Good ol' orange box Rico's

**Saxaholic** · 03-12-2003, 10:19 PM

Anyone else REALLY enjoy these reeds on your axe? I have a Cannonball Alto and I went to the music shop today to try out that old "Master Model" Buffet Evette Schaeuffer, and I forgot my reeds. So I just used a new Rico orange that they sell just to test the sax. It responded great! From the Altissimo A down to the low Bb it was consistent and gave a great tone. I tried it on my Cannonball Big Bell, and the effect tripled. I couldn't believe it. Maybe it's just a fantastic reed, but I tried a few more from the same box and they all performed just as good. Needless to say I've switched to the Rico orange!

Anyone else have experiences like this?

Gregg W. Jackson · 03-13-2003, 12:58 AM

I travelled cross country and left all my reeds at home. The only music store in Springfield, Mass. that was open at 6:30 on a Friday night has one box of tenor reeds, Rico Orange 3 1/2. I bought them and played them all weekend with good results. I still take them out an play them from time to time. They don't have the refinement of my Alexanders, but they have a nice juicy sound.

paulwl · 03-13-2003, 02:25 PM

I think they don't enjoy much favor among serious players because they don't require a lot of adjusting to get a good sound. There's an axiom about reeds:
"If it plays well right out of the box, throw it out!"
It's not universally believed, but very hard to get rid of entirely.

Cameron Wigmore · 03-14-2003, 01:52 AM

rico reeds are a good deal. If you play a lot they will save you dough, and although you do have to adjust most of them, they play just fine. Very "free-blowing".

Mike Cesati · 03-14-2003, 12:18 PM

I agree ,for the economy factor I went back to Rico regulars. I used them years ago when I started. I started back with them and have been very happy. There are some duds in there plus ones that need some work but th

e overall % of reeds that I use is pretty good. They also have a fat tone thats dark and I like that. Its funny though I had about 8 Rico Orange soaked and I was trying them . I was having trouble getting a good one then BAM. I put a reed on and it was killer. I happened to turn it over and it was a Superial that had got mixed in.True story. Superial and Rico orange are actually similar in strength and tonal quality.The Superials are great but I like the economy of the Rico.To me a good Rico will last about as long as a good Superial. it ended up as economics and the fact that I'm really not that fussy. A good reed is a good reed .

saxtek · 03-15-2003, 08:03 PM

About 40 years ago when I was in high school, I went to see Woody Herman's band. Woody's tenor sax star, Andy McGhee, was nice enough to spend almost all his break time with me the entire evening. I asked a lot of dumb questions about mouthpieces, and eventually I asked what kind of reeds Andy used.

"I use Rico reeds, because they are the WORST!" was his reply. When I asked why he used the worst reeds, he explained, "All reeds are bad and Ricos are the cheapest."

Since then I've tried lots of reeds and I found lots of good ones, but I always give regular Ricos a try, too. I usually use them - on everything. I play 10 different horns full time and often don't have time to work on reeds. I've become familiar with Rico reed strengths and I can guess which Rico to use right out of the box. If it doesn't last long, well, it costs half as much as a lot of other reeds, and I think of Andy McGhee. The next night I'll be in a different band, playing a different horn, using a different (cheap) Rico reed.

Tears June · 03-16-2003, 04:01 PM

I'm interested to know if Orange box Rico has same disavtange with SJ - Difficult for articulation after playing an hour ! I've found it is because the texture on the vamp & heart is more soft.

03-16-2003, 07:24 PM

Been playing on Rico's after using the old fibercane reeds for a number of years. They are just fine for the occasional playing I do now and the prce is right.

Mike Cesati · 03-16-2003, 08:32 PM

Tears June,the rico orange are different than RJS. The Orange play good and last. They aren't as bright as RJS. RJS get thin sounding quickly. I dislike them. Orange Rico are darker,woodier. My $.02

Grantibibitus · 03-20-2003, 10:08 PM

It's not an economy choice for me. I really do love the way plain ricos play. La Voz would be my next choice but they're just too stark sounding for my taste. The ricos, though not terribly consistent, seem to have a warmness about them. I play a Zephyr Bari with a metal Berg 105/1 using a double embachure, and rico #4's. To me the La Voz reeds make it sound like my horn's made of PVC, whereas the ricos give it the sound of a hand carved oak saxophone.

Viva los Ricos!

mattsax · 03-22-2003, 01:37 PM

A teacher of mine went backstage to talk with Eddie Daniels at one of Eddie's performances. Eddie was playing tenor sax with an Otto Link and Rico orange reeds. He explained that Links were originally designed with Rico reeds in mind. My teacher proceded to try them, but couldn't get them to work, so he gave the box to me.

I suspect that if you play a vintage horn that is already quite dark, these work fine. On modern Selmers, I think, they are just too bright, however.

Vandoren Javas used to be my favorite reed, but lately the ones I have happened to get have been consistently bad (stuffy, hard blowing, often out of balance, but not easily fixable). I'm thinking of trying Alexanders or the new Vandoren ZZ's--not Ricos of any kind.

Tears June · 03-22-2003, 07:25 PM

Mike C

Thanks. You said Rico Orange (tenor ?) sounds more dark. How does it compare with Hemke, DC Superial & La Voz ?
I like very rich, thick & a bit dark tenor sound .

Mike Cesati · 03-22-2003, 09:19 PM

Tears June,
I like a dark,husky tone also. The Rico orange with my Otto Link rubber mpc are a nice match.I like Lavoz also and Superial as well as DC Superial are good. Those would be my favorite 4 reeds. I don't care for Hemke.The orange Rico are all around good reeds for the money and they have a nice dark ,fat sound. With the Link there is a matchup there.

I. Fallon · 03-23-2003, 11:25 PM

There is a reason why Dexter said "Happiness is a wet Rico" in that movie.

They work great drilled too.

Txsaxkat · 03-24-2003, 12:44 AM

The last time I say Greg Piccolo he was using them on his tenor with a florida STM 9*

Vortex · 03-27-2003, 08:43 PM

Orange box Rico's? I'm not much of a reed snob, but those... eew. Any Vandoran will beat them.

MM · 04-27-2003, 09:45 PM

How do the orange box Ricos compare in strength to anything else? If you answer, please mention what size you're referring to (alto, tenor, etc.) Thanks.

Tears June · 04-28-2003, 05:37 AM

1) I wonder if Organe Rico tenor reed has similar sound with Rico Royal ?

2) How's Organge Box & Rico Royal strength compare with Java? Same or Java is more soft ? Example: Vandoren's 'Blue Box Traditional' & 'Jazz' is much harder than Java for the same hardness.

Gregg W. Jackson · 04-28-2003, 09:03 PM

MM, there are several reed strength comparison charts around. The one at the Rico web site compares all the Rico products and two types of Vandorens. Go to http://www.ricoreeds.com/ and click "Downloads", then download the Rico catalog and scroll to the next to last page of the catalog.

MM · 05-04-2003, 08:25 AM

Thanks, but I was asking for some personal experience. I don't always agree with the reed strength charts. Also the comparisons are often different for different reed sizes (sop, alto, tenor.)