There is a new twist. I also ordered two boxes of Lazarro alto reeds -- the ones where you can get 20 reeds for 20 bucks, SHIPPED. They showed up today. (I got a mixed order -- one box of 3 and one box of 3 1/2 -- because the 3's are for someone else.)
Well I usually play blue box Vandoren 3's on alto, and I got 3 1/2 in the Lazarro. They're still too soft, I should have gotten 4's. But they do play almost straight out of the box -- I had one in my mouth only as long as it took to assemble the instrument, and that was sufficient preparation.
They're not premium quality, but they play surprisingly well -- not just for the price, but in general. I will keep the whole box around as instant backup if the Fibracell does just suddenly turn to mashed potatoes mid-set... AND my four prepared Vandorens are all split/chipped/warped/whatever. They're a little on the bright side, but considering I'd be using them to back up a synthetic reed, I don't see this as a problem.
Of course a good cane reed beats a Fibracell. The thing is, they don't stay in that condition for very long, and it takes quite a while to get them to that point. The Fibracell JUST WORKS. I'm trading some peak performance for more consistent performance, and far less maintenance. That doesn't mean I have to forsake cane reeds. It just means that for certain situations, the synthetic makes more sense and for others, cane makes more sense.
I have a contingency plan for everything else that could possibly go wrong, so I'm not going to be caught with just one playable reed! I usually don't get below three working reeds at any point, and currently it's more like ten for alto, five or six for tenor, the same for bari, four for soprano, and another five for clarinet that I can appropriate for emergency soprano duty if necessary.
The whole point was saying that synthetics don't have to suck any more. They might not be your cup of tea, but some do actually work now. I've been advised to try a Legere on soprano and clarinet, but they are completely smooth and I do not particularly care for that. I may give them a shot anyhow.
If one of the Fibracells does go from hero to zero in a matter of minutes, that would not be a new experience. That's how my cane reeds die too.