Hahn Synthetic Reeds

[Siggy]

What's the opinion on Hahn Synthetic Reeds. I understand they are carbonfiber made in Germany, supposed to distributed by LeBlanc, and sound very cane-like. They don't seem generally available through the regular sources. Any thoughts?

[Bari Gordon]

You can buy them from Tim at Sax Alley http://www.frii.com/~saxalley/

I bought tenor and baritone reeds and found that the tenor reed gave my Dukoff D7 a great buzzy sound very useful for '50s rock 'n roll tone.

The material looks similar to the Hartmann cabon reed (not as colorful) but feature a piece of rubber on top of the reed that mates with the ligature. I guess one could take of the rubber strip (about 1/8" thick) but it would make the reed pretty thin.

[Redbone]

I recently found Hahn reeds. Bought a Tenor #3. This is the best reed I've ever played on, synth or cane. I love it so much bought 3 more for reserve.

Altissimo good, all the way down to easy blown low notes. Been playing on the same reed since April 4, 2003. Still working great.

I've always been frustrated as if you find a reed good for Altissimo, the low notes don't speak easy, visa versa. I've also found synth reeds don't hold intonation well and sounds 'artificial'.

Reeds are a personal choice, just like mouthpieces. But I would recommend giving it a try if you are tired of messin' with cane reeds.

I've been playing Tenor Sax 34 years and have used up many hours selecting and working on cane reeds to get the performance I need. Wish these reeds had come along years ago.

[TJS]

Do you find that this reed plays in tune? Sounds like a silly question but I just tried one and the upper register is really flat. I have never experienced this before with any reed. Could it be that the reed is too soft? I usually play 2 plasticovers and tried a 2 Hahn but it seems soft. I didn't think this could cause intonation problems.

[Morry]

I purchased a Hahn from Tim at Sax Alley, but I find them to be overly "buzzy". However, I get this same impression on all synthetics, so maybe I'm just a cane man. Perhaps if you tend to have a dark rather than bright tone, they might work for you. My tone is not nearly as dark and round as I'd like, so I find the synthetics unplayable.

[Redbone]

I always got a buzzy, unnatural sound on other Synths, but not on this one. It's very warm and natural sounding. I've ordered some extras, I hope I didn't just happen to get that one great reed that's 1 in 20! I did try a 3.5 and was not happy with it - a little stuffy and not responsive enough for my setup and embrsh.

I play a Vandoran Jumbo T75. I've gotten good intonation in the upper register, but I'm used to having to work at it and adjusting constantly by ear. The other synths I've played on have not had very good intone - I had to adjust WAY too much. A harder reed always helps me control the intone, but sacrificing the low register. That's what I've liked about this particular Hahn, good control in the high register yet a responsive low.

There is no single solution for everyone. I just hope I've actually stumbled on a solution for me.

Best of luck.