Synthetic oboe reeds

[Vickie]

I'm an intermediate oboe player, I would like to hear from other players how their experiences with synthetic reeds has been. I do not make my own and do not want to start. I'm curious as to weather the investment is worth it or not. Thanks for your comments.

 

[Gandalfe]

Interesting, I didn't know they made synthetic for double reeds. My rule of thumb has always been, "Only use synthetic reeds on the lower instruments like the bass clarinet or bass sax. (Benedikt Eppelsheim advised this for the bass sax he made me.) The higher the instrument the more I favor cane. YMMV.

 

[shmuelyosef]

Interesting, I didn't know they made synthetic for double reeds. My rule of thumb has always been, "Only use synthetic reeds on the lower instruments like the bass clarinet or bass sax. (Benedikt Eppelsheim advised this for the bass sax he made me.) The higher the instrument the more I favor cane. YMMV.

I have had very good results with synthetics on clarinet, and use them exclusively on tenor and baritone sax

 

[Vickie]

Thanks for your info.

 

[saxhound]

I'm also a fan on the lower horns. Never had much success on clarinet, but like them on tenor & bari sax and bass clarinet. Alto sax is sort of OK, but I don't play much alto these days. I am upset that Fibracell quality is so poor after using them for years. They changed something and refuse to admit that it's a problem - trying to blame it on the player. I like the Harry Hartmann carbon fiberreeds on tenor and bari. I usually get a year or more of life out of each one. Pretty good value for $30 or so.

If I was a double reed player (I'm not), I would try every alternative to making my own. It just sounds like an expensive crapshoot.

 

[Gandalfe]

I'm also a fan on the lower horns. Never had much success on clarinet, but like them on tenor & bari sax and bass clarinet. Alto sax is sort of OK, but I don't play much alto these days. I am upset that Fibracell quality is so poor after using them for years. They changed something and refuse to admit that it's a problem - trying to blame it on the player. I like the Harry Hartmann carbon fiberreeds on tenor and bari. I usually get a year or more of life out of each one. Pretty good value for $30 or so.

If I was a double reed player (I'm not), I would try every alternative to making my own. It just sounds like an expensive crapshoot.

My Suzy uses something called Fourstone, has on her clarinet and saxes for a couple of years. She swears by them. They last more than a year. I am so happy with what I have now (Vandoren and Plasticover) that I'm loathe to try anything else.