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Beginner Saxes Legere Reeds

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From Jamie Anderson, today...

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Love 'em or hate 'em synthetic reeds are here to stay, but at 30 odd quid a pop you're not about to start testing them all are you?
...Well I am!!
In this blind reed comparison shootout I test a standard Vandoren Java cane reed against Legere's Signature AND American Cut. All you have to do is sit back and see if you like what you hear or not! (or if you can even tell the difference).
I quickly realised that this project was too big for one video, so this is part 1, covering soprano and alto. Next week it'll be tenor and bari.
Jamie 🙂

View: https://youtu.be/Gz86P4_9xJs
 
I've been experimenting with Legere American Cut and Signature in various strengths on soprano, alto and tenor. In the 1970s I found a packet of 'Betcha' plastic reeds in an old alto case - they were terrible! In the 1980s I played a Bari plastic reed on a very open tenor mouthpiece (10*) with good success, but mainly because of that tip opening and the type of music I was playing - it wasn't the most subtle of sounds. In the 2000s I played a Legere alto reed in Symphony Orchestras for a short period; it was good, but lacked some subtlety. I have always returned to cane reeds which if properly tweaked have always given the best results for me by far.

The first thing to say about Legeres is that they take a little while to settle in and achieve their best feel and sound - maybe a day or two if you are playing regularly. I was almost at the point of writing the tenor reeds off entirely when quite suddenly they started to work well. So my advice is give these reeds a few days before you form an opinion.

I use Vandoren cane reeds, mainly Green Java, V16 and Blue Box. My experience has been that the Legere alto American Cut are not as bright as expected, the soprano AC are a dead-on match to what I expect from cane reeds, and the tenor AC took the longest to sound good and after a few days they are a touch more immediate than cane.

I have also tried the Signature variety and my experience is that they are somewhat different to the American Cut, but that will largely depend on what mouthpiece you use and what strength of reed you choose. I'm using Pillinger pieces in moderate openings exclusively and the differences between AC and Sig are appreciable but minor. I suspect anyone using a classical mouthpiece or is looking for a darker sound will prefer Signatures.

On all saxes I find the upper registers more reliable, better supported if you like, with Legeres. On soprano and alto, the lower registers are good, but on tenor I have found the Legeres of both AC and Sig to be a less good than I expected: this may be due to the particular facing I am playing on tenor at the moment which is a little on the short side. I need to buy a couple of harder tenor reeds to play on longer facings to see what happens.

I find that Legere give a bigger and cleaner sound than cane, they articulate very well and respond exceptionally in dynamics. They are flexible, but so far I still think cane is more flexible than Legeres and for real textural delicacy cane still rules for me. However, these are the first synthetics I find worthwhile, and the benefits in performance in difficult circumstances (hot, dry conditions and multi doubling) are going to be outstanding.
 
Ballymenaboy said:
My estimation that it reduces existing strength by c30% based on times I have done this
Read more…
Having foolishly left all of my spare Bari reeds at a gig last weekend, and even more foolishly destroying the one remaining reed with a clumsy application of the lig yesterday, I was forced to try this out earlier. It works like a dream. I dipped it in a mug of just-boiled green tea for 9 seconds which took the edge off the hardness. I wouldn't say 30%, more like 10-15%, but that's all I was after.

Cheers for the tip @Ballymenaboy
 
jonf said:
I've tried various Legere synthetic reeds on tenor and alto over the years and gone back to D'Addario Select Jazz, but inspried by this thread I decided to give Legere American Cut a try for baritone. I've been playing it for the last few days or so, and I have to say, I've been very impressed. Plays really well, with a full tone and nice brightness, just like a good Select Jazz. Playing it on a Yanagisawa 9 metal mouthpiece.

Also impressed with the service from Curly Woodwing. As @greenstripe says (thanks for the pointer) they were the cheapest i could find, and super quick.
Read more…
Still playing the Legere American Cut on Baritone, been using the same reed for most days for six months now, with no degradation in quality.

I've had a bit of a bad run with tenor reeds recently, out of a box of five reeds, three were really dull, the other two just about OK, so I decided to try a Legere American Cut for tenor. Usual fast service from Curly Woodwind, it arrived yesterday. Feels a bit weird to pay the best part of thirty quid for a single reed, but if it lasts like the baritone one it'll pay for itself in time. Anyway, I tried it on my D'Addario Select Jazz 9 tenor piece, and I have been very impressed. Good tone right through, easy bottom end, easy altissimo. Played it for about an hour on two different tenors and for me at least, it was great.
 
I bought a Légère Classic bass sax (3¼) to use on baritone mouthpiece. It didn' work so well. Cane is better when it comes to this. I have tried lots of synthetic reeds over the years. Rico, Bari, Fibracell, Forestone, Légère ...... .
 
jazzdoh said:
Interesting but why buy the Legere Bass reed when they do the full range on Baritone.
Read more…
Yep. Legere Signature Bari reeds work great on bari. Bass reeds work great on bass. I have both bari and bass saxes and use Legere on both. No luck with Legere on soprano, alto or tenor though. Not close enough to cane for my taste.
 
Go for the legere signature play straight out of the box for me on any mouthpiece i put in on. Slipping is not a problem just make sure your lig is tight enough.
I have saved a lot of money since coming off cane reeds had this legere for 3 months now and still plays great.
 
My $0.02

I like the American Cut legeres, they feel more "responsive" to me than the signatures of the same strength, and a bit softer. Basically just a bit easier to pay. I don't hear much difference in tone between them and the Signatures, just a difference in "feel".
A good choice for beginners, with a few caveats: you have to get the strength right (soft enough!) if you break it by mistake you've lost about £30 at once, and they can slide around on your mpc. Also, experiment with alignment, the gap at the top may be almost non-existent for best results, or even the reed overhanging the MP tip a tiny bit.

holding the tip in hot water for a few seconds has worked for me too.

sticking a bit of electrical tape over the top of the reed (under the lig) may be sufficient to help the lig hold it down.
I like these ligatures: BG Revelation Silver Jazz Ligature for Ebonite Alto Mouthpieces L12RSJ as a "best of both worlds" between metal and fabric ligatures btw- as far as doing their job and holding down a reed- be it cane or synthetic, be the mouthpiece thin or fat. not the cheapest but not the most expensive either by far.
 
I got a Legere AC 2.25 this afternoon for my tenor, tried It on a Link HR 6* and after initial adjustment was very pleasantly surprised at the sound and feel, the top notes are much better than with cane!
 

Similar threads... or are they? Maybe not but they could be worth reading anyway 😀

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