[Hassles]

New from Gonzales - the Melbec saxophone reeds - has anybody tried or ever seen these yet?
The new Malbec reeds are filed and are available for alto and tenor saxophone and B clarinete.....these are not yet listed on Gonzales web pages....

Gonzalez Malbec Reeds

New From Gonzalez! The MALBEC reeds are manufactured from the Pedregal plantation in Mendoza, Argentina. Bio sealed and free of pesticides and chemical products.

store.weinermusic.com

 

[hnthere]

The name grabs my attention, as an aficionado of cheap red wine, but I can't find a description of the reeds. With Malbec grapes being a French variety that migrated to Argentina, maybe we can guess what's up with the choice of that name for a reed.

 

[Hassles]

The name grabs my attention, as an aficionado of cheap red wine, but I can't find a description of the reeds. With Malbec grapes being a French variety that migrated to Argentina, maybe we can guess what's up with the choice of that name for a reed.

Me thinks as Malbec is Argentina's premier red wine variety and fantastic too ( I once drank myself across Mendoza) I think they've made that association with thier countries top-tier wine. I have my local importer making enquiries and await the response.

 

[hakukani]

Doesn't malbec mean 'bad nose' or 'bad beak'? Kinda strange for a reed..

 

[Hassles]

Doesn't malbec mean 'bad nose' or 'bad beak'? Kinda strange for a reed..

No - Malbec is simply a red wine grape. IF you choose to break the word down to its syllables, Mal and Bec, than each word eg: Mal & Bec have other potential meanings. An Argentinian reed maker making associations with their country's much revered red wine is something I consider undertandable.

 

[skeller047]

They are available in the US at Weiner Music right now. They are running a Gonzalez promotion right now, and the base price of $15.99 for 5 alto reeds is already quite cheap. I bought some and will report on them when they arrive.

Here is the blurb from the product page on Weiner’s site:


Gonzalez Reeds is one of the leading manufacturers of world-class hand selected clarinet reeds and saxophone reeds. All the raw materials used in our products are grown at our family plantation in "3 de Mayo" at the foot of the Andes mountains. The MALBEC reeds are manufactured from our Pedregal plantation in Mendoza, Argentina.

Since our beginnings in 1982, our mission has been to create the world’s best woodwinds reeds. Through our intense involvement and quality control at every stage from cultivation, production, manufacturing and distribution, we meet the needs of the most demanding professional musicians.

In addition to our deep commitment to the environment, we prioritize quality by choosing only the best raw material and manufacture using the latest technologies. These reeds are Bio sealed and free of pesticides and chemical products.

 

[Hassles]

FWIW - Weiner wanted $82 to ship two boxes of 5 reeds to Australia. I very much look forward to your appraisal Skeller047 and patiently await stock to arrive here in Melbourne.

 

[ROC]

Me thinks as Malbec is Argentina's premier red wine variety and fantastic too ( I once drank myself across Mendoza) I think they've made that association with thier countries top-tier wine. I have my local importer making enquiries and await the response.

Who’s the local importer for Gonzales reeds?

Love trying out new stuff like this!

 

[Sigmund451]

For those having fun with the word Malbec…in French a bec is also a mouthpiece.

 

[Hassles]

Who’s the local importer for Gonzales reeds?

Love trying out new stuff like this!

The Music Place - Clarendon Street, South Melbourne

Gonzalez Jazz Local 627 Tenor Sax Reeds

Specialists in Brass and Woodwind musical instruments, mouthpieces and accessories. Sales, Repairs, Hire. New and Secondhand. Saxophones, Flutes, Clarinets, Tr

www.musicplace.com.au

 

[hnthere]

Gonzalez describes its Local 627 reeds like this:

The Jazz Local 627 reed for tenor saxophone are conceived as a Jazz reed from the crop itself, ... with specific techniques that achieve a more elastic and vibrant reed, characteristics that are accentuated by the type of cut. ... Its elastic scraping gives them a brighter sound and a quick response.

Maybe the not-yet-seen description of the Malbec reed will be more like this:

Medium-bodied with juicy dark fruit flavors of blackberry framed by hints of French oak and vanilla. Great with roasted leg of lamb.

 

[Hassles]

Gonzalez describes its Local 627 reeds like this:

The Jazz Local 627 reed for tenor saxophone are conceived as a Jazz reed from the crop itself, ... with specific techniques that achieve a more elastic and vibrant reed, characteristics that are accentuated by the type of cut. ... Its elastic scraping gives them a brighter sound and a quick response.

Maybe the not-yet-seen description of the Malbec reed will be more like this:

Medium-bodied with juicy dark fruit flavors of blackberry framed by hints of French oak and vanilla. Great with roasted leg of lamb.

hmm, if this is the extent of your creativity I sincerely hope you're not wasting your time attempting to create music.

 

[hnthere]

Wow.

Well, after helping derail this thread I'll try to help bring it back on track. Does anyone have any sense of what Gonzalez is aiming for with the new Malbec reed? The OP said it's filed, but I haven't seen that said anywhere else.

I've been playing Gonzalez's Local 627 on my tenor and Gonzalez says the Local 627 has "a brighter sound." Even though I generally prefer a darker sound over a brighter sound, I do like the Local 627. I look forward to reviews of the Malbec, even if they don't recommend food pairings.

 

[hakukani]

No - Malbec is simply a red wine grape. IF you choose to break the word down to its syllables, Mal and Bec, than each word eg: Mal & Bec have other potential meanings. An Argentinian reed maker making associations with their country's much revered red wine is something I consider undertandable.

Malbec, or Côt grapes are one of the noble grapes from France. It was originally used to blend in Bordeaux wines (all Bordeaux wines are blends), and was not considered a particularly good grape for wine (hence mal bec). That was because it didn't grow well in France, except in the Cahor region. A blight nearly killed all of the malbec vines in France.

Luckily, someone had taken good cuttings of the vine to grow in Argentina, which has a very favorable climate and soil for the grape. I discovered Argentinian malbec wines about 20 years ago at a tasting in Hawaii. They were very good, and were much cheaper than the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (amd Bordeaux)
wines that I preferred at that time, so I adopted Tripache as a daily vin ordinaire. As happened to Pinot Noir after the film Sideways came out, people started to find out about the cheap malbecs, and marketing is driving the price up. I've probably drank more bottles of Argentinian malbec than most, and I have tried a nice malbec from Cahors, France.

Still, malbec was originally bad beak because the French did not like it's nose as much as the other noble grapes.

So, it's still a strange name for a reed because of the meaning of the word because, as Phil said, a bec also means a sax mouthpiece. Sorry if I offended any Argentinians here. I just found it amusing.

 

[JimD]

It's just another reed you know, some will like it some not, some will find it is more of the same. There's only so much possible difference between them.

 

[skeller047]

I only looked at Weiner because I had a marketing email from them the day before that mentioned them. I only bought them because they were so cheap…. If they are any good, I may buy some more.

I’ll let the eagerly awaiting hordes of Donax-Dontel aficionados know my thoughts when I have some.

 

[Hassles]

A response from my local importer....

"I’ve just heard back from Gonzalez. This product (Malbec) is made specifically for the Chinese market. They class it as a ’student’ reed. They’re in the process of evaluating if it will become available globally. Factoring in production lead-times and shipping, even if they do make available soon, at this stage I would expect that it will still be sometime before being available in Aus - likely April next year at earliest"

 

[Mike T]

Who’s the local importer for Gonzales reeds?

Love trying out new stuff like this!

The Gonzales reed importer used to be the Music Place, in South Melbourne, but that was a few years ago, when David Temby was running the place himself. Anyway, I've checked their website, and they don't have the new Malbec reeds in yet.

EDIT: Apologies, @Hassles - I didn't see your post #10 answering this until after I'd posted the above.

 

[Hassles]

The Gonzales reed importer used to be the Music Place, in South Melbourne, but that was a few years ago, when David Temby was running the place himself. Anyway, I've checked their website, and they don't have the new Malbec reeds in yet.

EDIT: Apologies, @Hassles - I didn't see your post #10 answering this until after I'd posted the above.

Hey Mike - always great to have your contribution. It was you that educated me about the Music Place Cal Barry is now the man - for want of better terminology - at the Music Place.

 

[Hassles]

been a while - the Malbec reeds are still not listed on the Gonzales web pages - but - my people here downunder cite the Malbec reed "as having similar characteristics as their Jazz Local 627 but filed". This apparenty gives the reeds more tonal flexability. I ordered a box this afternoon so watch this space