Accessories BG Reed Performer

[Ne0Wolf7]

I recently created a thread on a can of worms known as the heavy neck screw, and have found another! This goes by the name of BG Reed Performer, and is advertised to "prolong reed life, provide a warmer sound, is reusable, and can be used on both cane & synthetic reeds." It looks like its simply a sticker that you put on your reed that has also enchanted by a saxophone wizard

Has anyone used one? At six dollars for three of them, the tempation is there to just add it to my next order of reeds, but I belive it to be snake oil (I put a folded peice of paper on my reed and was amazed at the lack of difference). I'm at a loss as to how it would accomplish any of its promises, yet its been rated 4.5 out of 5 on Amazon.

 

[kevgermany]

Like you, I'm very sceptical. But...

The reed is basically a cantilever, which is attached to a rigid table. Even the most sceptical about lugs affecting sound add a caveat to the effect that 'the lig holds the reed firmly in place'.

If you introduce something between lig and table it's going to move the reed off the table, lead to a step gap and affect how the reed behaves as it's not in continuous contact from table to rails. also if the material is not rigid, then the reed can vibrate between lig and table.

Will it make a difference? Possibly. Will it be audible? Probably not. Would I try it? Probably not.

 

[Ne0Wolf7]

It won't change the distance between the reed and table (when used as intended). Instread of changing that, it effectively changes the ligature material, and if all it does is hold the reed, there shouldn't be a difference.

 

[GCinCT]

I am also highly skeptical, but because the price is so low, I'm tempted to try it. I am prone to GAS every now and then.

 

[saxyjt]

I find this ridiculously expensive! For a few stickers...

 

[nigeld]

I'm also sceptical, but it is presumably making the body of the reed thicker. Or possibly creating a ridge like a French-filed reed.
The Jean Marc ligature is doing something similar at a much higher cost.

 

[6441]

Anyone actually tried them? I just found an ad when cleaning house and wondered what it was. I'm skeptical of people being skeptical about something they've never even seen. (Doesn't mean they are wrong!) Maybe a magic spell is cast over them?

 

[Colin the Bear]

Could be a solution for a poorly fitting lig for an unusualy sized mouthpiece. I find some cane reeds are thinner than others in the same box, so, maybe this would help. However unless it's made from recycled fibres from a magic capet...

 

[6441]

Aren't all Capets magic?

House of Capet - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Colin the Bear]

"r" Found it.

 

[6441]

Magic Carpet Ride!

 

[Jimmymack]

This is ridiculous, why not stick a piece of sellotape on, or better yet, don’t bother? Some of that Christmas tape might be fun.

 

[Colin the Bear]

I have some old rico royale that are identified with a stick on label. They play great. Now I know why.

 

[sax panther]

I ended up with a couple of these as freebies. I wasn't expecting them to make a difference....and they didn't.

 

[nigeld]

I ended up with a couple of these as freebies. I wasn't expecting them to make a difference....and they didn't.

But if you had expected them to make a difference, then maybe they would.
We should never underestimate the power of belief.

 

[6441]

But if you had expected them to make a difference, then maybe they would.
We should never underestimate the power of belief.

Those who watched the Branford video about "your sound" may have chuckled, like I did, when he talked about the someone telling him he'd sound like a certain player, and he tried it and he sounded like that player for a week.

 

[sax panther]

But if you had expected them to make a difference, then maybe they would.
We should never underestimate the power of belief.

quite - I always try to keep an open mind when trying stuff like this, but there's always a little scepticism, or placebo involved in anything gear related..

 

[Colin the Bear]

And...we're back in the room.