Reeds: The Neverending Story

I'm always humbled by the fact that so much of what we do on the horn is totally dependant on a $3 piece of wood that is quite the random piece of nature. American or French cut, soft or hard, filed or unfiled, natural or man-made, these crazy things are one of the three variables to a good sound, the other 2 being the horn and mouthpiece.

On that note, I've played on a variety of these things. Rico, Rico Royal, Rico Jazz, Rico Jazz Select, LaVoz, Fibercane, BARI, Hemke, Vandoren, Vandoren V16, Vandoren JAVA, Vandoren ZZ, Glotin, Guardala, and even one or two Rico Plasticover. Yikes! That list was longer than I figured it'd be!

BARI was an interesting reed, absorbing water, sandable, yet totally synthetic. Cool clear look. Tone was harsh, though, in retrospect. A great reed, though...mine lasted 3 years, but disintegrated eventually.

Rico Jazz (and Rico Jazz Select) are my 2nd favorite reeds. You can't buy Rico Jazz reeds anymore, just the Selects. I play on a #1 or #1.5 and the softest Select might be a 1.75...or "2-soft" in SelectSpeak. Very consistent reed. Edgy when new, but always with great body throughout the life of the reed.

My new favorite, introduced to me by my friend and alto-cohort John Lukacs, is the Vandoren ZZ reed. Edge, brightness, body, and holy-cow-I-can't-believe-it responsiveness. Makes all other reeds seem positively dead. It takes about 5-10 minutes of playing to warm this reed up to "full power", but after that, it's good for the whole night. Back off and you get quiet and mellow; push a bit and the bright, edgy qualities become prominent. And the tone. Its everything you'd expect an alto to sound like.

I've got a box of tenor and bari ZZ reeds on my Christmas list this year, I liked them so well on Alto.

Now it's your turn to flame me into the corner!

Mouthpieces

Current setups:

Soprano: Otto Link 8* Rubber, #2.5 Rico Royal
Alto: Claude Lakey 7*3, #2 Vandoren ZZ (or #1 Glotin Jazz)
Tenor (Blues): Dukoff D9, #2 Vandoren ZZ
Tenor (Jazz): Dukoff M9, #2 Vandoren ZZ
Bari: RPC 0.135" tip Custom, #2.5 Rico Royal (until I finish them)
Clarinet: John Pierce Jazz, #2.5 VanDoren

Comments:

The RPC has the chamber size of a BASS sax, giving it loads of body, but its also combined with a moderate to high baffle, giving it alot of bark. I've played this outdoors without amplification and it still projects well. :) :) :) Its perfect for the rock/blues gigs.

Love the Dukoff, but wish the high range wouldn't thin out so much. I also own an M9, which is a lower-baffle version of the D9, but its alot of work and doesn't cut through like the D9. The D9 is the classic "Power Chamber" mouthpiece that Bobby Dukoffs are known for.

The Lakey on Alto is fantastic, but the tone you get is highly sensative to what reed you plop on. Its nice because when you back off, its mellow and nice, while if you bear down, it sparkles and bites. And, you CAN growl on alto on this thing.

The Link on Soprano is very free-blowing and on my el-Cheapo curved soprano, it plays reasonably in-tune. Has a very dark, mellow sound, too, which is not what you might expect out of a soprano.

Positively love the John Pierce on the clarinet! Its got that Dixieland sound that I'm looking for...its just perfect. The problem is that I can't figure out the blasted fingerings!!

I also own:

Soprano: Rico Royal Graftonite (don't recall size)
Alto: RIA #10
Alto: Rico Royal Graftonite A7
Tenor: Dukoff M9
Tenor: Claude Lakey 8*3 Rubber
Tenor: Rico Royal Graftonite A7
Bari: Rousseu (biggest facing possible)

Notes:

The Rico Royal mpcs are NOT to be underestimated. They are more than worth their $16 price (yes, $16!!!). They are very free blowing and although they're marketed as "jazz" mouthpieces, they work quite well for classical stuff.

I tend to prefer free-blowing pieces, so you won't see any Bergs or Meyers in there...I've tried them, and they're horribly stuffy.

The RIA is like a Berg with the stuffiness taken out. Good combination of mellow and bite.

Runyons are OK, but the intonation kills 'em off quick.

The Rousseau isn't bad on bari, but it doesn't have the bark that I need to compete with guitars.

Lakeys are excellent and sell for only $60. They're a little squirrelly when rapidly changing registers, but if you know its coming, its no big deal. UPDATE:Lakeys are still only $59.95, if you hit the web!

SOMEWHERE, I have a chart that's much more detailed than this, but I've had trouble finding it lately.
BINGO I found the chart and put it online: "The List"

Getting Started...

After rehearsal tonight, I realized that I needed reeds again. My last foray into ReedLand got me about 4 boxes of alto reeds, which I'm down to my last 4...2 of which are playable, 2 of which can make moderately pleasant noises if coaxed. Of those 4 reeds, 1 is a Rico Jazz and the other 3 are Glotin. I really liked the Rico Jazz (NOT Select), but they stopped making them.

I started this blog because I was gently knudged that in this day and age, others might possibly benefit from my trek.

So...how do you get a Rico Jazz #1.5 these days? Buy a Select and take the knife to it!?

This is merely a starter post, so have at it. I've not even begun to touch on my mouthpiece hajj of the 90's.