what's the best plastic reed?

Best for what?

On sax, for jazz and similar styles I find the Fibracell beats out Legere and Hahn. I have not tried the Bari models. I suggest starting with Fibracell.

Hands down, it's the Fibracells. During my synthetic reed GAS attack days, I just about tried them all. The Legere was too finicky. The others sucked. The Fibracell responded great and would make the worst dog of a mouthpiece feel free-blowing. I still believe it is the best reed I have ever played. If I could have just gotten that buzzing sound to quit, I would probably still be using them. Ended up back with Vandoren Classics. They just sound too good to give up.

Best plastic reed for getting a warm sound on a:
Soprano sax, hard rubber mpc (Link)

hahn works great for me-saved me hours and hours of sorting cataloging etc.
hardest part was getting used to not wetting it and taking it off once in a while to clean it. I use them on all my horns -really great in pit band work.

segaleon said:

Best plastic reed for getting a warm sound on a:
Soprano sax, hard rubber mpc (Link)

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Where's Roger Aldridge?

I have had good experiences personally and with my school bands with Legere's. Both on clarinet and saxophone.

segaleon said:

Best plastic reed for getting a warm sound on a:
Soprano sax, hard rubber mpc (Link)

Click to expand...

On bari, the Fibracells I've tried have been too "buzzy" and so I use Legere. On Soprano, I didn't find that big of a difference between the two. Since the Legere have more granular sizings (1/4 strengths), I stick with them on basically all my horns and I've found them ridiculously consistent. (I say that since I no-longer waste DAYS and DAYS conditioning reeds to be playable.)

I believe that the Legere reeds are supposed to be modeled after Vandoren (Blue Box) reeds, which is what I used to play exclusively. I get a very warm sound with the Legere on sop. Order one and give it a try. If it's the wrong strength, you can send it back to Legere and they'll send you a different strength. You can keep doing that until you find the strength that works best for you. (Check out their website.)

Good Luck!

A few weeks ago I got tired of paying $10 each for reeds at the local music store and bought a couple of Fibracells for my bari. When I went for my next lesson, the first thing my teacher said was "what is that in your mouthpiece? Take it out!" I should add that the teacher is an experienced pro sax player, gets good gigs around the east coast. He said the reed had no "focus", and I must admit that even to me a cane reed sounds a lot better. Maybe personal preference but I don't think the Fibracell compares well. Maybe the type of mouthpiece has something to with it, since some experienced players apparently like these reeds.

I've played Fibracells for years. I have had affairs with Bari,and Plasticover but go back to the Fibracell, I find they play much like Vandoren V16's, which is the only cane reed I've liked in the past 10 years or so. YMMV.

segaleon said:

In your opinion, which is the best? I know cane sounds better, but the pragmatics of using a plastic reed are great: no warping, no need to worry about "is it wet or dry?", and more resistant to damage.

So, from what's out there, which is the best?

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Cane + plastic, gives you all the things you stated above. Rico Plasticovers work the best for me. I use them exclusively.

Everything home-made is better

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?t=58473

Segaleon, if you haven't already done so please look through the threads that have already been posted on the Forum about the pros & cons of various synthetic reeds. You'll find a lot of good information.

Like cane reeds, there is no "best" synthetic reed. Each brand has its supporters. Selecting which reed to use is a completely individual matter and comes down to what works for the individual player. The best advice I have to offer is to try a selection of synthetic reeds in various strengths and see what works best for you on your soprano set up.

Roger Aldridge said:

Like cane reeds, there is no "best" synthetic reed. Each brand has its supporters. Selecting which reed to use is a completely individual matter and comes down to what works for the individual player. The best advice I have to offer is to try a selection of synthetic reeds in various strengths and see what works best for you on your soprano set up.

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I agree. My experience about synthetic reeds tell me that a good reed should match your personal preferences and tastes + be consistent. Personal preferences can't be analyzed but yes the consistency, in this field Hahn and Legere are in the top.

I liked the legeres for consistency, but since getting the ATG reed prep system, cane wins hands down for tone. Now I can consistently finish cane reeds , the frustration of bad reeds is history.

If its for playing outside or doubling where you need a reed thats good to go NOW, I've had good results with Rico Plasticovers although they can be a little brighter than Rico Royals I usually start off with.

I like Fibracells. They are better than any cane reed I have used, and they doesn't warp. Legere and Bari are way to hard to play on.

baritone saxophone said:

Legere and Bari are way to hard to play on.

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Legere regular cut reeds seem to play stiffer than their strength size. On tenor I use a #2.5 Legere on a Morgan 6C mouthpiece (.090 tip with a very large chamber and low baffle). The last time I dusted off my stash of Alexander Classique reeds and tried them again it felt like a #2.5 Legere was comparable a stiffer #3 or a slightly softer #3.5 Classique.

The Legere Studio cut is much softer than the Legere regular. I've gotten up to a #3.5 Studio and it doesn't feel like it has enough resistance and tonal core for my taste.

The trick is to find the right Legere reed strength for your set up and you as a player. Also, when I first started trying Legere it took me a couple of weeks to get used to them. My chops had to adapt. But, after that I've been extremely happy with Legere reeds. I get a beautiful ringing sound on each of my horns with them.

Roger

Sorry to say this...but the best plastic reed is one that was never bought or is in the trash.

I've really disliked every variety I've tried. There is a lack of resonance, warmth, and "personal-ness" to the sound. Just my opinion....