Reeds

[mrschewy]

I have been playing (Alto) for about 3 months now. I play for about 30-45 mins a day. How long should I expect reeds (currently no2's) to last? :?:

[Vortex]

There's really no way to tell. It depends too much on how you take care of them, the weather, how you play, and the variance from reed to reed. I'd guess anywhere from a few days to up to a month each, if that helps any.

[Gandalfe]

Check out http://www.saxontheweb.net/Coats/SantyReeds1.html.

Since I only play 5 to 10 hours a week and I have a reed case with four great reads and four okay reeds, I usually can get my reeds to last 6 -10 months. Then I buy a box of ten (at music123.com for the best price) and test them all. Usually I can get three to four great reeds and four okay reeds from a box.

My son didn't think reeds made that much of a difference until he 'tried' one of my killer reeds. He wouldn't give it back. :lol:

[Gargoyle]

I hadn't thought of rotating reeds so they last longer. That's cool.

[Gandalfe]

Prepping them seems to make them last longer too. One of my instructors showed me this technique. I take a new reed that I'm happy with (so that working on them is worth my time) and rub the reed bottom-down on something smooth, like plexiglass, for approaching two minutes. Then I run a reed brush over the top.

If you go to the reeds section of this forum, you can learn about reed trimers, tools, and such.

One of the best resource I have seen in a while is the Reed-Mate Reed Guide which you can buy at http://www.music123.com/Reed-Mate-Single-Reed-Guide-i81287.music. Most of the saxes in my section have read my copy. :D

[Sigmund451]

I use 1500 grit sandpaper to polish the top and bottom after they have been soaked for 5 minutes and dried overnight. Then every time I play the I first give them about two minutes in water...not saliva. Soaking first in water lets less saliva soak into the reed. Saliva breaks down the fibers. After I play, I soak the reed for up to five minutes, whipe it off and put it in a reed holder. I use a different reed the next day. Ive been doing this with my latest box of reeds and Ive been using 4 reeds for well over a month now and going strong. They used to die quicker before this.

[saxchado]

I've been playing on the same vandorenZZ for the since early january, and it just keeps getting better. I'm totally sold! I got two for free at the IAJE convention, and haven't needed to buy one since! I can't imagine how long I can go on a whole box! I did prep the reed very carefully, and have made necessary adjustments along the way, but nonetheless, it's an impressive run!

I put the other new one on today, and noticed a big difference...it was a great deal stiffer, but I'm looking forward to months of wonderful playing from both of these reeds.

By the way, that's 8 months of being played for several hours nearly every single day! I haven't been rotating them.

[Vortex]

I put the other new one on today, and noticed a big difference...it was a great deal stiffer, but I'm looking forward to months of wonderful playing from both of these reeds.

By the way, that's 8 months of being played for several hours nearly every single day! I haven't been rotating them.

Although the strength of Vandorens 'does' vary within the box, most likely that's your embouchure losing strength along with that reed - exactly why rotation is best. People do occasionally find that 'miracle reed' (i've found a few myself) you can't take that one reed to mean much on the whole. There was a thread about ZZ's that stressed this.