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!
