Mouthpieces new mp Stronger reed ???

Hi everyone

You may recall I had to buy a new MP because the dog ate my old one.

Anyway I`ve gone to a jody jazz HR No 6
Im Still using my No 2 marca jazz on the JJ

The sound is fine to start with
but after playing for a while and the reed becomes wetter the reed sounds like its breaking down.

Is this an indication that the reed needs to be a little stiffer for the JJ
Regards
Allansto
 
hi
i found years ago when i dropping down in mouthpiece size i needed to go up a strength in reed size as it seemed using my regular reeds the embouchre was feeling weaker and slack after a while also over producing saliva and trying over compensate, well that's what happened to me.

simplified version, try the next size up in reed.
 
hi
i found years ago when i dropping down in mouthpiece size i needed to go up a strength in reed size as it seemed using my regular reeds the embouchre was feeling weaker and slack after a while also over producing saliva and trying over compensate, well that's what happened to me.

simplified version, try the next size up in reed.

Wot he said above - a Marca Jazz 2.5 will sort you out!
 
Hi all,
Once again, I recommend using a reed that is harder than you can blow comfortably and sanding it until you are comfortable playing over the full range of the instrument. You position your mouthpiece on the sax to be in tune, now go that further step and tune the reed to the mouthpiece.

John 🙂🙂;}
 
Thanks for the feedback JB
I feel youre missing the point a little
My question would be
How do I know when a reed is not stiff enough.???
Regards
Allansto

The bl##dy thing closes up and you can't blow through it!!!
There is one of my posts where I am soloing on "Take A Walk On The Wild Side", which clearly demonstrates this (I had inadvertently put a soft reed on!).
I'm on my boat in a poor signal area and using an iPad to send this, so I can't actually tell you just where to find it.
From your post, I assume that you are trying to find a reed to suit your m'piece. Reeds (even of the same make/strength) all vary, and the only way to get consistent results, is to tune them to your m'piece by sanding them!

John.
 
Alternatively just buy a super flexible Marca Jazz reed and buy a decent mouthpiece. Decent mouthpieces are not "picky" about reeds as they are properly made, with proper facing curves and flat tables and you don't need to mess about with the reed per se. Most mouthpieces these days have medium size facings so you can play both French Cut and American Cut reeds on most of them.
 
Alternatively just buy a super flexible Marca Jazz reed and buy a decent mouthpiece. Decent mouthpieces are not "picky" about reeds as they are properly made, with proper facing curves and flat tables and you don't need to mess about with the reed per se. Most mouthpieces these days have medium size facings so you can play both French Cut and American Cut reeds on most of them.

I hope that you are not suggesting that my PPT8 is"picky" Tom!
Tuning reeds to suit a m'piece is a matter of achieving an instrument that plays from top to bottom with very little adjustment on the part of the musician, allowing him/her to concentrate on what they are playing!
A good example of reed adjustment is to be found on YouTube "The ATG System".
I think that the post "Take A Walk On The Wild Side" is to be found on Soundclips, around page 34.

John.
 
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Ed Pillinger is a very good mouthpiece manufacturer, and his work is high quality. I just think that you can get well made reeds and well made mouthpieces that work well together, and that mouthpieces can cause reed and intonation problems, which are often unfairly blamed on the saxophone.

Hope you are well, as always. I'm off to play the flugel after listening to my new Samuel Blaser CD!
 
Thanks for the feedback JB
I feel youre missing the point a little
My question would be
How do I know when a reed is not stiff enough.???
Regards
Allansto

First of all I recommend wetting (soaking) the reed so that it has absorbed the correct amount of water before you start playing it. That way it will not change because the moisture content increases as you play.

I judge a reed to be too soft by the tone quality in the upper register. If the sound has a buzzy or "kazoo-like" quality, then it is too soft for my taste. The ideal is a reed that blows freely in all registers and still has a nice tone in the 2nd and 3rd registers. For me it is always a back and forth compromise.
 
Thanks JBT this is the answer I was looking for
As a beginner its not always easy to know if youre asking the right question
but when the answer comes to what you've been trying to understand ....you know!!!
Thanks to all of you others for your input.
regards
Allansto
 
Easy at the bottom and hard at the top reed too soft.

Easy at the top and hard at the bottom reed too hard.

Also if the reed is closing off when playing loud it's too soft for playing loud.

I go up a half strength reed for playing outside.

Later on you may want to invest in a reed cutter/trimmer to put a new edge on an old reed that has gone flabby.

After reading johnboy's and others posts on adjusting reeds I have been encouraged to experiment with "past it" reeds. I used to trim them with a cutter and bin them when they became unplayable. I've started a little fine scraping back and front with a sharp flat blade and some can be revitalised. The current ones I'm using on alto, baritone and tenor have been in service for over six months of daily practice, gigs and busking. Saved me a packet and fine tuned my sound. It's worth trying.
 
Thanks colin
I do have a reed trimmer.
Now that the upper and lower register thing has been explained to me I now know what I must do
I just wasn't sure about how a response from a reed tells me if is too soft or hard.
Your explanation has been great.
regards
Al
 

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