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OK I quit

3K views 19 replies 10 participants last post by  Toot Sweet! 
#1 ·
using cane on my tenor a coupla weeks ago..swore I never would..but I can't afford shredding 20-30 bucks a week for reeds..got mad the other day and said what the hell..put on an old Bundy(?) soft plastic reed I got with a horn yrs ago..it played fine, sounds and feels like a good cane reed, the alt pops like crazy too..I never liked the buzzy tone or sound response of plastic, or how synyh reeds made my embouchure muscles feel strange..Well I bought a bunch of Fibercells and Baris a few mos back, glad I kept 'em.. ;)
 
#2 · (Edited)
Synthetic reeds

Yep they sure save tons of $. I myself on tenor have lately been splitting my time playing Zonda reeds and a bari plastic and a fibracell. Zonda's costs add up. Do I really need to do long tones on them, or patterns..ect. Sounds like a job for fibracell. When I play at home and go for it I use the bari first to get that out of my system, take a break then play the zondas if I have something else to say. Costs have gone down taking this approach. When I play I'm getting a really cool responce with the bari. I'm on a Buffet Dynaction on a STM 6*. Lush with the right edge. I'll hold off "investing" in a vintage Dukoff Hollywood at the moment. Although I'll consider selling my magic bari reed as a straight trade. The new owner will be getting rich in no time....$30X52weeks is $1560.00 a year.

Thats $15600.00 over 10 years. Man, just send me the dukoff and $5000.00 :) I'll even give you an extra bari reed FREE!!!! :)
 
#3 ·
Well, I've been using the same set of Alexander reeds for, er, six months now.

I broke them in slowly, I rotate them, and I have no problems.

They sure sound a -bleep- of a lot better than plastic reeds.
 
#6 ·
I should of course say that sound and response is the obvious issue..but, here in Vegas it's so dry that keeping cane wet consistantly during and between shows is a major pain.After 3 or 4 shows even a new cane starts suffering. I play very hard at times maybe that also contributes to the breakdown and no matter the brand of cane I don't find them consistant anymore.Being able to subtone or scream immediately without reed warm-up is a huge benefit for plastics. :cool:
 
#7 ·
I've gone through about 30 Fibracells over the last 3+ years. Of those 30, I got exactly three that played so poorly I had to toss them - they were far too soft, as if they had been graded incorrectly.

I switched to Fibracell from Rico Royal 2.5s and Hemke 3s. I found only one or two reeds per box of 5 that sounded good, and even with careful break-in periods and rotation, they would last for less than three weeks apiece. Fibracells have saved me a pile of $$$.

Synthetics are not for everyone. If you put a Fibracell on a very edgy mouthpiece, chances are you'll get an extremely buzzy sound with little center or core. On the other hand, if you put a Fibracell on a basic mouthpiece like my Meyer 6...it creates a fat, slightly aggressive sound with plenty of presence for big band or combo work. On a Runyon Custom - you're ready for R & B.
 
#8 ·
I'm hoping the fact I'm using this ancient "bundy" plastic reed with such favorable results means I'll have a good choice of modern synths when the Bundy wears out. I love my Guardala SKRB and the synth sound is still amazingly like cane to me. Just lots easier to play.I still have a lot of great Tenor mpcs..inc Link,Lakeys, Runyons, Dukoff, Strathon and others..Can't bring myself to sell my old 'pieces...I'll always try something new if it might be better.. MPL has a great point re try using a different pc. Jillions of combos,I like to stick to one pc tho. Drove myself nuts years ago trying to find the "best" mouthpiece for each of my different tenors...The KISS theory works for me. I haven't played EVERYthing out there but have yet to find a better tenor pc than DG.It smokes on ALL my tenors.On a gig a few mos ago, I had to borrow a tenor, a mpc & fibercell.(left my neck/pc at home).I liked the result on the borrowed set-up enough to try some plastics myself. Next night a pretty good tenor player tells me fibercells are junk try Bari..OK so long story short I end up with a handful of both brands, soft, med-soft & med..enough to confuse myself I guess..ended up going back to plasti-covers again long enough to swear off cane. I know I'll never say never to cane again, especially with guys like Tom Alexander who will take the time to help cane players personally. But the bottom line is what works. I appreciate the cane aspects but I just can't afford inconsistancy and a lot of prep, maintenance and upkeep of cane reeds on a daily basis. A bad or cranky reed can be a disaster when you play for a living. I'm looking forward to trying some of the newer synths. My WW/BW catalog has a bunch of exotic looking stuff..
 
#9 ·
Hey Cash, I've been tempted by the synths before. I tried the Fibracell and liked it for a few days, then went back to cane. I live in your old neighborhood (the Bay Area) where the weather is tolerable. If I was in the desert, I'd probably give the synths another chance. Recently I went back to V16s again, after trying RJS, ZZ, etc. None of them seem to have the punch and lasting power of the V16, so I guess I'll stick with the V16. I also got an PRC .115 baffled tenor mpc and man this is it for me! I play mostly blues and funk, but the gigs range from small restaurants to large nightclubs. So I need lots of flexibility in volume, etc. The RPC allows that. Anyway, good luck with the reed experiments.
 
#11 ·
It's ok for the blues scene. At least my band (South City Blues Band; southcityblues.com) is getting a fair amount of work. Not a lot of money, of course, but I'm not relying on it for my total income. We just got a couple gigs at Biscuits & Blues, which is a pretty high end venue in SF, and play at several smaller clubs down the Peninsula regularly. Also I picked up a gig with another blues band to play at the Little Fox. Plus a lot of jams picking up for networking. So all in all, not too bad. I'm having fun. The Buescher is getting more of my attention than the VI right now. The tone and big bold sound of the Buescher has me hooked.

If you get back here, look me up.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Jules still plays around here. I know he plays at a place in Burlingame (Towles) where my band plays pretty regularly. It's a great seafood place with full bar. First set or two has to be kept at "dinner volume," then you can kick it up a notch.

Monday, Tuesday are kind of off nights, but on Tuesdays there's a great blues jam at Mojos Lounge way out in Fremont......real good players like RJ Misho on harp, Kenny Blue Ray on guitar, etc. I'll be out of town that week, taking a rare vacation.

Back on topic, I might some day just order up a bunch of different synthetic reeds and see if I find something. But that would cost some real money. Maybe in the long run it would be a savings, though.
 
#18 ·
I don't understand why anyone would consider Plasticovers synthetic reeds..
wheres the logic in that?

Those things drive me nuts. You get all the inconsistancies and changes for the worse as they break in that you get with a straight cane reed, with the added bonus of being unable to adjust them. MORE stressful then regular cane reeds. But they sound so good... it's unfair, really.

Great product idea- do-it-yourself plastic coating for already broken in and adjusted reeds.
 
#19 ·
I liken my reeds to my relationship with my girlfriend... don't raise those eyebrows just yet! Synths are like talking on the phone, and real cane is like being together: the synths can tide me over and sure maybe it's cheaper than driving/training all the way to her school, but honestly, talking on the phone is just to keep us communicating and tiding us over till the next box of cane... You get the idea, I hope :D

But yea basically, the idea is one of feeling. Maybe it's not that dramatic. I just get better results with cane. I gave the synth reeds a fair trial, they just feel weird, and aren't so consistent as they are cracked up to be. They also last a lot longer if you follow some very easy break-in tips and use a nice reedcase. These costs add up of course but I think you can afford not to eat all that take-out or order that nice shiny new ligature :)

However, I might invest in finding a couple of good fibracells and keeping them around for the possibility of extreme misfortune, like sharks eat my reedcase containing all my best reeds.
 
#20 ·
I usually play on Alexander Superial 2 1/2 alto reeds, but I have two synthetic Legere Studio Cut reeds, too, a 2 1/4 and a 2 1/2 (the Legere are somewhat harder than the Superial).

The Legere play really good, definitely as good as your usual Rico Royal or Vandoren Java. Warm, woody sound. But they lack some of the nice buzz I get from the Superial.

In sum: nothing against Legere reeds - unless you find better ones made out of cane.
 
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