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Are Reeds just plain bad?

4K views 64 replies 36 participants last post by  Smokey613 
#1 ·
This afternoon, I have been trying to find a reed that will not warp while I play. I have four types of Vandoren Reeds in my case and three types and strengths of Rico Select reeds in my case. I have 24 reeds "ready" to go, but every last one has warped bad enough to have to stop and take them off, work them a bit, and try again, only to have start over with the reed. I have not been able to get through the first track of Jamey Aebersold's Vol. 3 without the reeds warping before the end of the track. According my hygrometer, the humidity is at 60 % with a room temperature of 75 degrees. A reed should last more than 3:31 minutes, don't you think. Is there a decent reed out there? Or do all the reeds just stink?
 
#55 ·
There are bad carpenters/plumbers just like there are bad woodwind repair techs and mouthpiece re-facers. You have to do your homework before hiring someone. A lot of people hire the person with the cheapest price. Often that is a mistake.

Then you get to stand over them while they are trying to do their job and pretend you know more then they do. I have an idea. Do it yourself.
 
#56 ·
Yes but some need to be stood over to work.
Had I known that my plumber was a pre-schooler who needed constant supervisation to do a job he was supposed to be trained in I would have hired someone else.
But as I hadn't crawled down a pipe that he installed in the past, i guess it's my bad that I assumed he knew his ****.
 
#58 ·
Since we're both behind the Cheddar Curtain, maybe I can give you some help/advice. Up here in Wausau, it's been up 'n down with the humidity and temps lately, but I have to say that my reeds haven't been affected. Without seeing how you prep or store your reeds, it's almost impossible to tell exactly what your problem might be, but if 24 reeds in a row just plain suck, I'd say it's either your prep/storage or (as someone else already mentioned) maybe the table of your 'piece is funked up. I can see (and have experienced myself) 10 or so in a row being crap, but 24? Yikes! Have you been playing on the same brand/strength for a long time? Has this ever happened before? Tons of variables involved here.....

John
 
#59 ·
Jeez Louise, 24 in a row? I would have slit my wrists already or taken up guitar hero.

Seriously though, I have never in my playing experience had more than a handful of reeds at a time be so wonky that I couldn't play them. And I used to usually then adjust them with a razor blade, sand paper and the seat of my pants. If that didn't do it, I then threw them in the dud container to try again sometime later.

Now I just set any recalcitrant reed aside in the container and find one that will play ball. Of course I go back to those others and oft times they aren't on the rag and actually play nicely. I never throw a reed away unless it is too badly split, frayed or so dead that there is no hope for it. At the moment I have about 40 reeds in rotation in some degree of playability for some mpc of mine because I don't play one reed all the time on any of them. Reeds are like people and their mood varies from day to day due to the weather, as you have found out, and you have to match the reed to the mpc for that day.

However, I have rarely ever had any reeds that get so wavy warped at the tip that they no longer play. With those I soak them in a dish for 5 minutes instead of just sucking on them till they're wet. Then on the mpc I run the ball of my thumb up on them from the vamp to the tip pressing the reed down onto the rails. That usually flattens out any wonkiness, but more importantly, it opens up any reed that is stuffy or resistant. This trick is one that all the old guys used to use to get a new reed to open up and sing and I can vouch for it. It definitely works. Try it if you never have, cause you often don't even have to sand or scrape the reed at all. It does something to the fibers of the reed to free them up so they will play.
 
#61 ·
"Are reeds just bad?" I find reeds to be like bikers. Some are very bad and not at all rehabilitatable, some are pretty bad but have a good heart and can be trained to be worthwhile to society, some crash and burn as soon as you use them, some are good but just too hard to be around, some are old and soft and mean well but can't get anything done, and a rare few have great blow and can get you high for a reasonable price.
 
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