Beginner Should a synthetic reed pass a pop test (seal)

[eb424]

Merry xmas one and all and early new year blessings,

should a synthetic reed pass a pop test or will the material not seal against the mouthpiece as cane does... might they might still need a rub over with wet and dry....

Thanks in advance..

Eddie

 

[eb424]

The fibre reed did not seal and i knew it is adjustable. I was just wondering whether they are prone to the table side not being flat as cane reeds are or whether they are perfect of the line....

 

[Phil]

No biggie. I do occasionally step on peoples toes but its not intentional.

 

[eb424]

No biggie. I do occasionally step on peoples toes but its not intentional.

and i sometimes take things the wrong way...... again with apologies..

 

[BigT]

As I very new player (6weeks) i soon gave up on the unreliability of cane reeds. That’s the engineer in me I am afraid. I cannot abide inconsistency if it can be avoided. Learning saxophone as an older person, 68, is hard enough so why build in more challenges? So following a really helpful on line tutor, Nigel McGill of McGill Music, a Legere player, I tried a Legere Signature #2 and bingo, works straight out the box. One thing Nigel recommends is to place a sheet of copy paper onto a piece of thick glass sheet and rub the flat side of the Reed on it in a circular motion 50/60 times. This polishes the surface. Also I have discovered that by dipping the Reed into boiling water for 1 second reduces its strength by 1/4. This can be useful if you buy a Reed that turns out to be too strong. Apparently they can get mixed up in production and the wrong sticker can be placed on the Reed. Also Nigel recommends having sever reeds on the go and switching them after a few hours playing.
BTW non of mine pass the pop test either no matter which lig I use. Currently I am using a Rovner Dark and experimenting with tightness and position.

View: https://youtu.be/-RBhfAuVHfA

 

[jazzdoh]

Yes dipping the Legere in boiling water for a second or two does making it play softer but in my experience its temporary, it will revert to its normal strength later, its much better to find your correct strength and then you will be sorted.
Generally Legere are pretty good on strengths given how many reeds they make but there is a plus and minus of an 1/8 of a strength variation which might be noticeable if you get a reed which is on the maximum minus and this suits you and your next one might be on the max plus so you could be a 1/4 strength out but this shouldn't be a disaster, cane reeds can be much worse than this, I have had 11/2 strength reeds play like 3's, and 3 reeds play like 11/2's, its all part of the journey we have chosen to take up.

 

[Rob Pealing]

I have been using Legere reeds for about 4 years, I have had one experience worth relating. One reed became almost unplayable, I could see nothing wrong with it (yes I did have my glasses on.) When I used my smart phone camera as a magnifier then the split in the tip became visible, there is a pattern in the material that they are made from and it was making the split very difficult to see. I suppose at some time I had been careless with it and damaged it.