RJS running harder lately?

[MM]

I was having some problems lately and thinking it was my horn, but could be my latest RJS 3S box is significantly harder than usual. I wondered if anyone else has noticed this?

[andrewbowie]

My last two boxes of 2H from 1Stop (where they seem to be recent production) have been hard and largely unresponsive. I usually expect 3 of 5 to work pretty well, but these have been pretty hopeless.

[benjamin1979]

bottom line.. i dont dare to buy in bulk.. worry i got all BUG....

[MM]

1stop is where mine came from too. Dang, this is a bummer. In the past these were my "go to" reed. Not an A+, but pretty much all B+ in a box, very different from brand V.

[milandro]

bought some recently for the first time tenor 3, soft, filed , they are nice very wide and dark, a little too dark in actual fact, and a little muffled, as in more resistant and less bright . I am still trying to come to terms with them working on it and removing some material from the base and side of the vamp making it substantially clear(er) but still darker than my bright alternative Vandoren Java. I don't do drilling but they might respond well to such a treatment.

Even after curing with a 20 minutes soaking and pressing with an hard blunt object to seal pores, they still seem to curl up as soon as they soak a little (which other brands don't do if cured) but they readily get back into flat tip shape. I have the feeling that RJS and other Rico need working more than other brands but they are good reeds.

[Agent27]

I got my latest box from Pro Winds. The first reed was great, the kind of reed every reed should be like. The next 3 have been mostly hard, stiff, and dull. The 5th reed was decent but still subpar. I'll probably try the other 5 tomorrow.

[andrewbowie]

I've now tried some boxes of 2M from a British source, and they were all harder than some of the 2H I had in the last months. I've got about just under half of them to work OK, with a lot of scraping, but I'm almost tempted to go to 2S. There is no doubt at all that RJS have got a lot harder from my experience. You also can no longer rely on there being 3 really good immediately playable reeds out of 5. I gave up Alexanders when they got inconsistent, and the box of V16s I got scored 2 out of 5. Any suggestions for a similar reed that might be more consistent? I've ordered some Francois Louis, but they haven't arrived yet.

[Swampcabbage]

Not so much harder but duller and unresponsive. Word has it that they are going to release a "reserve" line for Tenor. New lines of reeds, in my previous experience, tend to be at the expense of the quality of the other, established lines.

[andrewbowie]

Having given up on 2M unfiled, which are now all too hard and often unresponsive too (I can sort of get a few to work with a lot of scraping) I thought I'd give RJS one last try. I ordered a couple of boxes of 2M filed, and it was back to the old levels of quality. 7 definites, 2 possibles, and 1 dud. Hope this is the answer, as I really like them.

[toughtenor]

I don't trust the "select" part at all, too much variation in response, stiffness and overall quality. Who "selects" these reeds ? a robot ? a drunk monkey ?
an underpaid illegal immigrant ? a skilled player ?
hmmmm.
I've had just as much luck in finding a good reed in the cheap orange boxes...

[Anglo]

Crap, I just bought two boxes! I had a box I got about 10 years ago. Didn't like them then, but recently they've been great. Maybe you have to age them.

[Rackety Sax]

I ingnored this thread thinking it must be a figment of a few players' imaginations. Add another figment. I was really loving 3M filed tenor reeds on a .100" mouthpiece. I bought a box of 3M and one of 3S because I was planning to spend more time on a .105", and guess what, even the 3S run hard on the .100". So I guess I need 2H or even 2M for the .105". What a mess.

[hakukani]

I've scaled back from 3M's to 2H. I thought I was just getting old.:)

[Rackety Sax]

I've scaled back from 3M's to 2H. I thought I was just getting old.:)

Yea but yer still blowin' the .150" tip opening, right??

[andrewbowie]

I've been using 2S on some of my wider tips. I must be getting ancient. Actually I really do think they are all harder.

[hakukani]

Yea but yer still blowin' the .150" tip opening, right??

Naw, it's only .145.:)

I've also been playing 2H and Java 2 1/2 on my alto 90R. Seems to me I saw a chart that said that java 2 1/2 are equivalent to 3S.

[Rackety Sax]

Naw, it's only .145.:)

I've also been playing 2H and Java 2 1/2 on my alto 90R. Seems to me I saw a chart that said that java 2 1/2 are equivalent to 3S.

But unless the whole industry is changing strengths you can toss that chart out the window.

[JJ]

Just bought 4 boxes of RJs unfiled 3M for tenor. After trying 10 reeds I would say yes, they run hard. 4 of them at least as hard as Blue Vandoren 3.5.
And the other 6 - well you can call them hard and unresponsive. Never tried that before with 10 reeds at the time (from 2 boxes). Ok, it is the first time i ordered unfiled. Are they normally harder than the filed ones?

Then I found an old box of with 4 unused Superial DC's 3. All singing and very responsive. And much softer than the 3M's. A year ago I switched from Superials since they were the bad ones. But now.... :twisted:

Damn reeds!

[benjamin1979]

ops... rjs is my all time favourite....

[saxmanjack]

Not sure I'm ready to give up on the Vandorens, but checking other brands. What's the best place to order Alexanders from?

[themacintrasher]

Not sure I'm ready to give up on the Vandorens, but checking other brands. What's the best place to order Alexanders from?
1stopclarinet

[Scott Ramminger]

Jack,

L&L Winds in Gaithersburg, MD stocks the the Alexander reeds if you don't feel like waiting for the mail.

Scott

[ving]

I had the same issue, I had attributed it to seasonal changes--but I have noticed the same with unfiled 3M.....a few boxes of these ago, they were almost too soft--the most recent boxes I have picked up are really woofy and resistant. I like these reeds a lot, they break in and last a long time for me. Anyhow, I have a mouthpiece that works really well with 3 ZZ's also, so I will be switching back to those for a while....hopefully the Selects get better...

[Swampcabbage]

I had one box that was too dead. But, I I tried another and they seem fine again. Maybe it was the supply or size.

[benjamin1979]

damn.... i think i stop using for a while........

[saxmanjack]

Jack,

L&L Winds in Gaithersburg, MD stocks the the Alexander reeds if you don't feel like waiting for the mail.

Scott

Thanks, Scott, but I don't think reeds are a good enough reason to have to drive to Maryland!!! Still on the Lawton?