In Search Of A New Synthetic Reed
Author: Helen
For more than a decade now I’ve been a loyal Fibracell user. I loved their product, and wouldn’t think of switching back to cane reeds for any reason. Then a few years ago Fibracell introduced their Premier reeds, and all that changed.
I found the Premier Fibracell didn’t work for me. The strength I had been using for years, 2 ½, was considerably harder than the older numbered version. I have mouthpieces that the Premier reeds do work on, but I find they do not respond the same way. The Premier Fibracells tend to be stuffier and darker in sound. Your milage my vary, and likely will, but that has been my experience with them. Bottom line: I wasn’t impressed.
The main disadvantage of the Fibracell reeds is that they should not be worked on, because of the Kevlar fibers that are suspended in the resin. If you sand or clip a Fibracell, you expose the Kevlar fibers. These are then quite painful when they cut into your lip. MIRI, the company that makes Fibracell, tells customers that rather than attempting to work on the reeds, they should buy either softer or harder reeds.
Luckily I had bought many older Fibracells for S, A, T, B, & B from Charlie A’s before he passed away. I had more in my stash than most music stores carry in their stock. However, I’m now running low on tenor reeds, so for the last few months I’ve been doing some research, and have tried to find an alternative synthetic reed.
I had heard a lot of good things about the Canadian reed company Légère. I was cautiously hopeful, but from the reading I had done, I suspected I might not like the tone. I wondered if it wouldn’t be too dark and classical sounding for my playing style and tastes. Sure enough, it was.
However, I have since learned that Légère has a new Studio Cut version out that is supposed to be brighter. It might be worth a try, but I wish I could try one before I buy it.
Unfortunately, Légère also recommends that customers not work on their reeds. I’m not sure why exactly, but they do.
Another company that doesn’t get talked about as much, but intrigued me, was Fiberreed by Harry Hartmann of Germany. I did some research, and couldn’t find a Canadian source for these reeds. Even in the States, suppliers of this reed are quite limited. WWBW, and the various stores connected to it, are the most likely place to find a Fiberreed.
Unfortunately I am one of the people who has been burned by WWBW in the past, and that was before all the delays in shipping we read about today. Therefore, I decided to pay the extra few dollars and order directly from Harry himself.
Since there is no strength comparison chart for the Fiberreed anywhere, I had to email Harry to ask about the right strength. He and I have had a number of email exchanges, so I feel I owe it to him to buy from him directly. He seems like a very nice and up-front guy… Not to mention he is located just outside of my old stomping grounds: Stuttgart. It turns out we both moved to Stuttgart around the same time in the early ’80s.
Of all the synthetics out there, the Fiberreed gives you the most choices. There are 4 types of reeds available, which are aimed at giving you different sounds. For what I want, the Carbon Fiberreed will be the optimal choice. According to the Fiberreed website, this reed is a: “High-Tech carbon fiber with hollow fiber connect full sound, [for a] direct response and a beaming upper register.”
A big advantage with these reeds is that you can work on them if they are too hard or too soft. This, in my books, gives them an advantage over both Légère and Fibracell.
Yesterday, I ordered a tenor and an alto Carbon Fiberreed in medium strength. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, because I really would like them to work for me. I have no desire to go back to the inconsistencies of cane. I just want to play sax, and not fiddle with my reeds.
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You can work on Fibracells, despite the warnings. Your options are pretty much limited to sanding and scraping on the top side, however. Never sand the flat side (they have a plastic backing), and never clip them (that’s when you get Kevlar splinters). If they are too hard though, you can sand or scrape them like any other reed, so long as you finish off with 400 (or finer) grit wet-dry sandpaper — use it wet to prevent the dust from getting airborne.
I think that is the primary reason for both companies saying not to work on the reeds — they are worried that the particles may present an inhalation hazard.
I suspect that you’re right about that. It could be a pure safety/CYA issue for the companies. BTW, a friend of mine actually has found a way to clip them too, that apparently doesn’t leave any Kevlar fibers exposed. I haven’t tried his clipped Fibracells, but he uses them with no problems at all.
Are there any stores in your region that carry Harry Hartmann’s Fiberreed? I was thinking that in such a large market, that might be a place where you’d see them in the stores.
I already got an email update from them this AM saying that my order has been shipped. I’m very happy about that. I just ordered it on Saturday. That’s extremely good service.
I don’t know if stores carry Fiberreeds, I haven’t set foot in one in five years. I know some carry Légères, because the Légère website lists where I can get them. I order my Fibracells direct from MIRI even though I have to pay sales tax on them as well as postage. I make up for this by taking advantage of the “buy any 10, get one free” offer, which pretty much offsets the tax and part of the postage.
IIRC, buying from MIRI directly was significantly more expensive then going through another source. Fibracell reeds are widely available, as compared to the Fiberreeds, which seem to be sold through only a couple of retailers in the States.
I used to love buying my reeds through Charlie Andrews. He and I used to talk on the phone, and via email, whenever I placed an order. His prices were so low compared to everyone else’s. I never paid more then $11.00 for a reed, and that was for the baritone variety. The smaller reeds cost less. He too had a special if you bought a certain number. I can’t remember now what it was, but I always got it, since I bought so many at a time. He also included a pack or 2 of Gig Dust and Crud Patches in my orders. He was truly a very special man. He also shared some very interesting stories with me about his sax playing days.
When I got my first order of Premier reeds I emailed Charlie, and told him that I didn’t like them. He right away gathered up the remaining old stock he had in my strength, and put them aside for me. That’s how come I have so many of the Fibracells I love. I really lucked out in the bari and bass department. I still have something like a 5 or 10 year supply left… I haven’t looked into my bari/bass reed drawer lately, so I’m not sure how many are there, but it’s a lot. The way I play soprano (or not) I more than likely have a lifetime supply left.
Have you tried HAHN? Some recent posters on SOTW have been pretty enthusiastic about them.
I live about three miles from Baxter Northup, and often drive right by them on the way home from work, so I should pay them a visit and see what they carry. I’m pretty satisfied with Fibracells, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something even better out there. I need more in any case, I’m down to three alto reeds and one of those is suffering a bit of separation anxiety (the plastic is starting to peel off the back because my Berg has very sharp edges), and three good tenor reeds (two more with issues — one too soft from playing, one started too soft). If I run out, I might just have to PLAY CANE!
No, I haven’t tried the HAHN. I haven’t even tried Harry’s reeds yet. They were delivered to my house just before all hell broke loose. I haven’t played sax in nearly 2 weeks now–not since our last rehearsal–and the reeds were delivered the day after that.
I’m going to try and get back into playing in the next day or 2, but it’s really hard. I have a lot on my plate at the moment. I’m the executor, and there are a lot of responsibilities attached to the role in this particular case.
My heart is not really into playing sax at the moment, but I’ll likely give the Carbon Fiberreed a blow, at least the tenor one, later today or tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if the Medium is the right strength.
Play, and don’t worry about if your heart is in it. You could use some semblance of normalcy right about now, even if just for a half hour or however long you can put everything else down and pick up a horn.
I was wondering how the new reeds worked out?
I have looked at the Légères reeds but couldn’t convince myself they were worth the expense. So far I have not had any problems with cane. Maybe I have just been lucky?
Also I have only been playing a few months after a 30+year gap.
Mark
Well I really liked the Carbon Fiberreeds I got from Harry. The alto works great on my Runyon Custom M/P. It does exactly what Harry says it will do. I love the sound, the response, everything. The only problem is that I don’t play alto enough at the moment (at all really), so this 1 reed will likely last me for a decade.
I really like the tenor as well, however, with it I have a problem. As it comes from Harry, it is wider than almost all of my mouthpieces. My main piece is a Dukoff (a number of them actually). The Fiberreed is just too wide for all of them, although for my oldest Dukoff D7s, it almost works, but not quite. In order to play the Fiberreed on my main pieces, I’d have to trim it. Harry does provide very clear directions, but due to my neuro problems, my fine motor skills are not what they used to be. I’m not too keen on trying to slice up the side of a über expensive, excellent reed with my palsy-like shake. I’m thinking I might get my tech to do it when I take one of my horns in next.
As it sits right now, the only mouthpiece I have that accommodates the Carbon Fiberreed is a vintage hard rubber Vandoren. It sounds amazing on that mouthpiece, and responds just like the one on the alto does. Only problem is, I don’t play this Vandoren piece at all.
So there you have my Fiberreed report. I really like the reeds. I’d recommend trying them if you’re looking for an alternative to cane. Besides the Carbon version, there are lots of others for different styles of music. I haven’t tried those, so I can’t speak to what they can or cannot do. However, from what I have tried, I am impressed. They play as advertised.
The only thing I’m curious about, and what I do want to ask Harry about, is why he has chosen to make his tenor reeds so wide. Given that I have so many mouthpieces, it’s not that I have narrow pieces, his reeds are just wider than the norm. I’d be curious to know his reasoning behind that.
sorry for the double post I was trying to correct a spelling error Ididn’t see untill after I had submitted it they for the.
Mark
What double post? What spelling error?
No worries, I took care of it.
I’m just going to spend some time in my studio now. I’ll answer that reed question a little later this pm (and catch up with a couple of other questions & comments that are outstanding as well).