AlanB
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 165
- Locality
- Vientiane, Laos
I never entertained the idea of platic reeds, or plasticover. Actually I think they are normal reeds with a special plastic coating.
I ran out of reeds and my friend (bass player) was heading to a music shop in Thailand to pick up some stuff and I asked him to get me some reeds. I wanted some Vandoren V16 2.5s and 3s. He came back with Rico Plasticover 3s. I was very dissapointed. But then I decided to give them a go anyway and see what they were like. Wow! I was really impressed and surprised...they're great.
Last week I spent $100 on V16s, and now I think I might have made a mistake.
Does anyone else like PCs? What do people feel are the disadvantage? Why don't more people use them? Is there a purest disapproval or is this the direction of reeds in the future?
Cheers,
Alan
I ran out of reeds and my friend (bass player) was heading to a music shop in Thailand to pick up some stuff and I asked him to get me some reeds. I wanted some Vandoren V16 2.5s and 3s. He came back with Rico Plasticover 3s. I was very dissapointed. But then I decided to give them a go anyway and see what they were like. Wow! I was really impressed and surprised...they're great.
Last week I spent $100 on V16s, and now I think I might have made a mistake.
- The Plasticovers seem to respond immediately i.e no breaking in required
- The sound is clear, clean and sharp... and loud. They seem ideal for Horn Section playing. the sound of my tenor seems to cut through much better and doesn't become lost in the line up.
- I have been swapping between the V16s and the PCs and the V16 seem muffled and flat in comparison...but were fresh out of the box, so will brighten up when broken in, but still!
- I live in the wet tropics and play gigs in very sweaty conditions, blasting aircon or outside on very humid nights. The PCs seem will cope very well with humidity changes.
- The playability of the PCs is amazing throughout the range with a clean bright top end and resonant bottom end. Even with a harder reed than I am used to. I am used to JAVA 2.5s and these are RICO 3s (actually more like a whole strength up, since Javas and V16s are half a strength softer than other Vandorens.
- The air seems to move across the reed more evenly and in a streamlined way, which feels like I can play loud and clear with less effort.
- When I get a reed I like I am reluctant to change it, since this means breaking in again. I know this is a bad habit, but the PCs longevity will mean less breaking in and less money on reeds, especially if i have 3 going on rotation.
Does anyone else like PCs? What do people feel are the disadvantage? Why don't more people use them? Is there a purest disapproval or is this the direction of reeds in the future?
Cheers,
Alan