 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Pwrmaestro
Date: 2012-11-12 15:58
I'm interested in trying the Zonda reeds. I currently use V-12 4's & Rico Classic 4+. The Zonda sizes & "sub levels" of soft, medium, hard puzzle me! Zonda says the differences among the sub levels are negligible - but I'm not sure where to start.... Suggestions?
Post Edited (2012-11-12 16:21)
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2012-11-12 17:46
I use Zonda reeds and usually buy the medium in the range, so if you like a 4 V-12 you would like a Zonda 4 medium. The only way to really tell is to try them all, but just one or two reeds out of each may not really tell the whole story.
John Gibson, Founder of JB Linear Music, www.music4woodwinds.com
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2012-11-12 22:00
This is what makes switching reed brands so difficult and keeps many players who are happy with what they're using from wandering much no matter what new brands come out. The only real way is to pick a starting point - maybe take John's advice to try Zonda #4-Medium - and see how they feel and sound. If you don't like the strength, then try the next strength up or down, depending on your result with the first batch. If you want to speed the process up, buy two boxes, one at your best guess strength and another of the next strength. You'll probably waste the price of one of the boxes (or both), but you'll find the right reeds more quickly.
What will compound the problem is that different reed designs have more inherent resistance than others. You can easily find a brand and model that doesn't really feel right at any strength. A lot is what you're used to and how much resistance your instrument and mouthpiece add to the total.
FWIW, for me Zonda and V12 don't feel alike no matter what strength I try. You may not find an equivalent-feeling strength at all.
Karl
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2012-11-13 09:12
I second Karl's observation--Zonda and V12 reeds are sufficiently dissimilar from each other that a direct replacement for a #4 V12 may not exist in the Zonda range.
That said, the Zonda reeds are reasonably well made and certainly bargain-priced compared to V12s. You don't stand to lose much if you audition a couple of boxes of Zondas and they end up not working out for you.
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