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Reeds Revitalising reeds

half diminished

half diminished

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At my lesson on Sunday, Karen suggested that my reed needed changing. No apparent damage, but she felt the upper register was very thin due to a soft reed. Sure enough, changed to a new one and WOW, totally new sound. More projection throughout the range and much better upper register.

Do I just bin the old one or is there something I can do with it? The 'old' reed seems to get very soft after only 10 or 15 minutes playing. The new one takes may 5 minutes to start to sing.

Should I use several reeds or just one until it dies?
 
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I bought a few reeds in the week after getting the sax, some Rico Royals and Vandoren traditional - I found the Vandorens very difficult to play at first, but have tried them again and they're getting easier, thank God I didn't chuck them! So now I have about 8 reeds in random rotation along with a Fibracell for backup.

You can always try sand/scraping the reed, you have nothing to lose and the experience is always handy.
 
Hi Sloth!

The Vandoren Hygrocase is good - stores 4 reeds in very good condition, and makes rotating reeds easier and dries them slowly, hence makes them last much longer - mine will easily last 6 months plus, in spite of quite heavy regular use. Worth looking into IMO;}

Kind regards
Tom:cool:

ps. any luck with teachers yet?
 
Sloth said:
I bought a few reeds in the week after getting the sax, some Rico Royals and Vandoren traditional - I found the Vandorens very difficult to play at first, but have tried them again and they're getting easier, thank God I didn't chuck them! So now I have about 8 reeds in random rotation along with a Fibracell for backup.

You can always try sand/scraping the reed, you have nothing to lose and the experience is always handy.
Click to expand...

I usually 'fettle' a little but removing material won't make the reed harder unless I use a reed trimmer I guess. I was hoping someone with more experience than me would have a view on what I can do (if anything).

TomMapfumo said:
Hi Sloth!

The Vandoren Hygrocase is good - stores 4 reeds in very good condition, and makes rotating reeds easier and dries them slowly, hence makes them last much longer - mine will easily last 6 months plus, in spite of quite heavy regular use. Worth looking into IMO;}

Kind regards
Tom:cool:

ps. any luck with teachers yet?
Click to expand...

Does this really prolong their life? Have to say I'm pretty lazy and tend to leave the reed on the MP as I play at least once or twice every day at the moment - sometimes three times a day at the weekend. It won't last though then I'll be back to three or four times a week! Just seem to be working from home a lot at the mo! :)
 
When I first started learning sax I used Rico Royals - just stuck them in my mouth for a few seconds, and then on my sax for the rest of the day, then off and into box. I could get through 2/3 per fortnight no sweat.

Now I give them all an initial soaking and brief massage, and always soak them in mouthwash for a minute or so before playing, whilst assembling my sax and general preparation. I stick it on, have a good play (in several 20 min slots) and take it off and store it if that session is over (for a few hours or so). Lasts much longer - still on first box of DC's on my Alto, which were bought in November 2006 or so (have 8 left, 2 not used). My music teacher knows if a reed is past its best, and is generally quiet most of the time.

So I think that it works well, especially with reeds having got quite expensive.

Kind regards
Tom:cool:
 
Mamos - that's crazy prices - SilverWinds Music (Hayle, only just the other side of the peninsula from you...) is selling them on ebay for half that, check this link for their phone number - I've no connection with them, just shocked at what you paid... :shocked:

I play mostly Rico Royals, and a good reed clamp is really useful - if you leave them on the mouthpiece to dry out they can go wrinkly at the tip, especially if the room gets warm/dry, and that's the start of the end - although repeated smoothing/rubbing (wet) on a flat surface like glass can gain some extra life.

Failing than, you could clip the ends, but unless you've very skilled at scraping, the response will alter quite a bit - ultimately they make great recycled markers in plant-pots, you can just about fit the words "Rhododendron rex fictolacteum" on a tenor Rico 2.5 :)
 
OK so I now have to admit to being a very lazy player. I use Vandoren 2.5 on a Runyon Quantum with an Eddie Daniels lig. I wet a reed by sucking it briefly, then I clamp it to the mpc and leave it there. It lasts for about three to four months and I play quite hard. :(Am I setting a bad example now?>:)

About revitalising old reeds? Na just bin it, or in true Blue Peter style I like cmelodysax's suggestion so here's one I prepared earlier!
 
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Taz - if it works for you, that's absolutely fine - but I'd hate to think what's building up on the back of a reed that's on the mouthpiece for three months...:eek: But I guess they're clean(ish) when you finally take them off ?
 
[Do I just bin the old one or is there something I can do with it?]

I read somewhere (probably on this forum) that you can use old reeds for labelling plants.
 
A good use for old reeds is to use them to keep a ligature in shape on a mouthpiece when you have removed the playable one - helps the ligature to keep its shape better.

For a bit of fun they can also be used to create mouthpiece spoilers with a little craft (pen knife and sand paper).

Kind regards
Tom:mrcool
 
I pop my alto reeds in a specimen bottle of vodka a hour or two before I play. Then remove the excess when I play (yum) and off we go. I switched to Fibracell for my tenor which require no such preparation- not so tasty but they play well.. By the way the reed's are actually softer than the number indicates.
 

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