is there a big difference rico and rico royal?

[mick_wilson]

is there a big difference betwen rico and rico royals. I bought some rico royals online and they sent me just plain ricos. i am kicking up a stinck at moment as i feel ripped off but i wont reveal store to avoid until i hear from them I aint happy 🙁 please advise

 

[Col9]

Hi Mick, I bought a box of ten Rico royals 2.5, I couldnt stand them. I went back to the ordinary Rico's. They seemed very hard work for some reason. They took more concentration to get the sound and notes I expected and came over a bit fuzzier.

I had only been playing 6 months so I suppose there are a whole lot of other factors that played a part.

Still if you paid for royal's you should have them.

Col.

 

[Bobby G]

I used to use Royals at one time, especially on tenor, and they are definitely a step up (in price, too) from the standard Rico reeds. I thought they were good at the time, especially as I was comparing them to other reeds I plain didn't like, such as La Voz and various Van Dorens, but I was in my experimenting with everything phase so I didn't stick with them for very long before moving to Rico Jazz Select for a long while, then discovered the Alexanders which I favour now.

As it happens, I dug one out the other day and tried it - it was, well, ok, quite easy to play and manipulate, just a bit uninspiring, but they should be ok for someone who's not been playing very long (NOTE: this is not a putdown of either new sax-players or Rico Royal reeds, they are just not really what gets me the sound I'm after), and I know one or two players who use them and are very happy with them, but as a recent thread in here pointed out, it seems as if the quality of at least some Rico reeds has gone down a bit of late.

Perhaps 2.5 is a bit hard, it might be worth trying a 2 to start off with?

 

[jersey_mike]

Yes--there is a difference. The whole reed to mouthpiece thing is enough to drive me to drink!!! I used to have a Rico Royal mouthpiece and the Royal reeds played beautifully on it. I went to a Meyer and couldn't get a sound out of the same reeds--BUT--Java reeds play great--BUT--v16's don't. AAAUURRGGHHH

Bartender--pour me another one >.<

At least the Bari reeds work on it--BUT--I really want to get an edgier sound and a new mpc is probably in my future. I tried out the Jody Jazz $500 model and loved it, though the guy in the shop could tell I was using a synthetic without even seeing it. I don't want to go back to worrying about reeds all the time. I'm not that good a player!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



To get back to the point of the post---it'd be good to either get the correct reeds or use the price difference as credit for some other item they have.

 

[Bobby G]

Were you just lucky Mike, or are the Rico Royal mouthpieces designed somehow to work best with Rico Royal reeds, if such a thing is possible?

I got a couple of Rico Royal mouthpieces (made of new wonder compound Graftonite aka some kind of plastic, probably), they were very cheap and really quite good.

 

[mick_wilson]

thanks 🙂 ill get them to refund me i think and try these ricos out might improve my tone as a begginner

 

[dooce]

I used Rico's when I got started - mainly 'cos they were the only tenor reeds the local poxy music shop stocked. I used to chew my way through one in about 2 weeks, and used to throw 50% away as unplayable. Royals were a bit better, but not much.

But I was then an innocent in the ways of saxophones, mouthpieces and stuff - and by the standards of most on this site, still am........

The dealer that sold me my 10M took a whole afternoon to take me through virtually all the mouthpiece and reed combinations in his shop and I came out using Java's, and despite a few experiments, swear by them still. Still have to chuck a few away, but the ones that do play are consistent.

If you can find yourself a nice friendly dealer who will do the same, it's worth it. He will probably need an ulterior motive though, like flogging you a new mouthpiece, or even an instrument. Won't be too happy if you just walk out the shop with a box of reeds probably..........

 

[spike]

Yes there is quite a big difference - the royals are french file cut and the ricos normal, it makes the royal reeds of the same given strength a bit more responsive or the rico reeds a bit stiffer depending on your point of view.
On the topic of quality and consistence, I have an article someplace about someone scientifically measuring several different reeds from an assortment of manufacturers. The measurements were taken at forty different locations on each reed. A tabulation of the results revealed that no two reeds were alike. Which will hopefully remain so until some fool decides to meddle with the genetics of our beloved Arundo.
A little knowledge of and practice in reed preparation can be a valuable asset in the art of saxophonics.
my tongue resides, not always but so very often in my cheek.
gruss - spike

 

[Bobby G]

All well and true Spike, but most reeds, apart from the real duff ones, in any given box, are going to be close enough that despite being scientifically measurable for differences at forty different points we either can't tell the difference or will subconsciously make a compensation. And that's before the infinitesimal differences in reed and lig placement, lig tightness, how fresh or tired you are when you're playing etc etc, It's enough to make your head achemuch like my playing...

 

[spike]

The new Vandoren.com website intro is interesting.
- for info (because we have had questions on this) - the reed illustrated is french file cut - nice groovy tune.
Would also make a good mars bars vid,
although a 3 1/2 mars might be a bit soft for some,
or a bit of a mouthful for others.

 

[mick_wilson]

actually guys as someone who has been blowining into a mouthpeice 3 weeks i find the Ricos are more forgiving than the royals 🙂 but dont last as long ie the one im using now was 3 hrs 🙁 hmmm.but at ?10 for ten cant complain 🙂 wheres that dammn volume control on the alto its 2320 and i want to practice :cry:

 

[justin_chune]

I bought a sax. from a friend and it came wih a couple of boxes of plain Ricos.The boxes contained 25 reeds each. I played those reeds for years and years and never had a problem. When they ran out I changed to Royals because that's what I use on everything else. Also, I got a real shock at how much the price of baritone reeds had gone up.

 

[sassysax]

I used plain Ricos on tenor, alto and baritone for decades(!) I never got around to trying other brands for some reason, with the exception of Rico Royals. They always seemed a bit stuffy, or too smooth for the music I play.

It was only last year that I tried a range of brands in different strengths for each sax (yes, it did get quite expensive) to see if there was an improvement in sound - and there was! Now using La Voz (tenor), Vandoren Java (alto) and Rico Jazz Select (bari). A very worthwhile exercise - should have done it 30 years ago! Then I started on mouthpieces....