I just opened a new box of RSJ (3S unfiled, tenor) last night and was surprised by the different cut. I've been using these for about ten years and have never seen this before - the vamp cut is slightly longer and more pointed. Just by feel, the raised 'heart' that flattens out near the tip seemed to be less pronounced on the new ones. More significant is the uncut 'bark' extending farther forward toward the tip, indicating a flatter, less-rounded vamp cut. This is a major change if it's not an accident. I prepared four of them for the gig and found them all to be 'harder' and 'thinner'-sounding than what I'm used to. I had to fall back on some older reeds for the gig. I'm just wondering if anybody else has noticed a change. If not, maybe I got a bad batch from a reed-cutter gone amuck. I'll see if I can post a pic if my picture-hosting site is working today. The new on is top, the old one bottom.
