Reeds Vandoren Red Inconsistencies

[Veggie Dave]

I'm wondering if anyone's noticed a change in the consistency of Vandoren Java Red reeds recently? My last two boxes have been noticeably substandard, with the last box not having a single, decent reed in it. Resistance has increased noticeably and the sound is much less bright. I swapped in an old Red and it was great.

It feels like they've changed how they gauge the Reds, or changed the design slightly. Is it just me or has anyone had this recently?

 

[PigSquealer]

I would contact Vandoren and complain.

 

[Veggie Dave]

I would contact Vandoren and complain.

I contacted them (Vandoren Paris) yesterday, after checking on their site that the manufacturing code was legit. I haven't heard anything yet.

 

[MarkSax]

I used to be able to take the reed out of the wrapping and use it with minimal preparation. Not anymore. I now have to do 2 things, rub on an A4 printing paper and then use very very fine sandpaper (or reed geek if you have it) to adjust the 'heart' of the reed. Soak in vodka for 20 seconds, drink the vodka, place the reed and ...play.

 

[Targa]

I used to be able to take the reed out of the wrapping and use it with minimal preparation. Not anymore. I now have to do 2 things, rub on an A4 printing paper and then use very very fine sandpaper (or reed geek if you have it) to adjust the 'heart' of the reed. Soak in vodka for 20 seconds, drink the vodka, place the reed and ...play.

Maybe you could cut down on the preparation if you went straight to the last sentence.

 

[etc-etc]

"Alcohol-induced improvement in beating reed sound", a study in two parts:
1. Effects of soaking the reed in alcohol.
2. Effect of alcohol on player's sound perception.

 

[Pete Effamy]

I used to be able to take the reed out of the wrapping and use it with minimal preparation. Not anymore. I now have to do 2 things, rub on an A4 printing paper and then use very very fine sandpaper (or reed geek if you have it) to adjust the 'heart' of the reed. Soak in vodka for 20 seconds, drink the vodka, place the reed and ...play.

Is that a reed adjusted to play properly or your ears adjusted to hear improperly (after said Vodka?).

Ah, as post above...

 

[Colin the Bear]

Reed changes from year to year. Dry summers, wet winters, fires, storage and drying problems.
They may be better or worse next year.

I've had to change brands several times.

When I find something that suits, I buy in bulk.

I'm sure it's why some go synthetic. The reed players curse.

 

[David Roach]

In 50 or so years of playing I've never experienced any consistency throughout any reeds straight out of the box
However I recently bought a box or Vandoren Red Java soprano reeds and went through the breakin process described in this video: at the end of 3 weeks I can happily play every reed from that box of 10.
Tedious? Yes. Great results? Yes.
My take is that to achieve a really consistently good result one has to submit to a proper break-in process, which is not exactly a new idea, but one I have until now sadly ignored!

 

[Veggie Dave]

However I recently bought a box or Vandoren Red Java soprano reeds and went through the breakin process described in this video: at the end of 3 weeks I can happily play every reed from that box of 10.

Out of the last box of 5 tenor reeds, only one actually sounded at all on the first breath. I'm not talking about reeds that aren't great, I'm talking about reeds that feel like they're much, much harder. I used to play 3.5 but dropped down to 3 to make life easier, which also meant that differences between reeds was less noticeable as I just didn't have to try as hard when playing. The last two boxes of Reds have felt like overly hard 3.5 at best.

This is a new experience as I've been using the Red 3s for the last three years. I would swear there was a massive leak on the horn if it wasn't for the problem that I can't find a leak and old Reds from other boxes play perfectly.

 

[lydian]

In 50 or so years of playing I've never experienced any consistency throughout any reeds straight out of the box

Me neither. The thing about inconsistency is it's inconsistent. You might have a good run for a while, then a bad run. So we have Veggie Dave now with a bad run of Vandorens, and last week someone else had a great run of Ricos. I've had particularly good luck with LaVoz of late, yet my 50 year old Rico brown box or hit or miss.

The takeaway here is to accept the inconsistencies and learn how to deal with them, whether that's throwing 70% in the trash or working on them to make them all playable.

 

[Grumps]

Just curious, but are these for alto, tenor, bari or soprano? I've been playing green Javas for years now on alto, tenor and soprano and the only ones I had to ... wait on... were alto Javas. Which reminds me... I gotta get a new box of tenor reeds at the Symposium.

 

[skeller047]

Unlike many people, I don’t break reeds in. Balancing them using the simple side-to-side play test is all I do. I do this to every reed straight out of the box, and just play the reed till it dies. I was taught many decades ago to break reeds in, and did it religiously for many years, until I discovered that it made no difference in terms of playability or longevity. I get most reeds, more than 95%, to play very well.

 

[Veggie Dave]

Just curious, but are these for alto, tenor, bari or soprano?

Tenor. I've played Green then Red Javas pretty much from day one. Once I found my strength on each sax, I've almost never had a reed that couldn't be used in practice, on stage or recording. Until these two boxes.