what are the best reeds to use. i know it mainly depends on which suits you best but is there a really good make that suits everyone?!!

I'm not sure, but I really like the sound I get when I use Mitchell Lurie Premium (2 or 2.5 - I recently went up to 2.5 and they make the higher notes easier to play for me).

Vandoren reeds are pretty good, but like all boxes of reeds, try them all and then find the 5 or 6 that are really good - it's so unfortunate that you have to buy 10 to get 5 good ones - why can't they make them all the same? ( I suppose it's mother nature that wont make all reed plants the same !!!!)

I think you have to experiment a bit to find what suits you best. I use Gonzalez FOF's and Vandoren V12s. The Gonzalez are better for playing well straight out of the box, but you can't get them in many places in England (Howarth's in London do them).
Vandoren have a deliberate policy of putting slightly different strengths of reeds in one box, to cater for differing conditions of humidity etc - so in a box of 2.5s you might get one or two which aren't much different from a 2, and at the other extreme there will be a couple which are almost a 3. You need to be good at fiddling with reeds to get them all to play well, and quite honestly I couldn't be bothered - during term-time I have so little free time that I'd rather be practising than adjusting reeds!
The Gonzalez come in quarter sizes as well, which is useful. I find the V12 3s a bit hard work, but the Gonzalez 2.75s are just right for me!

i used a vandoren v12 today when i practised and i liked it a lot!!

I think I use Grand Concerto ones in 2 1/2. I find them really good for getting the top notes in tune, but that's just my opinion! I used to use vandoren but the music shop I bought them from closed down

I use Vandoren 'Rue Lepic 56' and think that they are absolutley beautiful, i've got 8 of my studnets playing on them. They are simply beautiful and i would reccomend them to anyone.

Rico royal size 2

I use Vandoren V12's

I fancy trying the Vandoren 56's

QUOTE (jo.clarinet @ Jul 30 2004, 04:19 PM)

I think you have to experiment a bit to find what suits you best. I use Gonzalez FOF's and Vandoren V12s. The Gonzalez are better for playing well straight out of the box, but you can't get them in many places in England (Howarth's in London do them).

Thought people might be interested to know that you can also buy Gonzalez reeds from Dawkes Music/Windcraft now.

http://www.windcraft.co.uk/

(Although - less than £10 inc. p&p for a box of 10? Does that sound right Jo? I thought they were much more expensive than that).

I like the Mitchell Lurie standards. I find them a lot more reliable straight out of the box than vandoren and i find they produce a much nicer tone. Only snag is that they cost more!

QUOTE (purple dolphin @ Mar 11 2005, 10:39 PM)

I like the Mitchell Lurie standards. I find them a lot more reliable straight out of the box than vandoren and i find they produce a much nicer tone. Only snag is that they cost more!

Mitchell Lurie premium are my favourite so far, but I haven't tried many.

I myself use a Vandoren Rue Lepic 56 3.5+. Combined with the Vandoren Optimum ligature, it produces a quality sound, as the dark nature of the reed is combined with the brilliance of the ligature.

You probably need to try different reeds to find what suits your mpc/lig setup. I use Gonzalez FOF No.3 with Charles Bay mpc and Vandoren Optimum ligature. I also like Marca Reed (they are very consistent).

The Gonzalez RC is around £10 @ dawkes.co.uk with a 2.8mm thickness blank (FOF reeds has 3.2mm thickness).

Wow you guys use very soft reeds! I started on a 3 and find anything softer gives a thin tone.

I personally use V12 4's and I've been waiting since February for my FOF 3.75's.