Klarinet Archive - Posting 000741.txt from 2000/12

From: "Tony Wakefield" <tony-wakefield@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Reeds
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 23:37:49 -0500

I took a year out last year Ian. I haven`t bought anything other than the
normal Vandorens, with their usual inconsistency during this year. Some have
blown well and some haven`t. I tend not to spend time, (`cos I don`t have
it) on the ones which don`t blow fairly well to start with. But recently I
purchased 6, (I only just had enough pennies for 6) and believe it or not
<they> all blow well.

Do you consider <this> Hogmanay approaching to be the real Millennium? Or
did you get rat arsed last year?
All the best with your reed search. And your "drinking".
Tony W.

From: Ian Black
> Am I imagining things, or has quality control at Vandoren gone way
downhill? I've just worked my way
> through a box of regular Vandoren reeds (not V12 or anything fancy...),
have found that most of them
> play relatively well, but none are what I would call excellent. Visual
inspection of many of them
> shows that the tip has not been cut in the centre of the reed. (where the
tip meets the sides of the
> reed, the angle is more marked on one side than the other), and on one
reed the tip doesn't even
> curve in the middle. Whether a bit has broken off, or whether there was
not enough tip when it was
> cut, I have no inkling. Also, the middle of the reed (the U-shaped cut-out
just next to the bark) is
> anything but uniform.
>
> I remember the reeds I played on before I had a break from playing (those
in the purple plastic box
> which was divided into two halves, and those in the opaque purple plastic
"folders" similar to
> today's clear folders) and remember these to have been manufactured
better. Am I using the
> rose-tinted glasses again, or has anyone else noticed it.
>
> PS Please don't respond with hundreds of helpful hints on reed
preparation. I am referring to my
> perceived drop in quality in "virgin" reeds straight out of the box. I
will make my own adjustments
> and do my own preparations on these reeds as a matter of course.
>
> Thanks
>
> Ian

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