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Reeds Reeds - play out of the box or fettle?

Nick Cook said:
Suck 'em for a minute, then use!!!
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Yup- same here, stick 'em in a glass of water for five minutes at most. life's too short to sweat over delinquent sax reeeds
 
Me too. If they play, I play them. If not, I chuck them in the bin
 
nachoman said:
Yup- same here, stick 'em in a glass of water for five minutes at most. life's too short to sweat over delinquent sax reeeds
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Nah, I love a quick whiz with a dutch reed. I normally suck em, play em and then after a while tweek em a bit if the need balancing or if they play a bit hard.

Have to say I am amazed at how little work elicits quite a change in performance. Or am I kidding myself ;}
 
Old thread I know:

Having recently got a Reedgeek™ I have just got back into fettling, something I eschewed for years. I never thought i would say that but it certainly seems to be worth doing on some reeds.
 
Play straight away, after a quick suck. Seems to work fine with Rigotti Gold - not always so well with some others.

But I do wonder whether I should go for slightly harder reeds, play them in rotation and then they might last better.

Rhys
 
I've just started playing cane reeds again, since finding Lupifaro. I got some samples from Namm and gave a couple to Bobby Wellins who is completely sold on them -and may become an endorser.
Thing I find is that they all play Ok out of the box so as much as I want to have a go on the Reedgeek, there us very little to do.
 
I'm a soak and play. Being skint most of the time makes for an inventive and patient attitude. I use a clipper and scraper. If they're a bit stiff out of the box, a little scrape sorts them out and then when they go off I clip a new edge and scrape them in again. I must look up these lupifaro. I've just discovered Rico reserve. Seems they've been about ages.
 
I generally suck 'em and play 'em I could never be bothered to fuss with reeds much ...tho recently I bought a reed cutter again, (gawd knows what happened to the old one I had)...if they need scraping I just use a Stanley knife blade,
..the reeds that are a bit crap I suppose you may as well have a fiddle with them rather than bin them, what's to lose !
 
Could someone say, really simply, where do you scrape/sand them? Whenever I read something it all sounds so complicated I give up. But I have an increasing reed graveyard and if some of them could be resurrected that would be good.

And have I got it right that when a reed starts to go 'soft' if you clip the end it becomes playable for a bit longer?
 
Use the old ones as seed labels. They're cheap enough and last long enough.

I've been using Rico RSJ for ages, and on some saxes I've switched to Marco Jazz. I've not yet found any of them that don't play, although some seem better than others, but not by much. I've also found that when reeds start going soft, they'll go a long way, as long as your embouchure is up to it. But it's not as easy as with a new reed.
 
I suppose when I get really really really old and poor I might think about scratching away at old reeds but, until then, I shall continue to play them unaltered. It's not broke and I ain't gonna fix it.
 
Pete Thomas said:
I've just started playing cane reeds again, since finding Lupifaro. I got some samples from Namm and gave a couple to Bobby Wellins who is completely sold on them -and may become an endorser.
Thing I find is that they all play Ok out of the box so as much as I want to have a go on the Reedgeek, there us very little to do.
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Hi Pete,

What is your source for the Lupifaro reeds ? Buying them direct costs a large amount, so I would like to find a UK supplier and compare them with the Rigotti Golds I really like.

Rhys
 
I`ve got a stuffy Vandoren Alto AA , it has always irked me as these things are the best part of £3 each ! . I know how to thin too hard ones but haven`t a clue how to de-stuffify them .

I see it this way if you`d bought a jumper or shirt with a hole in it for £3 or a cracked tea mug you`d take it back - you can`t with reeds, it`s borderline extortion having to put up with this crap . one thing getting three users from a pack of 10 flying goose at £4 a box but Vandorens, Ricos etc should be 100% .
 
rhysonsax said:
Hi Pete,

What is your source for the Lupifaro reeds ? Buying them direct costs a large amount, so I would like to find a UK supplier and compare them with the Rigotti Golds I really like.

Rhys
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I got some samples from Namm, and am in touch with them to do a discount for Cafe members.

It is vaguely possible I could stock some on TamingTheSaxophone, but I would only be able to have some very limited variations as I wouldn't have time to become a "proper shop"

(I may possibly become an endorser)
 
Pete Thomas said:
I got some samples from Namm, and am in touch with them to do a discount for Cafe members.

It is vaguely possible I could stock some on TamingTheSaxophone, but I would only be able to have some very limited variations as I wouldn't have time to become a "proper shop"

(I may possibly become an endorser)
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Maybe you could do a Café Saxophone group order every 3 or 4 months, with the charity getting a percentage and Lupifaro offering a bulk discount but providing whatever strengths and sizes people want.

But maybe that would get complicated, with someone having to send on all the individual boxes and also potential problems if Lupifaro sent the wrong things.

I would certainly be interested, especially for baritone (although I am liking the Legere Signature baritone reed).

Rhys
 
Reeds are not in any way cheap and being machine made are nearly always improvable by hand finishing. I don`t throw them away until they are either cracked,frayed or worn out to the point where they are unsavable. I might be mean ?
 
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