I play tip openings on tenor of about .105 and use #3 Rico Jazz Selects 
and/or V16 & ZZ Vandorens. The ZZ's I feel are the softest and tend to blow 
a little easier - they also tend to wear out a little quicker. Sometimes I 
need to sand the V16's and RJS just a little to get what I want.

I also carry a few Fibracells in medium strength in case I have a reed chip, 
crack, or just die on a gig. I'm not crazy about the tone I get (though I've 
heard some guys that sound great on them) but it's a quick switch and I know 
I'll get an acceptable level of performance from them regardless of 
temperature or humidity. I know a real "pro" would keep 3 or 4 reeds in 
"gigging" condition all the time but I only play out once or twice a month 
and don't have the patience to futz with reeds.

Good Luck,

Keith

--- Keith Ley <keith_ley@...> wrote:

> 
> I play tip openings on tenor of about .105 and use
> #3 Rico Jazz Selects 
> and/or V16 & ZZ Vandorens. The ZZ's I feel are the
> softest and tend to blow 
> a little easier - they also tend to wear out a
> little quicker. Sometimes I 
> need to sand the V16's and RJS just a little to get
> what I want.
> 
> I also carry a few Fibracells in medium strength in
> case I have a reed chip, 
> crack, or just die on a gig. I'm not crazy about the
> tone I get (though I've 
> heard some guys that sound great on them) but it's a
> quick switch and I know 
> I'll get an acceptable level of performance from
> them regardless of 
> temperature or humidity. I know a real "pro" would
> keep 3 or 4 reeds in 
> "gigging" condition all the time but I only play out
> once or twice a month 
> and don't have the patience to futz with reeds.
> 
> Good Luck,
> 
> Keith
> 

Thanks.  Can you still get fibercells?  I heard Ernie
Watts likes those.

BK
> 
> 



		
____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs 
 

--- dan lunsford <bluesnote2000@...> wrote:

> 
> 
> --- Keith Ley <keith_ley@...> wrote:
> 
> > 
> > I play tip openings on tenor of about .105 and use
> > #3 Rico Jazz Selects 
> > and/or V16 & ZZ Vandorens. The ZZ's I feel are the
> > softest and tend to blow 
> > a little easier - they also tend to wear out a
> > little quicker. Sometimes I 
> > need to sand the V16's and RJS just a little to
> get
> > what I want.
> > 
> > I also carry a few Fibracells in medium strength
> in
> > case I have a reed chip, 
> > crack, or just die on a gig. I'm not crazy about
> the
> > tone I get (though I've 
> > heard some guys that sound great on them) but it's
> a
> > quick switch and I know 
> > I'll get an acceptable level of performance from
> > them regardless of 
> > temperature or humidity. I know a real "pro" would
> > keep 3 or 4 reeds in 
> > "gigging" condition all the time but I only play
> out
> > once or twice a month 
> > and don't have the patience to futz with reeds.
> > 
> > Good Luck,
> > 
> > Keith
> > 
> 
> Thanks.  Can you still get fibercells?  I heard
> Ernie
> Watts likes those.
> 
> BK
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> 
> 		
> ____________________________________________________
> Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page 
> http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs 
>  Thanks.

Have you ever played Hemkes?

BK
> 



		
____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs 
 

> > Thanks.  Can you still get fibercells?  I heard
> > Ernie
> > Watts likes those.

He uses Fibercane. Old thing, 70's deal,out of production. At least thats
what he told me. I've seen the reeds, though,they look different from the
Fibracells.Hope that helps.

Tots

--- Tots T <totst@...> wrote:

> 
> 
> > > Thanks.  Can you still get fibercells?  I heard
> > > Ernie
> > > Watts likes those.
> 
> He uses Fibercane. Old thing, 70's deal,out of
> production. At least thats
> what he told me. I've seen the reeds, though,they
> look different from the
> Fibracells.Hope that helps.
> 
> Tots
> 
> Hi:

OH right!  I got those confused!

Thanks,

BK



		
____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs 
 

I have been refacing mouthpieces for some time. I still have varying results but mainly very good ones.
We put a lot of time and effort into getting the curve,baffle, rails ,tip and sometimes the chamber absolutely as perfect as we can with what tools and expertise that is available to us.  
My problem is that we are dependent on the curve of the reed which we have absolutely no control over.

Has anyone in this group done a study with a micrometer on all of the most popular reeds that shows the relationship between the curve on various reeds and the curve length  on say a radial curve tenor mouthpiece with a break point of 24 mm from the very tip at the 1.5 thou feeler?

Instead of saying try this reed or try that reed , we could then advise clients exactly which reeds suit our work and also have a solid reason why..
 

 

My take on this is that players need to know something about
adjusting reeds to their satisfaction. They will be much happier players
if they have some skills in this area. 

I find there's lots of
variability even among reeds of the same brand (although perhaps some of
us have found brands that are very consistent?). Also, reeds are curved
across their width as well as along the length of the vamp, and that's
an influential variable in how they play. 

Considering the variability
among reeds, oral cavities, and embouchures, I think it would be very
hard to make more than some very general recommendations, such as a wide
facing usually needs a softer reed. 

When you reface a mouthpiece, do
you ask the client what reed they are using, and try to use that as a
reference? (for example, some synthetic reeds are quite buzzy; a narrow
tip rail or baffle insert that's satisfactory with a cane reed might be
too buzzy for a Hartman reed. 

On 2015-06-14 7:47 pm,
mk6sax@... [MouthpieceWork] wrote: 

> I have been refacing
mouthpieces for some time. I still have varying results but mainly very
good ones.
> We put a lot of time and effort into getting the
curve,baffle, rails ,tip and sometimes the chamber absolutely as perfect
as we can with what tools and expertise that is available to us. 
> My
problem is that we are dependent on the curve of the reed which we have
absolutely no control over.
> 
> Has anyone in this group done a study
with a micrometer on all of the most popular reeds that shows the
relationship between the curve on various reeds and the curve length on
say a radial curve tenor mouthpiece with a break point of 24 mm from the
very tip at the 1.5 thou feeler?
> 
> Instead of saying try this reed or
try that reed , we could then advise clients exactly which reeds suit
our work and also have a solid reason why.. 
> 
> 

 

Links:
------
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This is a noble goal.  I contemplated the reed cut a lot when I reasoned that the family of elliptical facing curves would follow the reed cut better than a radial facing curve.  They would curve the reed less where it is thick and more where it is thin.  But would it play better?  That is the real test.  

Measuring the reed shape defines only part of how a reed would bend.  The bending properties of the reed material is also a significant factor.  Since cane varies so much, I have heard that reed makers cut all of a reed design the same and then sort for strength afterwards based on some kind of resistance-to-bending test.  So all the reed thickness measurements would be the same for all the strengths in one brand's reed cut.

if one were to undertake a reed study, it would be better to come up with a way to measure the deflection to a bending force.  How much force?  Where to apply it?  Should the reed be pre-flexed first to simulate the force from the bottom lip?  You can go nuts.  Does a bend test capture what we like about a reed when we play it?  (Same goes for the suction test).

I think reed cuts have evolved over time to work well with the various facings in use.  Classical reeds work best on short resistant facings.  Jazz cuts on more open tips, etc.  


> On Jun 17, 2015, at 12:44 PM, barrylevine barrylevine@norwoodlight.com [MouthpieceWork] <MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
> 
> [Attachment(s) from barrylevine included below]
> My take on this is that players need to know something about adjusting reeds to their satisfaction. They will be much happier players if they have some skills in this area.
> 
> I find there's lots of variability even among reeds of the same brand (although perhaps some of us have found brands that are very consistent?).  Also, reeds are curved across their width as well as along the length of the vamp, and that's an influential variable in how they play.
> 
> Considering the variability among reeds, oral cavities, and embouchures, I think it would be very hard to make more than some very general recommendations, such as a wide facing usually needs a softer reed.
> 
> When you reface a mouthpiece, do you ask the client what reed they are using, and try to use that as a reference? (for example, some synthetic reeds are quite buzzy; a narrow tip rail or baffle insert that's satisfactory with a cane reed might be too buzzy for a Hartman reed. 
> 
>> On 2015-06-14 7:47 pm, mk6sax@....au [MouthpieceWork] wrote:
>> 
>>  
>> I have been refacing mouthpieces for some time. I still have varying results but mainly very good ones.
>> We put a lot of time and effort into getting the curve,baffle, rails ,tip and sometimes the chamber absolutely as perfect as we can with what tools and expertise that is available to us.  
>> My problem is that we are dependent on the curve of the reed which we have absolutely no control over.
>> 
>> Has anyone in this group done a study with a micrometer on all of the most popular reeds that shows the relationship between the curve on various reeds and the curve length  on say a radial curve tenor mouthpiece with a break point of 24 mm from the very tip at the 1.5 thou feeler?
>> 
>> Instead of saying try this reed or try that reed , we could then advise clients exactly which reeds suit our work and also have a solid reason why..
>> 
>  
> 
>  
>