plastic reeds

[saxrecordame]

Hello
I just tried some legere reeds that are done with composite material. not with cane. Sound is wonderfull, except I cannot do harmonics (high tones, i am not sure of the word in English) Any such experience? :?:

[Paul Coats]

The high notes you refer to are called "altissimo" in English, as well as the original Italian.

Like you, I was also able to get a nice classical tone with the early Legere reeds, but had difficulty with the altissimo notes. Oddly, a fine clarinetist told me that clarinet players who use Legere reeds have good results with the high notes.

In a phone conversation with Guy Legere, he told me that a new "Studio Cut" reed is now available. I will be receiving some of these new Legere reeds soon, and it will be interesting to see how these work.

[saxrecordame]

Thank you, Paul
Finally I could issue altissimo notes with a legere reed and a metal otto link:i had to place my chin much forward than I was used and press more also. It works! When I will be used, I will try again with my ebonite A45.
I am interested in your experience with the new cut reed, please write me when you have tried :D

[devilsax]

What is the advantage of plastic reeds over cane reeds?

[Minatar12]

Well, they are better economically because they last much longer, and are harder to break. Also, you don't need to soak them in your mouth. The only plastic reeds I've tried are legere, and I don't care for them on saxophone...I just don't like they have the vibrant sound of cane reeds. But maybe that's just me.

[devilsax]

How long do they last, compared to cane reeds?

[Bnatural]

my personal experience is just with plasticovers but it's the same kind of advantages (i know legeres are different but similar advantages)...... they seem to be better for doublers or any situation where your horn sits for a while and u need to pick it up again and play right away..... i did a church service w/ those and had to sax songs one at the begining and one at the end.... i was very happy w/ it the reed just popped right back up to play no problem

[Vortex]

How long do they last, compared to cane reeds?

From my experience, synthetics will play REALLY well for a few days and after that suddenly go unplayable. Stick to cane.

[madgrocer]

I use exclusively Rico Plasticover Reeds. I have not had the problem with them not playing after a few days. I do find only 1 maybe 2 that are playable out of a box, but I had the same problem with cane. The life of them is great. When I get a good one, it could be good for a two months, at approximately 8-12 hours per week of play. The advantages in addition to life are as mentioned, you pick up the horn and play... no messing with them or conditioning them, which is great if you do a lot of horn switching.
I have not tried Legere, but I have tried Bari reeds. I don't think the quality of sound is anywhere as good, they are very "buzzy" and I found those to break down rather quickly, and split or crack more easily. But plasticover for me provide basically the same or better sound than cane, with less overall hassles. Again, for me, everyone has their own personal taste, but what I didn't like about cane, was that a bad reed today, was a good reed yesterday. etc. etc. so I never knew what to expect, based on temperature, atmospheric conditions etc.. and with Plasticover, a good reed stays a good reed for a long time.
But once again, I say, everyone has there own personal preferences, based on their needs, embochure, etc.. you must determine what works for you, because what works for someone else, will not be the same for you. When I switched to plasticover, I also made mouthpiece/lig changes along the way, until finding the setup that worked best for me.

[GalacticResin]

O man. PLastic Reeds. At the dawn of synthetic reeds I tried them all. I am not going to say they are bad because there are advantages. Marching band, yeah use one definetly. Everything else don't. Why? Its produced sound is not as appealing and it takes the wood out of woodwind instrument the saxophone.

[jazaddict]

I like synthetic reeds. I found the brands to be widely varying and, while still experimenting, really like Legerre Studio Cut and Hahn. I don't care for Fibercell as I find them too buzzy. I'm going to try Bari and WWBW's latest addition called PlasticReed (I think).

You can get Hahns from Sax Alley (google search).

I'm pretty much done with cane. :D

[Anji]

The Legere brand tends to have a real balanced feel, from lowest notes to highest. These are designed for response below the altissimo range of multiphonics.

The internal dampening of the plastic makes topmost notes difficult to reach; at less than maximal volume levels.

I have some results in Altissimae by turning the mouthpiece slightly sideways and accelerating airflow. I can only do this on Bari.

*******

A Legere reed should outlast natural cane 10:1 which justifies pricing.
As a doubler, I have found nothing works so well. I like the Quebec cut 3.75 on my Vandoren M30 for clarinet - all the time.

And they do fail, eventually but not in a drastic sense.

[jazaddict]

In case anybody is curious about the new WWBW plastic reeds: don't bother. THey're the least expensive for a reason. I like a "good" sounding synthetic reed; these sound awful. I dare say you'd have better luck wadding up a ball of Saran Wrap, microwaving it for 2 minutes, and strapping it to your mouthipece. :(

[cannonballrokr]

i have used a plastic reed for a while, cuz it sounds way better. if you have a metal mouthpiece, then use a soft reed, or you'll get no upper or lower register. so, pretty much, you always wanna use a soft "bari"(the plastic reed company, don't buy anything else) reed with any mouthpiece, no matter what.

[petersax]

I've been using Fibracell exclusively for about 5 years now - on Sop
Alto & Tenor - I have no trouble playing altissimo or lush sub-tones,
or anything in between. In fact, I find it *easier* to play the altissimo
using synthetic (not really "plastic") reeds.

Other cats in the Big Band (or the quartet) can't believe it when I tell
them I use synthetic reeds - I can do anything with the Fibracells
that I can do on a cane reed - more really, because they last for
months. Often, I only get one gig out of a cane reed

I have tried BARI - too bright and buzzy for my tastes - too
"plastic" sounding. I have also tried Legere (not sure what cut) -
it's not a bad reed - again, no trouble playing any notes on (or
above) the horn!

That's my experience, anyway...

r'gards,
Pete

http://www.saxsite.com

[Vortex]

Plasticover's aren't plastic, they're cane reeds coated with plastic.

[Mime]

Say, don't the plastic reeds take off the sound of the cane reed?
I mean I switched in the past 4 years 4 types of reeds untill I got the sound I like. So if they have a good sound then it's wourth a try, but if not...

P.S.
I switched from Rico Royal to Vandorene to Rico Jazz to Hemke. All for alto.

[jazaddict]

In my opinion what little tone (none that I can tell) comes from cane is FAR outweighed by the convenience and smaller expense (1 reed lasts months) of synthetic. No wetting time, no sanding, no praying ;-)

My favorite is Hahn which u can get at www.saxalley.com. I also like Legere, Bari, and Fibercell in that order.

If I was u I'd check out www.wwbw.com & order a few. With the exception of Fibercell I order synthetics 1/2 to a full strength harder than I did cane; everybody's different though.

Regards,
Bob

[duckmaster1089]

How long do they last, compared to cane reeds?

From my experience, synthetics will play REALLY well for a few days and after that suddenly go unplayable. Stick to cane.

Did u play the reed every day for hours without rotating the reed. If u do that it will kill the reed. :D

[jazaddict]

Personnally, I"ve never had a synthetic last for only a few days...more like weeks. My playing consists of 3 or 4 practice sessions of 30 to 90 each minutes per week, and then a 2 to 3 hour gig once a week. It took between 2 and 3 months to blow out a fibercell. I havent blown out the Legeres or Hahns I bought 3 months ago; argueably I've rotated them, but still.

I have to admit that when they go its like fallin off a cliff; fine, then not.

Regards,
Bob

[duckmaster1089]

If ur looking for hidh notes, im pretty sure fibercell reeds get high notes pretty well. But obviously thats not all ur lookinf for.

[Black875]

I have been using fibracell reeds for years. I find that if I have 2 reeds on rotation I can go for upwards of 6 months on the same pair.

As for sound production, they perform superbly in all registers including altissimo, and I find overtones come easily. The reason I use these reeds is primarily for the sound production, with the longevity an added bonus.

For other fibracell users, look out when purchasing your next reeds, as they have changed the strengths. What was a med is now a med-hard and so on. might be a case of testing them out again to find out which suits you.

P.S. I use a Link 7* with rovner ligature on a YTS-875b with F1 neck, and have found that fibracells dont work so well with other set ups.