Just curious, anybody ever tried some of the harder synthetic reeds with a Berg? If so, how did it work? I am considering a few, as I just dropped about $1k on reeds this marching season, and my wallet is SORE. My last shipment of 25 (about 1 year's worth) crap-tacular Rico 3s is coming in, but I am still going to need a good Jazz (and one for concert season, preferably really dark) reed. Suggestions are much appreciated. I run a Berg Larsen 110/2, usually with size 4 or 5 equivalents of reeds, no real care about the brand, just how hard they are, and if they are bright or dark (the South does wonders for reeds *sarcasm*). I just march 3s now because they are cheaper, even though I am REALLY flat on them.
I play a metal Berg on tenor. I am currently using Hartman Fiberreeds (Natural Classics) They seem to work nicely for me. I am using Med Hards. Might be worth a try.
Synthetics on an open Berg always cut my lips. You can get no-name natural reeds on ebay for 50 cents each. Should be fine for marching band. The way I solved the reed issue in high school was to play the tuba during marching season. That way I learned a new skill and saved my precious MKVI from getting beat up.
If your intonation is a problem on different reeds, then that 110 is probably too open for you. Try a 100 instead.
BTW, in my day (late 70s - early 80s), marching season was about 4 months, and I used maybe two reeds per month (in the years I marched sax), for a grand total of 8 reeds (about 70 cents each back then). I guess they run about $4 now, for a grand total of $32. So first thing I suggest is be more careful with your reeds. If you're going through 2 reeds per day, then something is seriously wrong somewhere that a synthetic won't be able to fix. Maybe a reed guard to store them in and a mouthpiece cap.
Just curious, anybody ever tried some of the harder synthetic reeds with a Berg? If so, how did it work? I am considering a few, as I just dropped about $1k on reeds this marching season, and my wallet is SORE. My last shipment of 25 (about 1 year's worth)
How can 1 years worth of 25 reeds cost $1k, or is season longer than a year???
Anyway to answer the question: yes.
But "synthetics" is not a brand -they differ so wildly. Some are great, other less so and some really crap. The question is a bit like asking w"will cane reeds work with a Berg?"
All reeds (synthetic or cane) are designed to work with saxophone mouthpieces. maybe some brands or strengt/cut design may work better with some mouthpieces than others, but in my experienece any decent reed will work with a Berg.
I went through about 80 reeds this marching season. I had mentioned the shipment of 25, as I had just ordered it, and it is coming in, and so I have about a years worth of normal reeds (I don't have to march with them now, as I can try and find a good brand of synthetic reeds with your recommendations, and so I go through about 25 in the course of a year in concert band).
I use Legere Studios, about 2.75, on a metal Berg, but because the Bergs are so narrow, you do have to be careful that they're centered properly, or you'll feel the edge(s) on your lip.
I have never liked my sound using Legere reeds with any metal Berg on any tenor saxophone. The Signature's were too dull, the Studio's too bright and buzzy. The Classic's were the best. I play Legere's exclusively and they work well with other mouthpieces for me but not Berg's.
Wow!!! You should buy stock in Rico! I probably didn't use many more than 80 reeds my whole 4 yrs. of college, but I play them until you could probably read newsprint through them.
I usually play them until they break or go VERY flat. Sometimes sharp, but usually flat after about 13 hours of playing (A single moderate usage week, without rotating reeds, if I were to be lazy that week)
In all seriousness, you do need to come up with a better way to protect your reeds first. Even fibracells can be easily damaged. The toughest synthetic I've ever used is BARI brand. I've also read about some carbon fiber reeds (Harry Hartmann) which should be pretty tough, but I've never tried them myself.
I just wanted to chime in here because I'm a big synthetic fan since they finally got good enough to give cane a run for its money. I've been happily on Legere signatures for the last couple years. Since I recently switched to Bergs on all my horns though, I've found that while the Legeres still work great on my HR Bergs, they're a little, well, "synthetic" sounding on my metal Bergs. Currently my solution is Hartmann Hemp for the metal Bergs and Legere sigs for everything else. That's me though. YMMV. I think the important thing is just to try a few different brands and strengths to find what works for you.
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