[madclerc]

Hi,
Rigotti Gold reeds have been one the reeds a use a lote on my Otto Link. In my search for a bit more body I have been successully used La Voz reeds on the side. Otherwise I recently came across AW reeds from Germany.

The Rigotti Gold and AW reeds are both coming from the Rigotti factory I believe. The cane feels exactly the same, similar grain. The AW reeds are a bit shorter. Otherwise I have difficulty telling them apart. Maybe the AW have a thicker spine.

What's your opinion?

 

[milandro]

Well the sellers all say the AW reeds are " exclusively" made in Germany so, unless they are abusing the concept of made (in other cases this may mean that the majority of parts is made or assembled in a certain place but a reed is NOT made of parts and packing cannot be called assembling) they are NOT made BY Rigotti but by themselves.

https://www.thomannmusic.com/aw_reeds.html

"AW Reeds started in 2000, when Martin SPANGENBERG, Hermann UHL, Alexander WILLSCHER founded the company AW Woodwinds. The headquarter of the business AW Woodwinds is in Nürnberg (D).
AW Reeds products are exclusively manufactured in factories in Germany. "

The cane tubes are said to come from France the Var region so they MAY dus have been provided by Rigotti but the cutting and selecting should be done in Germany and I can't believe that this is such a blatant lie.
Also Rigotti may have their fields but I am sure they buy from other growers too.

Indeed I see reed making machinery here on their site and they also sell reed making equipment

https://www.aw-woodwinds.eu/woodwinds/en/

ANYWAY

I too like and use Rigotti Gold

When I was looking for an alternative I came across one which I didn't expect to be a good alternative in the first place and that was Alexander Classique. Alexander reeds should be made by Marca, another French braqnd.

The Tip is just a bit less buzzy than the Rigotti's and the design is different too but they feel and play pretty much interchangeably for me. Alexander has the advantage of being cheaper too.

 

[madclerc]

Thank you for the reply. Many post dipping into Rigotti territory

Certainly this one: https://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?320761-Dark-reed-that-is-vibrant

 

[lostcircuits]

I just tried Marca Superieure and I like them better than Rigotti Gold

My rankings as of now in descending order (and there is a whole bunch of stuff I have not tried):
Marca Superieure 2.5
Rigotti Gold 2.5
BSS 2.5
D'Addario Jazz select unfiled 2H
Vandoren ZZ
Marca American Vintage unfiled 2-1/2

The American Vintage isn't bad but 1 of the 5 had a bite missing from the tip and I like that Marca are using paper instead of plastic packaging (I have enough plastic sleeves to probably last a lifetime).

 

[milandro]

The damage is not unusual on Alexander reeds too (equally made from Marca). Recently I placed a large order of Classique and the first box had 3 reeds with bits missing from the tip. The shop was very gracious and sent me even more replacements on the off chance that also other reeds were damaged (and they weren’t on several boxes).


The damage occurs , I think, if the reeds hit the box if some shaking happens. It may happen also during postal transport.

 

[Chicken 'Lil]

They are not the same and I use the A.W. jazz reeds (I think the 722) on tenor and on G mezzo. They are sometimes inconsistent and need a better quality control system but they do play with more body than Rigotti gold. To me, and this is qualitative and not qualitative, they fall somewhere between RG and FL reeds. Look on Thomann. They are much cheaper even with shipping and import duty.

 

[madclerc]

Yes they are available on Thomann. For me they play well, as you describe