Reeds Rico Royal Reeds, which ones are good out of that box?

[Nashonthesax]

So, this is my first post here on this forum. I hope i have put this at the right place... So from research of the internet i have learned about how to tell MOST good reeds from bad. I have been on one box for approx. 5-6 months and i still have 6 left, and out of those i realized two things. Most of my reeds which i had used were a slight yellow color. Now, i noticed two, one which is almost white ( like really) and another which is dark(er) then the others with dark brown streaks. I am guessing the darkest one with streaks is the worst because 'one of the rules is discoloration'( right? i don't always believe the net). but the brighter one looks really odd too so I am really not sure. Would pictures help?
thx in advance,
Nash

 

[Juju]

Well, for me the only way to find out is to try them. Normally 2 to 3 out of a box of 5 work ok for me, but this is not related to their colour...
Juju

 

[TomMapfumo]

You won't know until you know. Do make sure you do a little prep on reeds - see the Alexander Superial website about breaking them in. It is a good idea to maybe categorise them ( I use 1+ 1 1- , and usually save 1+ for special playing, others for practice). The other thing is that some reeds seem to have a greater consistency than others. From my own experience I would put Rico Jazz Selects, Marca Jazz, Francois Louis & Alexander as the most consistent (never had a duff one), and they last ages. Rico Royal have been less consistent, as have Vandoren V16 and Java Green - Vandoren Jazz have been better. This is subjective but I do prefer to be able to play 10 reeds out of a box, especially as I have paid for them all. Imagine buying a bag of 10 potatoes, and 4/5 were rotten each time.

But have a go and learn to make your own judgements rather than assumptions.
Kind regards
Tom

 

[johnboy]

Hi Nash,

You might also like to read the picconose article, "Improving your saxophone sound" where he talks about adjusting reeds to suit your mouthpiece, ref. the vBCms Comments section.

John.

 

[MandyH]

Hi Nash,
I play Rico Royal reeds and have never had a bad one straight out of the box... however...
I only buy my reeds now in packs of 3 because the Rico Royal reeds are not individually wrapped. So (IMHO) if you've opened the box 5 months ago, and have done nothing to protect the remaining reeds in the box from drying out, they will have done just that. The only time I bought a box of 10, by the time I reached the 2nd half of the box, they were completely unplayable. This is the reason I now only buy 3s.
I give all 3 some of that soaking and rubbing treatment as mentioned above, put all 3 into my Rico reed storage box with humidifier sachet and play them in rotation daily.
The current 3 reeds have been going some significant time - maybe 3 - 4 months and have improved with time, I was going to throw them away a couple of months ago, but when I bought a new packet they were so expensive that I decided not to, I decided to "persevere" with them and I have been pleasantly surprised that they are still playing really well..

 

[Justin Chune]

I use Rico Royal reeds exclusively and have no bother with them. Buying them in boxes of ten is best for me and I have never had a problem with any reeds drying out. Also, I don't have any rigmarole to go through before playing them. I rinse them under the tap, when new, and dry them off between finger and thumb, and that's it. After that I moisten them in my mouth before playing them. My current boxes of clarinet and baritone sax reeds have each given me ten out of ten great reeds.

Jim.

 

[kevgermany]

Mandy, my experience has been quite different. No problems playing old reeds. I even bought a batch of really old reeds from Jonf, some of the Royals were old enough to have stickers on them. They all played.

 

[Nashonthesax]

thx, guys,

so all that on the internet isn't true then? thx again, and hope to see you around here

pce,
nash

 

[kevgermany]

You need to compare and filter out what's clearly nonsense. The people here tell it as they find it. And there's not a lot of repetition of unfounded myths, here at least.

One of my best reeds at the moment is really dark brown in places. So bad I thought about chucking it out, unplayed, but I didn't, gave it a go and it's perfect... If there's discolouration in the carved areas, then it may affect things, but on the outside of the reed where the lig goes, not likely.

 

[MandyH]

Kev,

maybe if I'd persevered with them they might have improved. But at the time I was less experienced and was convinced it was the reeds being too dry. Now I'm not sure.
Anyway, the reeds went in the bin! The current reeds have surprised me TBH they seem to be just as playable after 4 months as they were when new.
I'm moving on from each reed lasting only a few weeks to wondering if I'll ever need another new reed again 🙂)) 🙂))

 

[kevgermany]

lol, I cursed the other day - was a bit ham fisted and split a brand new reed first time out....

 

[gladsaxisme]

kev,

maybe if i'd persevered with them they might have improved. But at the time i was less experienced and was convinced it was the reeds being too dry. Now i'm not sure.
Anyway, the reeds went in the bin! The current reeds have surprised me tbh they seem to be just as playable after 4 months as they were when new.
I'm moving on from each reed lasting only a few weeks to wondering if i'll ever need another new reed again 🙂)) 🙂))

wish i had this problem

 

[Two Voices]

I never had an unplayable Rico Royal!

I wish a reed lasted me for weeks or months 🙁 At one point I was getting throught an RJS 2M every few days!!! Seem to have longer lasting reeds now I've switched to La Voz M and a bigger mouthpiece