see if Legere could work for me because I double quite a bit. However, once I discovered the best match between reed cut, strength, and mouthpiece I was amazed at the rich tonal qualities and excellent response that I get from Legere. I never expected to get such a good sound from a synthetic reed. At this point, most of my playing is in big bands and small jazz groups. Sometimes I do classical saxophone quartet work. Legere works beautiful for me in all of these settings. I'm especially happy with what a great help Legere is in doubling. No more cane reeds drying out. I simply pick up the horn and play. Above all, I've come to really love the sound that I get with a Legere.

[bubblegirlsax]

I've seen the Legere webpage. They say that if you aren't happy they'll refund your money. You could always buy one to try. If you don't like it, they'll give you back your cash.

From www.legere.com:

We are so confident that you will like your new Légère reed that for customers in most places in the world, we offer a no-hassle money-back guarantee! When we first started offering this, people in the industry thought we were crazy! We knew it wouldn't be a problem, however, because our reeds are so unique and so good. For the longest time we had no returns at all! Now that our sales volume is so high, we have to confess that a few do come back, but more than 99.5% of our customers keep their Légère reeds! This is why we can afford to offer the guarantee.

If you are not completely satisfied with your reed, simply follow the directions on the package insert and return it for refund or exchange within 30 days. (Note that in some places only an exchange of strength is offered. Our Student Strength Reeds are cannot be exchanged or refunded.)

[bass9396]

Here's a good question. Do the Studio Cut or regular cut Sax reeds give a generally darker sound/response?

[robbieg]

I think Regulars are like Blue Box Vandorens and Studio are like Javas.

[Roger Aldridge]

I'd say studio Legere saxophone reeds have a similar cut as an Alexander Superial (yellow box) and the regular cut is more like an Alexander Classique (red box). If one is into the Dark Side definitely use a regular Legere.

[andrewbowie]

Anyone tried sanding these? I've got a 2 and a 1 3/4 Tenor Studio, and they are both too hard, but I fear 1 1/2 will be too soft. I normally play Alexander Superial 2 1/2 and the Legere feels like it might be a good backup.

[txsphere]

I think the regular cut is somewhere between the Vandoren blues box and Alexander classiques. The trick is Legere plays like a well soaked reed. So if you are not used to playing well soaked reeds they will feel odd. Not playing much clarinet I find they are wonderful to pull out on a whim and not have to worry about a reed. Personally I do not like the way Legere sits on my metal tenor mpc so I still use cane but do occassionally use the Legere as back up.

[elo]

Anyone has used it on a Tenney Slant?

[andrewbowie]

I'll answer my own question about shaving the reeds. They seem to be generally considerably harder than their cane equivalents (I'm referring to Studio). I therefore gently shaved a bit off as for a cane reed with a kind of carpet knife, following the advice in the package. The result has been very encouraging: they now play pretty much like an Alexander Superial. Slightly stiffer and slightly darker in sound, but loads of resonance and tonal variety and response. Definitely worth a try, and altering them seems no problem (they say not to clip the tip, which never works on synthetics of this kind in my experience, though it does on Hahns).