vANDOREN oPTIMUM AL4: WHICH REEDS?

[Andrea]

HI, I RECENTLY ACQUIRED FOIR LEGIT A VANDOREN OPTIMUM AL 4 ALTO MPC, AND I'M USING WITH IT VANDOREN BLU BOX 2 1/2, AS THE TRAD. 3 SEEM TO BE TOO HARD FOR IT!

BTW, 2 1/2 TEND TO BE TOO SOFT SHORTLY, WHICH REEDS DO YOU SUGGEST WITH IT?

THANX IN ADVANCE
ANDREA

[badfella518]

perhaps try either a v16 2.5 or 3 or a lavoz medium hard.

[bronzZoot]

I went to the Vandoren website (http://www.vandoren.fr/en/index.html) and looked at their reed index. I found a chart that said half way between a traditional 2.5 and 3 is a Rico Grand Concert Select 3. I've played the Rico RCS and they played pretty well from me. Had a nice, full, rich tone on a Lomax Classic. However, I can't say how well they will work on the AL4.

The chart I was looking for is the one that comes with the boxes of reeds, but I couldn't locate that online. It is a chart of each mouthpiece produced by Vandoren and which style and strength of reed they suggest.

I currently play a AL3 and am quite pleased with Gonzalez 3.5 and 3.75. If you have access to Gonzalez reeds, you may want to give them a try on the AL4, but I wouldn't know what strength to recommend.

Just my opinon and like always, you have take information from others and comparison charts with a grain of salt.

Good luck!

[altosaxguy1]

i use v16 3's and they are good with mine