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vintage Reeds

Steve

Clarinet CE/Moderator
Staff member
CE/Moderator
I just picked up a box of Buffet alto sax reeds on the auction site. Unfortunately I didn't get the tenor reeds.

They are 4s and look to be cut thin so it should do well like a 3.5 or 3 .. though slightly more petrified.

FYI, i have a page on vintage reeds pics - always looking for more examples
http://www.clarinetperfection.com/Reeds.htm
 
Years ago, I had a steady gig with a Palm Beach society band, and I was fortunate enough to sit next to Carl Perkel, a great New York woodwind player, for 8 months.

One night, he told me, "I just found a really old box of Ciccone Symmetricut reeds I never opened. I'm going to try them. What's the worst that could happen?"

I told him "The worst that could happen is that they are the best reeds you ever played in your life!"
 
I always think the same of the Selmer Paris reeds I have. I was really enomorated over the "Selmer" thing in high school for some reason. So I also bought the reeds but still preferred the Hemkes my private teacher put me on.

I still have Selmer Reeds Omega for alto sax. I tried one once .. it was okay, cut a little thin though visually not as much as the Buffets.

FYI, I have some Ciccone Symmetricut reeds too.
I'm curious about the stereo reeds .. do they double my sounds .. make it deeper more "full".
I wonder if there's a new version called, surround-sound reeds !!
 
I buy vintage reeds off of ebay once in a while. I try to stick with what I've been playing for years instead of trying out even harder to find stuff.

My grandfather kept a brief case full of reeds and I've played on some of them. There are a lot of Brilhart reeds.
 
I play mainly those old cardboard and plastic purple box Vandoren, mainly because I have so many of them. I bought out a retail store about a year ago or more and they had a ton of various reeds. I kept the nice ones for myself, sold a ton of alto clarinet reeds to one buyer.
 
I just picked up a box of Buffet alto sax reeds on the auction site. Unfortunately I didn't get the tenor reeds.

They are 4s and look to be cut thin so it should do well like a 3.5 or 3 .. though slightly more petrified.

FYI, i have a page on vintage reeds pics - always looking for more examples
http://www.clarinetperfection.com/Reeds.htm


what auction site did you use? are vintage reeds expensive?
 
most unknown vintage reeds are fairly inexpensive. The Buffets were n't much at all. I never knew Buffet made reeds until I saw that auction.

but a couple of years ago i sold a box of Selmer Paris Soloist reeds .... the box sold for around $75.

check eBay ... the most widely used auction site
 
The last new Selmer-Paris soprano saxophone I bought came with a couple of new reeds, as I recall. I don't remember if any reeds came with my new Ref 54 alto, though. But those Selmer-brand reeds sure didn't work for me on my more open mouthpieces. They were mediocre on my scroll-shank C* soprano piece.

I'm guessing that Buffet may not have made those reeds, but merely ordered from the big companies like Rico and slapped their own name on them. Could be wrong, though.

I suppose "vintage" is subjective - how old could reeds be before they are considered to be "vintage"? I have a lot of old reeds (new-in-box), but my favorites are new, so I don't mess around much with my old reeds. DAVE
 
I suppose "vintage" is subjective - how old could reeds be before they are considered to be "vintage"? DAVE

Heh Dave...

Didn't you know, it's got to be at least a 5 digit reed. All other reeds are crap.:emoji_smile: Asian-made reeds are crap too. :emoji_smile: The best ones come from old growth cane fields in France that survived the Allied bombings. :wink:
 
Horns are starting to be classified as 'vintage' when produced in the 1970s'. I guess reeds would be the same.
Older than that would probably have to be called antique. :emoji_smile:
 
You guys are OLD!

I'm just grey from temple to temple.
 
i don't have the Buffets on here but look at these

http://www.clarinetperfection.com/Reeds.htm


when I looked at the Buffets before they had different packing from other brands, were made in France.

I bought some selmer metal mpcs a couple years ago and they came with reeds too. But those cuts were more similar to the Omegas than the Soloists. The soloists were designed for long facings mpcs versus the Omegas which were much more friendly to medium length facings
 
I have a bunch of the old blue and white stripped Rico Royals.

I tried out a few Rico's from the late 1980's a few days ago and found that they generally played well. One was a touch softer than I wanted.

I'm alternating them with some more recent stock Rico Royals. Both play well.
 
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