Hahn Reeds

[thehunt]

Hi guys, thought you might like to hear of my new experience. Like a lot of us ( info i have gleaned being on the forum a long time ) i have struggled to find the right Mp reed combination. But now i play most of the time My Meyer rubber 6M with Rico royals 2.5. I wanted to really get a feel of using these over a period of time, however i always felt there was something missing and have been trying Alexander Superials D.C's which i have found to be superb but not very edgy, which suits when i'm playing ballads but not much use in my sax band. ( we are 5 tenors, two baris, 3 sops and 3 altos )
I came across these Hahn reeds and bought a No2 which i used in Band practice last night.
It was so easy blowing and loud, yes a bit bright but ok for the band. not too bad on the low notes but in general really a nice reed to use every day.
When you read the bumpfh it says they last a long time. Does anyone have experience of these reeds? When they go is it sudden like the plasticovers? Also i see that a 2 is somewhere between a 2-2.5 Rico royal. Are the synthetic reeds much harder to blow with harder strengths in comparison to cane reeds?
Thanks for any feedback. Phil

 

[Chris98]

Hi Phil,

I've not tried Hahn or plasticovers, my only experience has been with Légère Reeds and I found them harder than their cane equivalent and harder than Légère's own reed chart suggests. I've not yet tried synthetics on my tenor.

I wanted to try Fiberreed but couldn't find a reed chart that included them so I emailed the company to see what they'd recommend based on my current reed of choice... I waited... and waited... and then a bit longer, and then decided they weren't interested in my money as I heard absolutely nothing back from them. At €27.50 plus shipping I wasn't just going to take a chance that I might pick the right strength.

All the best,

Chris

 

[Jules]

Yup- used a Hahn synthetic for most of my festival gigs with Fat45 this summer. For loud, raucous R&B tenor they're great + virtually indestructible. They're not particularly subtle, but... er.... neither am I!
One point- because they're so easy blowing and loud, I'd recommend using a strength harder than you would on a cane reed.

 

[thehunt]

You'll be pleased ol Nachoman that i got it from sax.co.uk realy pleased with it. Only thing don't want to buy another one just now. But will take yr advice and get harder strength next time. God they are so easy to blow!!

 

[Jules]

God they are so easy to blow!!

Yup- hence my feeling that I should be using a 3.5 rather than my more usual 3...

 

[visionari1]

Er...I've been using Hahn reeds since 2000 & nothing else.....they last a long time, like years & are bullet proof, can't say enough about em!
Well worth the extra price, cause they last and don't need to treat them softly & I like the bright tone!

Cheers & Caio
Jimu

 

[thehunt]

Jimu, when they go, do they go just suddenly?
I have been playing for just under two years now and only came across these last week. If only i had been told earlier. How's the weather in NZ at the mo? Rgds Phil

 

[visionari1]

Jimu, when they go, do they go just suddenly?
I have been playing for just under two years now and only came across these last week. If only i had been told earlier. How's the weather in NZ at the mo? Rgds Phil

Gday Phil,

I had one last 6.5 years, yes it was chipped and very tatty looking, still played, but when I got a new one the tone , brightness and ease of playing had suffered over time.

NZ weather, unseasonably cold and wet, crighey fair makes the grass grow! Hopefully the summer is just around the corner.

Cheers & Ciao
Jimu

 

[Simo]

I have found my reed. A Vandoren #2. I have been playing with a Reco and the Reco Royal. But I'm happy now. I might try a Hahn. Where can I get one from?

 

[dooce]

I have found my reed. A Vandoren #2. I have been playing with a Reco and the Reco Royal. But I'm happy now. I might try a Hahn. Where can I get one from?

Sax.co.uk or Reeds Direct in Cambridge. I tried one after reading this thread - do not underestimate how free-blowing these things are, as Nachoman pointed out. Great for gigs - loud and bright, but "subtle", "breathy", "mellow" are not in the Hahn dictionary.

 

[Simo]

Found it and ordered one. £14.50 from reeds direct.

 

[Lodger]

Hahn reed

After reading this thread I thought I would try a Hahn reed and ordered a 2.0 from Reeds Direct, as I normally use a Vandoren 1.5and it was suggested that you try moving up a grade. However the 2.0 was out of stock, so as I wanted it before the Christmas break I changed it to a 1.5.

I really like playing with this reed and it is indeed so easy to blow. However I find that after 20 minutes my embouchure suddenly tires and I have to change to a cane reed with which I can carry on ok

I have only been playing for three years, regularly but not intensively, so my lips probably aren't as tough as they should be. I am surprised, though, that a reed that is so easy to blow appears to be so hard on the embouchure strength.

Anyone else had any experience like mine?

 

[thehunt]

Just for your info, read what Jules has to say about these reeds. Sorry to say you should have stronger chops after 3 years, my only bugbear is that they cut my tongue a bit but still find them great. Good luck.

Yup- used a Hahn synthetic for most of my festival gigs with Fat45 this summer. For loud, raucous R&B tenor they're great + virtually indestructible. They're not particularly subtle, but... er.... neither am I!
One point- because they're so easy blowing and loud, I'd recommend using a strength harder than you would on a cane reed.

 

[visionari1]

Just for your info, read what Jules has to say about these reeds. Sorry to say you should have stronger chops after 3 years, my only bugbear is that they cut my tongue a bit but still find them great. Good luck.

- do not underestimate how free-blowing these things are, as Nachoman pointed out. Great for gigs - loud and bright, but "subtle", "breathy", "mellow" are not in the Hahn dictionary.

I also tend to use a strength harder than cane, although haven't used cane since 2000.

The same strength as you use for cane shoudl be easier if anything with a Hahn!

Pesist with the hard one though, your lip/embroshure should develop after a short time, leaving you with much better sound!
Ciao
Jimu

 

[AlistairD]

Guys,

Interesting thread... I play Tenor and not that well so please consider that when reading this thread.

I bought a Hahn a couple of years ago and never really like it. Recently I have changed mouthpieces from a Lebayle 7 to a Raganato 8*. I could never really get the Hahn to work very well on the Lebayle (and only really liked Daniels Reeds on that mouthpiece) but it works great on the Raganato. There are differences in Baffle and Chamber between the two mouthpieces but the main difference in terms of playability is the length of the facing curve. The Raganato has a much longer facing curve so it definitely suits a different type of reed. It is more reed friendly than the Lebayle and over the last week I have been trying the Hahn again. Here are my impressions:

• the Hahn is a 3 and this feels about the same as a RJS 2M/2H
• the Hahn initially sounded much buzzier than the cane reeds (and I tried Daniels, RJS, Zonda, Francios Louis)
• the dynamic range of the Hahn is much greater, i.e. I find it easier to get a wide range from ppp to fff on most notes
• the tonal range is much more flexible, I seem to be able to get it to sound bright and buzzy but also find sub toning easy as well.
• because of the flexibility, note bending is too easy so I am going to have to work harder at the intonation on the reed. e.g. when I sub tone up to mid D the notes definitely go flat which I never found with Cane reeds.
• The overtone series seems to be reasonably easy to pop out. I'm not very good with this yet but it is easier than with the cane reed.
  

I'm sure some of this is to do with the mouthpiece as well but I have tried a number of cane reeds and not found most of the above to be as noticeable. I'm certainly going to persist with this reed for a while and I had a lesson last night and my teacher also seemed to like the sound.

 

[Maverick]

Hi all. I just joined the Forum today. I've been using Hahn on my alto for about 5 years. I bought some yesterday but I find them not as good as the previous ones! The new ones are dull with little response. Has anyone else experienced this? They may need "breaking in"....maybe?

 

[compound]

Hi,
I bought two in February, a 2.5 & a 3 and both were very responsive, easy to blow and control. You might have a dodgy one. Mine are still going strong no problems at all. I play Tenor by the way and breaking these synthetics in doesn't exist. They are good to go straight away.
Rob.

 

[compound]

The latest Hahn reed i bought last week is a no 2, i've noticed it has a different weave to the 2.5 and 3, if this is because it is a weaker reed i dont know. It also fit's the tip better than the other two. It may be a new design, i'm just hoping it plays as well as the other two. I'll be trying it out tomorrow.
Rob.

 

[allansto]

Interesting thread guys
I think I might try a hahn Too
Do you think it would play well with smooth jazz?????:welldone

 

[kevgermany]

Interesting thread guys
I think I might try a hahn Too
Do you think it would play well with smooth jazz?????:welldone

Are you talking about beer, or a reed?