Klarinet Archive - Posting 000819.txt from 1997/09

From: DGross1226@-----.com
Subj: Re: Zonda
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 23:35:51 -0400

In a message dated 97-09-16 21:58:54 EDT, Ed Lacy wrote:

<< The only criticism of the Zonda reeds I have ever heard is that some
people apparently feel that while they play very well right out of the box,
they may not last as long as some other reeds.>>

Ed,

My experience exactly! I got my first "5-pack" about a year ago when the
Zonda free reed offer first hit KLARINET. I was 5 for 5 out of the box and
in heaven. But then within a period of less than a month, they began to die
very much like my experience with both Mitchell Lurie and Mitchell Lurie
premium reeds. I swapped my 3-1/2 Zondas for 3-1/4 Grand Concert thick
blanks and never looked back. I play on a Jim Kanter AA0 mouthpiece.

I have never had reeds perform so well for so long. But, I must admit, my
time-tested method of breaking in reeds is "play or you're tongue
depressors." Unlike the Mitchell Lurie reeds which when they die are really
DEAD, when the Grand Concerts appear to be dying, I give them about week to
"rest" and they seem to have the ability to rebound. I'm still rotating and
playing on the original 5 reeds I bought last January. Not very scientific,
but they work for me.

Don Gross
La Canada, California