[MasterBlaster]

I just bought after months of frustration and a couple hundred$$, a bunch of fibracell reeds and they are dangerously close to real cane, in fact I'm doing a little pro/con thing to see which out performs the other and so far the Fibra cell reed is winning. My buddies can't tell the diff. and when they were asked which reed sound is better they chose the fibracell in a blind test. I bought 3 #3's and they were identical in response and core tone. It seems as though I throw away at least 30$ worth of reeds per month and I have'nt thrown one of these away yet. I'm very pleased w/ them. Anybody not pleased ...Id like to hear why. Here in Vegas...Chao

 

[maestroelite]

I like Fibracells a lot on my jazz alto and bari pieces. Everything else I use cane. It varies from mouthpiece to mouthpiece for me. Some get too much buzz.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I haven't heard the buzz yet...

signature sound...

 

[MasterBlaster]

My thread got lost

Wrote a nice thread and now it's gone. Oh well, I love these reeds

 

[wersax]

They work for me, too. Every so often I buy a box of canes reeds and A/B them with the Fibracells. I find no significant differences in the response, (or sound), and perform with them in a variety of circumstances with good results every week. No adjustments, no squeaks. It is important to use the Fibracell Premiums, with numbered strengths, (2, 2 1/2, etc.), as opposed to the old Fibracells which are graded, soft, med soft, etc. The Premiums are much better. They don't work for everyone, but then, what does?

 

[daigle65]

I once played a Légère tenor reed for about an hour then i tried a cane reed for comparaison......I never touched the Légère after that. The full harmonic spectrum of cane just isn't there.
So i'm very sceptical about Fibracell.

 

[FrankB]

It is important to use the Fibracell Premiums, with numbered strengths, (2, 2 1/2, etc.), as opposed to the old Fibracells which are graded, soft, med soft, etc. The Premiums are much better. They don't work for everyone, but then, what does?

Does anyone happen to know of an outlet for Fibracell Premiums in the UK / Europe?

Thanks,

Frank

 

[saxxsymbol]

i love fibracell. used to use ric royals. went to plasticcover and now use fibracells. the fibracell is the best hands down. no one has a clue its not cane till i say something. with the jody classic pieces, the dv, dukoffs d series it is the best sounding and most consistent reed i've used and being a doubler and having the reed ready to go at all times is invaluable.

 

[rogerb40uk]

I also like the Fibracell Premiers' 'instant response', although a well played-in RJS might have a slightly 'richer' sound.

 

[hgiles]

I have one that I will use in an emergency. But they don't feel (articulation, response) like cane and they don't sound quite as good. Moreover, they don't seem to have the dynamic range (ppp -fff) as good cane. --- for me, I mean.

 

[Bill Mecca]

I've used Fibracells almost exclusively since they first came out. One of my instructors turned me on to them. I've also played Bari brand, Plasticovers, and cane. i got tired of wasting my limited practice time futzing with cane reeds. I find V16's are the best cane for me, they play very similar to the fibracell. I play either 2.5s or 3's.

 

[Dave C]

I've been using the older style Fibracells for the last few months. I recently switched back to cane and was pleasantly surprised how much more open and responsive cane was.

However the main reason I had been using the Fibracell was consistency. I had been going through a bit of a mouthpiece crisis and I'd got into that whole 'is it the mouthpiece? is it the reed? is it the ligature? is it me?' cycle.

In this respect the fibracell has been excellent as the consistency has allowed me to concentrate on other aspects such as technique and embouchure.

 

[luispa]

I once played a Légère tenor reed for about an hour then i tried a cane reed for comparaison......I never touched the Légère after that. The full harmonic spectrum of cane just isn't there.
So i'm very sceptical about Fibracell.

Legeres are the darkest synthetic reed. I think it's worth to give a chance to Fibracells and other brands. Fibracell reeds sounds very nice, they have a thick sound but I found them to be very different than cane reed in the feel/response department. Now, I only play Hahn reeds (you can buy them from www.saxalley.com). They respond and feel like natural cane but sound far better.

 

[Roger Aldridge]

To add a comment to Luis'....

It took me several weeks of heavy shedding to adapt my chops to Legere reeds on clarinet. It took me even longer on tenor. Personally, I don't think playing on a Legere for an hour is enough time to make a full evaluation.

As I've mentioned on other threads, a lot of variables are involved with using a synthetic reed such as Legere. Some mouthpiece facings and ligatures work better with Legere than others. For me, once I saw the potential of Legere reeds I put in the time & effort to find the mouthpiece facings and ligatures that give me the best possible results with these reeds. Now, I'm completely happy with the quality of sound I get with Legere on each of my horns.

That said, it always comes down to what works best for us as individual players.

Roger

 

[EZ]

I love Fibracells on open alto/tenor pieces when I'm looking for a really quick response and a bold sound. Sometimes I like the buzz, sometimes I don't and go to cane.

 

[vivace1]

Sounds like it's worth a shot. Do the strengths run softer or lighter than vandorens? For tenor, I'm on an Otto Link 7* with java3/lavozMed/DC2.5. Suggestions?

 

[EZ]

With a Java 3 as your usual cane, you might want to go with a Premiere 2.5

 

[luispa]

For tenor, I'm on an Otto Link 7* with java3/lavozMed/DC2.5. Suggestions?

Hahn 3

 

[daigle65]

To add a comment to Luis'....

It took me several weeks of heavy shedding to adapt my chops to Legere reeds on clarinet. It took me even longer on tenor. Personally, I don't think playing on a Legere for an hour is enough time to make a full evaluation.

That was several years ago but I remember now that I gave it 2 more chances after that.
I tried it at a jam session and there was no projection.
I tried it in a rehearsal with a horn section (trp-tn-trbn) and it didn't blend.
It sounds to me like it's missing some mid-harmonics.
I can't imagine a synthetic material having the harmonic complexity of a natural one.

 

[playitfunky]

I think reeds today are the best they have been in a years. I play V16's mostly now and can find a use for every reed in the box. The hard ones eventually play just right and 3 out of the 5 are perfect usually. Ones a little soft I set aside to use when my chops wear out. It's all in your head people, embrace the cane, but if synthetic or plasticover works good for you go for it. If I could sound like Pete Christlieb does on plasticovers I would play them for sure!!!