Klarinet Archive - Posting 001168.txt from 1998/09

From: ROBERT ABRAHAM <rkabear@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Reeds...Vandoren
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 04:08:26 -0400

I found that I get about 6 or 7 usable reeds in a box of regular Vandorens and 3 or 4 out of a box of Vandoren Hand Select (that's of course before I work on them and make them work ;-) . I can usually use 8 to 10 out of a box ov V12s because they seem much more balanced than the others. The blue box reeds are the ones I have to spend time on evening out the vamp and the cut. The hand select reeds DO seem like a marketing ploy to me also...

Kelly Abraham
Woodwinds/Computer Geek
New York City
**********************************************************************
A friend of mine went to Paris and I asked him to pick up some Vandoren Hand Select reeds for me. In trying to do this, he found that none of the music stores sold hand select and was sent directly to Vandoren.

When he arrived at Vandoren, he was informed that they don't have "hand select" reeds in France and that the normal Vandoren reeds are the same thing.

Is "Hand Select" just marketing hype to increase the price of reeds for us cynical american clarinetists, or are "hand select" the reeds that are kept within France while the rejects are sent to the US, or does anyone have a better explanation or idea?

Thanks,
Jeff Carwile

Get free e-mail and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1

-------------------------------------------------------------------------