[Rodriw]

Hi, I did another post asking about how to take care of my sax, and now about the reeds.

When I first started studying I remember my teacher taking his reeds out of a small tube or something and it was full of vodka, he kept his reeds like that but I never asked him if he kept them always like that or just before playing, I think he had many inside that, so I think he just kept them like that all the time, but I might be wrong.

So, should I keep my reeds in some liquid (alcohol, water, vodka, and why?), or just dry?. And also, after playing, should I clean it with water, alcohol, some drink like vodka, what do you usually do about this?

 

[lydian]

... hold on, let me make some popcorn first...

 

[AddictedToSax]

Here ya go, 156 posts on the subject, the last one just a couple of days ago. https://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?367718-Soaking-Reeds-in-Vodka-Weird-white-stuff

 

[Rodriw]

Passive agressive, as in any other forum, I see there is no diference

 

[bandmommy]

Take reed out of holder.
Put in mouth while assembling the instrument.
Put reed on mouthpiece.
Practice.
Remove reed after practice.
Wipe off moisture or rinse in clear water.
Put reed in reed case/holder to dry.
Repeat process until reed is worn out.
No real need to keep them in ANY sort of liquid between uses.

 

[Dr G]

Take reed out of holder.
Put in mouth while assembling the instrument.
Put reed on mouthpiece.
Practice.
Remove reed after practice.
Wipe off moisture or rinse in clear water.
Put reed in reed case/holder to dry.
Repeat process until reed is worn out.
No real need to keep them in ANY sort of liquid between uses.

+5

 

[click]

Take reed out of holder.
Put in mouth while assembling the instrument.
Put reed on mouthpiece.
Practice.
Remove reed after practice.
Wipe off moisture or rinse in clear water.
Put reed in reed case/holder to dry.
Repeat process until reed is worn out.
No real need to keep them in ANY sort of liquid between uses.

That is it.

Only difference here is that, me being a slob,

I just wipe the reed off on my pants

before putting it in the reed case/holder.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Take reed out of holder.
Put in mouth while assembling the instrument.
Put reed on mouthpiece.
Practice.
Remove reed after practice.
Wipe off moisture or rinse in clear water.
Put reed in reed case/holder to dry.
Repeat process until reed is worn out.
No real need to keep them in ANY sort of liquid between uses.

Take reed out of holder.
Pour Vodka in expensive reed container
Put reed on saxophone
Drink vodka from expensive reed container
Decide not to practice saxophone
Put reed in expensive reed container
Pour Vodka in expensive reed container
Remove reed from expensive reed container
Drink reed flavoured vodka from expensive reed container
Make passive aggressive post on SOTW

 

[JimD]

I used to like the Bison grass flavoured vodka.

 

[Sacks Of Phones]

I used to like the Bison grass flavoured vodka.

It's not so good if the bison personally flavored the grass.

 

[JimD]

Well I've no idea how the flavour got in, the label was in Russian.

 

[raindog]

In all seriousness, it's Żubrówka, it's Czech, and it is good for the body, soul, as well as reeds. Highly recommended

EDIT: not Czech, but from Poland, sorry about that

 

[click]

What is the passive aggressive part?

It has been mentioned twice.

Neither time makes any sense to me.

"Passive aggressive

of or denoting a type of behavior ... characterized by indirect resistance to the demands of others and an avoidance of direct confrontation, as in procrastinating, pouting, or misplacing important materials."

 

[Dr G]

I used to like the Bison grass flavoured vodka.

Whoa, yes! Someone brought some back from Poland for me many years ago. Good stuff!

Nowadays I favor Hendricks gin.

 

[TinselToes]

I never used to clean my reeds with anything but water but found after months of using the same reed realized they get mouldy smelling . Now I do soak my reeds in either alcohol, hydrogen peroxide or Listerine original mouthwash and my reeds never get like that any more. The strange thing is that I can’t believe I’d been playing for so many years without knowing this. Mouthpiece is much fresher and enjoyable to use now.

 

[Hassles]

I never used to clean my reeds with anything but water but found after months of using the same reed realized they get mouldy smelling . Now I do soak my reeds in either alcohol, hydrogen peroxide or Listerine original mouthwash and my reeds never get like that any more. The strange thing is that I can't believe I'd been playing for so many years without knowing this. Mouthpiece is much fresher and enjoyable to use now.

yes - many more are becoming aware, albeit slowly

 

[Pete Thomas]

What is the passive aggressive part?

It has been mentioned twice.

It was only mentioned twice because I mentioned it the second time, referring to the first time. And like you, it made no sense to me so I mentioned it in a sort humourous context.

I probably shouldn't have done that, sorry.

 

[awholley]

Hi, I did another post asking about how to take care of my sax, and now about the reeds.

When I first started studying I remember my teacher taking his reeds out of a small tube or something and it was full of vodka, he kept his reeds like that but I never asked him if he kept them always like that or just before playing, I think he had many inside that, so I think he just kept them like that all the time, but I might be wrong.

So, should I keep my reeds in some liquid (alcohol, water, vodka, and why?), or just dry?. And also, after playing, should I clean it with water, alcohol, some drink like vodka, what do you usually do about this?

• Keeping the reeds in a liquid often results in waterlogged reeds that tend to be more dull and resistant than most (but not all) people like.
• I keep my reeds in Ziplock bags with a 72% Boveda humidity pack (cheap on Amazon) and they stay ALMOST wet enough to be perfect, so minimal, if any, soaking.
• When done playing, I rinse the reed in tap water when possible, and wipe off the excess moisture between my index finger and thumb before placing into a ReedGuard and placing the ReedGuard in the Ziplock.

 

[Rodriw]

My comment was in response to AddictedToSax and Mdavej comment which I might misunderstood, since english is not my native language, as a form of just not wanting to answer probably because it's a FAQ (which I didn't found in that section) and saying it in no good way, I'm a bit rusty on my english as you can see, and I repeat I just misunderstood them probably.

Thanks for all the answers! D

 

[chknbon]

I like to soak my reeds for 5 mins before heading to a gig & if the reed starts looking funky at any time in the life of the reed, (months) I'll brush it with my toothbrush going with the grain, under water.