Rico Royal, a blast from the past

[Grumps]

A few years ago, I gave up on Rico Royal. It broke my heart to do so, as I'd played Rico exclusively since I was in grade school, but I just couldn't tolerate maybe finding one decent reed in a box of ten. So I moved to Alexander Superials, but dumped them after four consecutive tins yielded absolutely no playable reeds. I tried Marco and then Hemke. No thrills there. Then Vandoren Java's seemed to work for a bit until I came across a bad box of those as well. Then the other day, when I was looking for a reed, I came across an older box of Rico Royals that I'd taken out of my VII tenor case before I sold it. So I tried one... that was close, but not quite right... then another. And hey, that was the ticket. Playing that reed brought it all back to me. It was what I was used to. It was what I longed for these past few years. So much so, that I'm thinking of going back; even after dogging them for the last few years as I've done here on the forum. In fact, I don't see as many complaints leveled against them as had been in prior years. But as all the substitutes fall by the wayside, I'm thinking of going back. It's not like I'm happy with the replacements. And if I can only count on one or two playable reeds from a box, I might as well get that with a reed I preferred in the first place.

Anyone else going back to Rico these days?

[Canadiain]

They arent so bad, I find them good quality and relatively reliable.

If you are resigned to tweaking any reed to get the best out of it, then I dont see the point in paying a premium for something more esoteric.

Plus in the canadian climate its a cynch to swap to a plasticover when needed....they are basically the same cut as far as I can tell, although brighter, presumably due to the coating process.

[ratracer]

Well, I recently purchased a box of 2.5s. Of the first four out of the box, I experimented with a breakin process for the experience and they've all been good so far. Rotate them as I play and/or practice and they're holding up just fine for the last couple of months.

[MM]

Grumps, what size horn(s) are you talking? I found a few old tenor RR 3 reeds and they played pretty well. RR's also work better on my Lamberson bari mpc than LaVoz or Hemke.

The downside seems to be that they don't last very long. I haven't cared for them on alto either.

Some players seem to prefer plain old Ricos, which I haven't played for eons. Do you feel the Rico Royal to be a cut above.

Plasticovers seem to start out about the same as a RR but then soften up a lot, so I will go about 1/2 strength up in hardness. They seem to give a brighter but also bratty tone. My 2 cents.

[milandro]

today I opened a new box of Rico tenor Jazz Select 3s....they were all (like other 2 boxes before) rather muffled and like the other ones will probably play nicely after working on the reed scraping some material from the side of the vanps (maybe attacking some of the vamp itself). If I have to put that much effort into a reed maybe the humble royal could be a decent reed to try (never thought of trying them) on the other hand some Vandoren like ZZ or Java (a little on the bright side, I know ;) ) do play very well out of the box......choices, choices :)

[SuperAction80]

I've never had an issue with the RR's, and honestly, I do not know why I'm not using them on tenor right now. I still have a few that I've been using for alto and soprano, but I've moved onto DC's and now Vandorans for tenor. Actually, I really liked the RR bass clarinet reeds on tenor. The Vandoran bass clarinet reeds are really nice, but they are considerably more expensive than a box of RR's. Maybe I'll go back to Rico.

[tenor71363]

As of late, I have been enjoying them on my soprano.

[Sasquatch]

I had a symphonic band director back in college in the early 80s that tried to humiliate me during a rehearsal by implying that my playing was lacking because I was blowing on Rico Royals. I can't remember that douchenozzle's name. He was a low brass guy, probably had a semester of sax when he was in school. Anyway, I think I had a Vandoren strapped on at the time, but I did use Rico Royals occasionally. I remember throwing out a lot of reeds but also finding good ones. There's little doubt my playing sucked, but I don't think it can be blamed on the reed.

[NyNe143]

You know I used to use these all the time. To be honest I don't know why I went away from them. I think because I used these since the fourth grade on up to HS I wanted to try something different. I wonder if I subconsciously classified them as 'beginners reeds', not saying that they are. Hmmm, I think I will go buy some today.

[Thomas]

I bought a box of RR(tenor) a couple of weeks ago and they're all fine. I too used them for years then switched to Alexanders, both DC and Superial, then I got a bunch of duds and went to Vandorens but I'm enjoying the sound of these RRs.

[rispoli]

I had opened some months ago a thread in which I mentioned how I got surprised of the consistency of the new Rico Royals.
I had neglected them for a long time, then I just happened to listed a store clerk who said he hardly found one that did not play (I went there to buy the usual pack of Vandoren blue box 2.5).
Indeed the first pack had all good reeds: no adjustment needed although best performance was not obtained at first blow (no surprise). Also strength seemed rather consistent to me. They also do not wear out fast, not faster than Vandoren I'd say.
Then someone posted in that thread he had opposite experience, so I though that store had a lucky batch and went to buy 2 more packs (now I have 30 reeds). Again, they all play well out of the box and conistency is very good across all 30 units (not perfect).

Great value and I think I am finally settled (I occasionally cheat with Blue box, but I tend to go back to RR).

[Grumps]

Grumps, what size horn(s) are you talking?
...I came across an older box of Rico Royals that I'd taken out of my VII tenor case...
Alto. No... seriously, tenor. But I used them on alto and soprano as well, and even have some old stock bari Rico Royals left that I hoard. I just remember liking their cut better than the regular ones and had used them for so long, basically getting use out of every reed in the box. Now that I'm finding out that all reeds suck these days, I might as well go back to the brand I once preferred, hoping to get a good one of those on occasion.

[dstack79]

Anyone else going back to Rico these days?

RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!

[SaxyJ]

RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!

Try the Rico Reserves. I firmly believe that they are the best and most consistent cane reeds on the market. Once you try them, you'll most likely "run away" from all other cane reed brands. ;)

[SoLongEric]

Hmm.

What strength reed do you guys use mostly? Have you found in your experiences that *certain* strengths tend to yield more inconsistent reeds per box than others?

Say a 3 bad boxes in a row *less than half playable reeds* in #2 1/2 strength vs a stellar box of #4's of the same brand?

[Bebopalot]

I bought a box of Rico Royal a few months ago and was surprised by how consistent they all were. My complaint is that they did not last as long as my Vandoren Javas. They did play well compared to a few years ago.

[Grumps]

What strength reed do you guys use mostly? Have you found in your experiences that *certain* strengths tend to yield more inconsistent reeds per box than others?

Say a 3 bad boxes in a row *less than half playable reeds* in #2 1/2 strength vs a stellar box of #4's of the same brand?


Well, I play threes on everything, but as I see you play fives, then I guess a good reed really doesn't matter to you then...

[bari_sax_diva]

It seems that lately with the RJS reeds I use on alto, they're either impossibly hard or they die after one set. It's either one or the other within a box, which is probably a function of how long it's been in the retailer's inventory. So I'm giving some serious thought to just buying the orange box Ricos a little on the stiff side now--since I end up working about half of my reeds anyway and still blow through about one a day, I might as well be killing the cheap ones.

[dirty]

I've been using LaVoz on tenor, but have used Rico Royals on bari for a few years now. I started on a #4, moved to a #3.5, moved down, briefly, to a #3 and am now back on #3.5. They are far more consistent, reed to reed than Vandoren's bari reeds, which I cannot stand. Something about those reeds puts the resistance in all the wrong places for me. I've tried RJS, Marca and LaVoz. Marca was nice, but didn't have enough bite or a punchy enough response for me. LaVoz felt very nice, but not quite right. I'm still curious about LaVoz. I've tried RJS reeds a bunch of times and, on average, I couldn't tell a consistent difference between them and the Royals, except that I felt stupid for paying twice as much just to sound the same! Could be because I play on a Rico Royal mouthpiece, though (Metalite).

I might try them on tenor, but I'm pretty happy with LaVoz and don't really see a need to switch. Next time the shop is out of LaVoz, though, I'll have to give Rico Royal a try.

[kingsaxello]

I've been using LaVoz on tenor, but have used Rico Royals on bari for a few years now. They are far more consistent, reed to reed than Vandoren's bari reeds, which I cannot stand. Something about those reeds puts the resistance in all the wrong places for me.

I feel EXACTLY the same about Vandoren's bari reeds. I think they don't even care what quality of reed they crank out for bari. The Rico Royals of recent production are quite good and I can get each one to work pretty well. Even if they don't last as long as a Vandoren I love paying the same price for 10 RR's as I would for 5 Vandoren doorstops!

[NyNe143]

Ok, so two weeks ago I went out and bought a pack of Rico Royals for soprano. I must say I am very VERY satisfied. I pulled my second reed this past weekend and had great success with it. 2 for 2!!! Haven't been able to do that with Hemke in ... well ... a very long time. Two Thumbs up here!!

[Honeyboy]

I bought a few boxes of Rico Royals for my tenor mouthpieces about 2 months ago and am very happy with the results. I had been limiting myself to Vandoren ZZ's and Rico Jazz Selects. Out of a box of 10, I found 8 usable reeds right off the bat. I am using the 2.5's for my Berg 130/2 and they are giving me a real nice, thick full sound. I'm using the 3's on my Jody Jazz ESP and am, again, very happy with the full tone. They seem to have more of a mid range tone than the Vandorens and Jazz Selects. And, you get 10, not 5 reeds /box. I am impressed with the consistancy I got from each box.

[peegypops]

well came here after putting "couterfeit sax reeds" in google.as my RRs have been so poor lately I suspected they could be forgeries!!... even had a light into the tenor today to see if I was leaking.....and there's a thread saying "Vandoren say their stuff is being counterfeited "...including reeds so is that a possibility for low numbers of good ones per box?