Reeds Reed Geek?

[Nuvogue Jazz]

Hi All,
I have just bought a reed geek and gauge. I have tried using it, as they are supposed to breath life into dull reeds, I have followed some tutorials on YouTube, but I can’t say I’m noticing a difference, does any else use this tool, and if so how have you found it.

Thank you

 

[cappers]

For what they are they are very expensive.

Some people use knives, razor blades or a firm straight edge. After looking at pictures of a Reed Geek on-line and seeing discussions on the web, I bought an 3/8 square HSS toolbit on eBay for about £5. I used a small grinder the give two edges a bevel and rounded one end.

I don't know if it works as well as a ReedGeek but definitely made a stuffy read more playable. I now give all new reeds a very light scrape and I'm sure they sound better.

 

[Nuvogue Jazz]

Yes, they are expensive, I’ve tried using knives, and others things in the past, which has not worked as well. Sounds like you found a good alternative.

 

[skeller047]

Reed Geeks are great for flattening the back of reeds. The HSS lathe tool bit works just as well for this. For working on the vamp, I prefer sandpaper (or reed rush AKA Dutch rush) and a small glass surface to place the reed on.

It’s important to learn how to adjust reeds, while you may ruin a few while you learn, soon you figure it out and the end result is you are never without good reeds.

FWIW I have a Reed Geek, and have adjusted reeds with it. It works, but sandpaper works better for me on the vamp.

 

[Nuvogue Jazz]

Reed Geeks are great for flattening the back of reeds. The HSS lathe tool bit works just as well for this. For working on the vamp, I prefer sandpaper (or reed rush AKA Dutch rush) and a small glass surface to place the reed on.

It’s important to learn how to adjust reeds, while you may ruin a few while you learn, soon you figure it out and the end result is you are never without good reeds.

FWIW I have a Reed Geek, and have adjusted reeds with it. It works, but sandpaper works better for me on the vamp.

I have use fine sandpaper in the past and it’s been hit and miss, but like you mentioned, the Reed Geek is great for flattening the back of the reed, I guess I’m looking for precision on the heart, that why I bought the gauge too

 

[wakyct]

I use sandpaper. There's a clarinet shop that sells for about $10 an assortment of 400 grit up to 8000 in small squares along with a plastic block a little bigger than a reed. I would expect sandpaper on a block would be easier for flattening the backs of reeds, but I've never used a reed geek so I can't compare.

There's even fancier systems like the Ridenour, but it seems to be a bit like sharpening systems. There's a lot of choices, just pick one.

@Nuvogue Jazz , I'm not sure what you mean by dull reeds. I've assumed this stuff is for flattening backs of reeds and maybe removing material from reeds that are too hard or unbalanced. What's a dull reed in this context?

 

[mizmar]

I have followed some tutorials on YouTube

Maybe if you say which you follow and how, someone might give you feedback?

 

[Jimmymack]

Yes they work and yes they are overpriced. $15 would probably be reasonable, maybe $20. I use mine to flatten the heel and it gets rid of the dullness so I'm happy. As far as the other stuff it claims to do I don't know; maybe. I have the mini one with the nice plastic handle as that's as much as I was prepared to pay.

 

[jazzdoh]

I use mine for flattening the reed that sits on the table, I was bought one for a birthday a number of years ago, its excellent for what it does, but is very expensive, would I have bought one with my money I don't think I would but I'm glad I got one.

 

[thomsax]

I work on my reeds. Never tried a reed geek. I always prepare my reeds on a flat surface and the reeds are wet as well. I have more precise tools.

 

[Nuvogue Jazz]

I use sandpaper. There's a clarinet shop that sells for about $10 an assortment of 400 grit up to 8000 in small squares along with a plastic block a little bigger than a reed. I would expect sandpaper on a block would be easier for flattening the backs of reeds, but I've never used a reed geek so I can't compare.

There's even fancier systems like the Ridenour, but it seems to be a bit like sharpening systems. There's a lot of choices, just pick one.

@Nuvogue Jazz , I'm not sure what you mean by dull reeds. I've assumed this stuff is for flattening backs of reeds and maybe removing material from reeds that are too hard or unbalanced. What's a dull reed in this context?

Thank you for your information and reply. A dull reeds is a reed which may have imperfections, where it sounds muffled when played, I have tried various things over years including sandpaper. It’s frustrating when buy a box of reeds, and you find that some of them need adjusting.

 

[David Roach]

I have had a reed geek for a while now and I think that they are not as reliable in the process of flattening the back of a reed as the manufacturer would have us belive. As a tool to smooth the back of a reed fresh out of the box, I think they are fine. But to remove the convex-ity that occurs as a new reed swells, I have serious doubts that they are effective and this is why:

If the back of the reed is not flat, i.e. humped or convex, there is no guarantee that swiping the reed geek up and down the reed is actually going to flatten the reed because it is impossible to guarantee that the geek is travelling absolutely parallel to the reed. In fact it is entirely likely that the geek will make matters worse because it might just as easily increase the hump as remove it as your hand rocks slightly with each pass.

I have a good amount of experience at scraping reeds because I was an oboist at Music College and for quite a few years thereafter, always making my own reeds. Although the construction of an oboe reed is entirely different to a sax or clarinet reed, the basic tenents of blade usage remain constant - it has to be controlled accurately.

As ever, YMMV. Although I wholeheartedly agree that a single reed works better with a flat back, I don't believe that attempting to flatten one with a reed geek is necessarily the answer.

 

[thomsax]

To flatten the table/downside of a reed; use a wetstone 5x10 cm. The wetstone should be on a table. Press the reed slightly when you "file".

 

[turf3]

I have had a reed geek for a while now and I think that they are not as reliable in the process of flattening the back of a reed as the manufacturer would have us belive. As a tool to smooth the back of a reed fresh out of the box, I think they are fine. But to remove the convex-ity that occurs as a new reed swells, I have serious doubts that they are effective and this is why:

If the back of the reed is not flat, i.e. humped or convex, there is no guarantee that swiping the reed geek up and down the reed is actually going to flatten the reed because it is impossible to guarantee that the geek is travelling absolutely parallel to the reed. In fact it is entirely likely that the geek will make matters worse because it might just as easily increase the hump as remove it as your hand rocks slightly with each pass.

I have a good amount of experience at scraping reeds because I was an oboist at Music College and for quite a few years thereafter, always making my own reeds. Although the construction of an oboe reed is entirely different to a sax or clarinet reed, the basic tenents of blade usage remain constant - it has to be controlled accurately.

As ever, YMMV. Although I wholeheartedly agree that a single reed works better with a flat back, I don't believe that attempting to flatten one with a reed geek is necessarily the answer.

I agree 100%. A flat scraper is NOT the best tool for making a convex surface flat. The best tool has a convex edge so you can remove material where needed, and not remove material where not needed.

I have been flattening the backs of reeds with a small penknife and small straightedge for 30+ years now. (I use the same knife for reed adjustment.)

Somehow the practice of reed adjustment has become redefined as some kind of incredibly difficult technical skill that only the most gifted can hope to perform and even then they require all kinds of $pecial tool$ and $ecret $ystem$ to avoid making a mistake, which will lead to the immediate conversion of the mass of the reed directly to energy, at the rate E = mc^2 (make sure personnel trained in the treatment of burns are standing by!) I'm surprised by how afraid so many people are, to take a knife to a reed.

Of course some of us old farts remember when every single-reed player learned how to adjust reeds as a matter of course, but that doesn't sell enough stuff (or enough boxes of reeds, for the "I can't be arsed to adjust reeds, I prefer to throw away 90% of them at $6 a pop" group - me personally, I have to work for my money, and I prefer not to toss it into the wastebasket with these supposedly "unplayable" reeds, not when I can take a few minutes with my brain and hands and make them playable...)

 

[skeller047]

Thank you for your information and reply. A dull reeds is a reed which may have imperfections, where it sounds muffled when played, I have tried various things over years including sandpaper. It’s frustrating when buy a box of reeds, and you find that some of them need adjusting.

If you want reeds that don’t need work, then you should try synthetics. If, on the other hand, you want reeds that play well and sound good, you need to learn to work on them. I adjust every single reed I play. Some reeds take more work than others, most reeds I spend less than 5 minutes adjusting, and they then play well for many hours. A very few (somewhere around 3%) just don’t ever work.

It is common these days for younger and less experienced players to expect cane reeds to work right out of the box. A few minutes’ careful thought will show why this expectation is futile. Cane is an organic material; while reeds are made on machines, to a very precise standard, the underlying material has small inconsistencies and discontinuities. Simple adjustment with sandpaper, or a knife, or reed rush deals with those quite easily.

 

[thomsax]

I guess a "dull" reed is the same as the reed is playing with less responce? A little bit "hard" and "stiff" when you are playing?

To "file" the whole backside/downside of the reed can help. Before you work on reeds you can place the reed(s) in a glas of water so the end of the cane is soaking up water via the channels. If you take a close look you see tha thar are plenty of small "channels" in the reed/cane. The surface of the reed should be wet as well when you work on reeds. This is more that a wet surface is less brutal. I always work on "wet reeds. If you work on a dry reed it can change when the reed becomes wet (you are playing). A fine wet stone with a few drops of water on both stone and reed is IMO the best way to cure "dull, hard stiff" reeds. You are not really flatten the reed you just get rid of some tension. A reed that need to be flatten with a knife, razor blade ... should never been sold.

 

[Pete Effamy]

When at college, my clarinet professor gave me a square of toughened glass, about 4” or so and showed me how to doctor reeds. I glued a strip of glass paper on one side to flatten and used a small piece to work the top.

Mostly, I used the windows of whatever practice room I was in. Cleaners must’ve wondered what the hell it was.

 

[Targa]

The only 'work' I do on a reed is when it is new get it wet to raise the fibres then rub it on a piece of glass to flatten them.

 

[Pete Effamy]

The only 'work' I do on a reed is when it is new get it wet to raise the fibres then rub it on a piece of glass to flatten them.

I think that might be called burnishing??

 

[Jimmymack]

Anything by ReedGeek seems to cause debate, some items more than others and some with more justification. The ReedGeek does what it claims to but at an exorbitant price to my mind. What do you think about the ladies pink T shirt?