[magical pig]

Bonsoir,

I'm a great fan of Rico LaVoz reeds. That's one of the first reeds I used and I immediately knew they were the ones for me. I've tried Vandoren Blue Box, Java, V16, ZZ, Rico Royal, Jazz Select, Hemke, Gonzales, Legere, Bari, Francois Louis and the 3 kinds of Superial but none of them really succeeded in replacing my trusty LaVoz. I think Superial is one of the best after LaVoz but they're expensive and still don't sound like LaVoz...
The issue I have with LaVoz is that MHs are too hard for me and Ms are too soft.
So basically I'm looking for a similar kind of reed in terms of sound, consistency, response and durability but with a strength in between Ms and MHs. I know I could tweak the LaVoz MH I use at the moment but I really dont want to have to do that. So if you have any idea that could be useful to me, I'd be very happy to hear it.

Thanks in advance,
Victor.

 

[AhCheung]

Which SATB sax are you on (& mouthpiece)?
Have you tried Marca? they are very consistent.... about the sound you'd have to try.
I feel you should try and file a bit the MH La Voz if it is what you like (with very fine sandpaper eg No 200, putting the reed on a very flat surface, eg..... granite countertop of your rich friends... piece of hard glass).

 

[saxphil]

Rjs 3s &3m

 

[mlscnr]

Best thing you can do at this point is learn to tweak your La Voz medium hards to your liking. There are several good web pages that describe how to scrape/sand/shave reeds to achieve specific goals.

 

[saxphil]

Rjs 3s &3m

Sorry,RJS S&M fall in between La Voz M&MH in any size

 

[retread]

Gonzalez regular 2.5 is about half-way between LaVoz med & MH

 

[magical pig]

Which SATB sax are you on (& mouthpiece)?
Have you tried Marca? they are very consistent.... about the sound you'd have to try.
I feel you should try and file a bit the MH La Voz if it is what you like (with very fine sandpaper eg No 200, putting the reed on a very flat surface, eg..... granite countertop of your rich friends... piece of hard glass).

I play a The Martin tenor with an refaced STM Link.

Like I said, I've tried many other brands but none of them felt right. I tried RJS and the 3S feel really comfortable, I've tried Gonzales as well but they do not sound like LaVoz.

I've never tried Marca though so maybe I should give it a try.

I was expecting that you would advise me to finish my own reeds but it's a scary thing to get into... Maybe I should get the Ridenour ATG thing as people who have used it feel it comes with unvaluable instructions.

Victor.

PS : call me stupid but what does SATB stands for?

 

[mlscnr]

Soprano Alto Tenor Baritone, Stupid!

And working on reeds is pretty easy, actually. You could probably accomplish your goals with just some reed rush.

 

[magical pig]

Soprano Alto Tenor Baritone, Stupid!

And working on reeds is pretty easy, actually. You could probably accomplish your goals with just some reed rush.

That sure would be cheaper... (70$ for the ATG)

Victor

 

[mlscnr]

Or a sharp pocketknife. That's all I've ever used. Check out these pages:

http://www.tibbs-vision.com/tibbs/col.html
http://www.saxlessons.com/reedadjustment.htm

 

[dstack79]

Regal Queen reeds

LaVoz frustrate me too for the same reason...there's just too big a gap between strengths. Within a box they're all over the place. A box of MH's will have ones that feel like soft #3's all the way to hard #4's. I wish they'd use a traditional numbering system.

Have you ever tried Regal Queen reeds? A #3 is right between a LaVoz M and MH and they have very similar qualities in my opinion. They're full bodied, warm and very responsive w/ a clear and centered sound. Only place I know of that sells them is Roberto's Woodwinds

-Dan

 

[Fell Boyzs]

You could try the Roberto Winds, they might work for you.

-Zach

 

[mlscnr]

I actually prefer Vandoren V16 reeds for tweaking. They're thicker, so there's more cane to play around with.

I never did understand why some of those old-school sax teachers taught their students to modify reeds by starting with #5 Vandoren Traditionals. By design, Trads have thin tips and sides, so despite the fact that they're very stiff, there just isn't much material to work with.

 

[jnewmann]

Try Hemke #3 reeds

I am a big fan of La Voz reeds, especially for standard combo playing. The tone isn't as focused and they are great for the spit and air sound.

I use Hemke reeds for response and clarity with smooth jazz and pop work. The response is similar to a La Voz and you shouldn't have to adjust the reeds once soaked and played. They last pretty long.

 

[LateNiteSax]

.....................

go for the Med hards, wet them, and then sand them down a hair to your liking by moving the heart of the reed BACK a drop, thereby giving you something in between a med and a med-hard. You will get WAY more reeds to play out of a box- maybe 8 or 9 instead of 3 or 4- if you take a few seconds to do this with 220 wet or dry sandpaper.

 

[hakukani]

I know reeds are very personal, perhaps even more than mouthpieces. But I gotta say, I would NEVER mess with the heart or tip of the reed. I think that's where the key to a 'good' sound lay.

 

[LateNiteSax]

I know reeds are very personal, perhaps even more than mouthpieces. But I gotta say, I would NEVER mess with the heart or tip of the reed. I think that's where the key to a 'good' sound lay.

yes, Im talking very fine adjustments. For me the difference betweena good reed and a reed that is the BOMB is often a couple of light passes at the back of the tip into the front edge of the heart. When you get that perfection, its glorious, and I achieve that reed perfection ALL THE TIME with a tiny piece off 220 wet/dry.

 

[hakukani]

yes, Im talking very fine adjustments. For me the difference betweena good reed and a reed that is the BOMB is often a couple of light passes at the back of the tip into the front edge of the heart. When you get that perfection, its glorious, and I achieve that reed perfection ALL THE TIME with a tiny piece off 220 wet/dry.

Thanks for clarifying that.

I gotta confess that I'm the type that buys a bunch of reeds, finds two or three that play well, and throw the rest in the drawer. Then I play the crap out of that three or four until they die. Then I get back into the drawer, find the two or three that play the best, then play them until they die. I only get the penknife out when I'm desperate, or buy a couple more boxes.

I have reeds in my drawer that are from 1977.

 

[LateNiteSax]

Thanks for clarifying that.

I gotta confess that I'm the type that buys a bunch of reeds, finds two or three that play well, and throw the rest in the drawer. Then I play the crap out of that three or four until they die. Then I get back into the drawer, find the two or three that play the best, then play them until they die. I only get the penknife out when I'm desperate, or buy a couple more boxes.

I have reeds in my drawer that are from 1977.

With what chu got in that drawer, you should never need to spend another penny on reeds ever!

 

[hakukani]

Yeah, the thing is reeds are a LOT cheaper than mouthpieces.