[SoulMate]

Greetings,

I just bought a Fibracell reed. It plays really like cane, to my surprise. It would make a great reed for shedding or even performing for that matter. But it's a little to hard for my taste. It's a medium and a medium soft would be better. Unfortunately my dealer has run out of medium soft Fibracell.

Is it a good idea to drill the reed like you can do with regular cane? Or would I ruin this expensive reed?

 

[wersax]

When they rolled out the new Primiers a few years ago there was a problem with reed strength that I emailed Fibracell about. Here's a quote from the email that I received: "You can sand the heart a little (stay away from the rails and tip) with 400 grit wet/dry sand paper to soften it. "
I'd stay away from drilling though, but that's just me.........daryl

 

[SoulMate]

Thanks Daryl, I'll give it a try this evening!

 

[Frank D]

I've drilled Fibracells in the past and noticed no negative effects.

 

[SoulMate]

I sanded the reed a litte bit like Daryl suggested ... it plays wonderfull!

Great sound with the correct reed strength. Couldn't be hapier ... well I could but thats not part of this scope.

I hope it lasts long, very long. I noticed a drop in strength even further after more than an hour playing but that seems normal according to other threads.

Thanks!