Reeds Is it me or are Forestone White Bamboo way softer than they are marked?

[Jazz Is All]

I bought a Forestone White Bamboo Tenor reed #4 back when they first came out. I think it was like 2 years ago. Anyway, the guy at the shop said that they are about 1 hardness under most other brands of reeds, even the tan colored Forestones. So since I play 3 and 3.5 in most brands I got a 4, which is the hardest they come.

Okay, I played it for awhile but right away it proved to be really soft. Like softer than a 3 and perhaps more like a 2 even. To give you an idea of how soft it is, I can play it on my Metallite M9 no problem and if I pump up my breath support it works for loud playing on the M11. There is no way I can play those mpcs with #4 cane reeds.

So I put it aside and didn't play it for a long time during the sabbatical I took last year. Now I am back playing it but it really is softer than any 3.5 or 3 I have and I wonder if this was just a one-off bad reed or that they are all like that.

Has anyone else had this same experience? Feel free to chime in here because the things aren't cheap and I want to know if I got a bad one and should write to them about exchanging it. If Legere is switching out reeds for customers maybe Forestone is too for all I know. What do you think?

 

[Jmoen3]

I play Forestone pretty much exclusively now, and have to say it sounds like you may have one that's a little off. I play medium/medium soft and they run about the same strength as a rigotti 3light/2.5 medium respectively.

I have heard others reporting they are slightly soft, but not over 2 full strengths and definitely not playing them on a massive tip. I tried my Medium soft Hinoki Forestone on a .099 Brilhart Great Neck Alto piece, and could barely play it. Dropping to my 2.0 white bamboo forestone, it was manageable, but too much for me still.

 

[Wade Cornell]

Many years ago (more than 10) Forestone sent me a range of their reeds to try and comment on. All of them were 1.5 to 2 stiffer than as marked. I gave them the feedback and sometime after that they "adjusted" their numbering system. They may have "over-adjusted" but found that there is a psychological aspect to this that can work for novice players who think playing a stiffer reed = advancement and being a better player. However it sounds to me like you got a dud. They are a pretty good company, so I'd encourage you to get hold of them and (with their approval) send it back.

 

[Jazz Is All]

I play Forestone pretty much exclusively now, and have to say it sounds like you may have one that's a little off. I play medium/medium soft and they run about the same strength as a rigotti 3light/2.5 medium respectively.

I have heard others reporting they are slightly soft, but not over 2 full strengths and definitely not playing them on a massive tip. I tried my Medium soft Hinoki Forestone on a .099 Brilhart Great Neck Alto piece, and could barely play it. Dropping to my 2.0 white bamboo forestone, it was manageable, but too much for me still.

The one I have is for tenor and I recall having played it on my Berg SS 90 mpc back a couple of years ago. I've been playing alto much more lately and tenor reeds only on Bass Clarinet. I tried the Forestone on my BC and although it played sort of okay, it wasn't the sound I want....true synthetics have not yet worked well for me on that instrument.

So today I pulled out my tenor and the most open mpc I have, a Metalite M11, which is .125. It played beautifully. Easy to play and control and sounding really great tonally. I didn't have enough time to try some cane #4 reeds like the Rigottis I have, to see if they play as easily on that piece, but I doubt I can blow it that freely with one of them. That's unless my pipes have improved drastically in the way of air support somehow through playing alto so much. IDK, but I'll find out tomorrow.

 

[Jazz Is All]

Just now tried a few cane reeds to see how they compare on the M11. Both of the Jazz Select 4S I have played like cutting butter, which is to say great. Easy bottom nots at low volume and easy altissimo. So I tried a RJS 4M and found it a bit more resistant. This however could just be the particular reed because when I played a Vandoren V16 5 I have it played just as easily as the RJS 4S reeds and the Forestone White 5. Considering that most of the charts I just looked at rate the V16 equivalent to a 4M RSJ my idea that the 4M is just a wonky one makes sense. Then again who can rely on these charts or the reeds themselves for consistency anyway, so who the hell knows. The Forestone 4 is supposed to be up there with the 4S and so being able to play both on the .125 opening now seems normal and simply means that the M11 is not that hard a blow for me even though I don't play it that much. If I had a mpc with a bigger opening, like a .130, I would have a better idea of how all these 4s and 5s compare.

In conclusion I think I'll just keep the white Bamboo after all.