 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Clarimeister
Date: 2012-04-27 05:17
I had done a search only to find one thread that talked about people receiving samples from Pilgerstorfer Reeds. Well, Clark Fobes had announced on his website and facebook that he is now the US distributor for Pilgerstorfer Reeds. Well with the declining quality of Vandoren's cane, I was interested in trying them out and ordered the sample box that he is offering for a limited time. In there are 9 reeds (3 samples of 3 different cuts). They are the Rondo, Dolce, and Morré cuts. The Morré being modeled after the famed reed of Robert Marcellus and produced in the 60s-80s. They run a tad softer than Vandoren V12s so I ordered the 4 strength since I play on about a 3,1/2 to 3,1/2+ V12. My review is as follows:
Dolce - Very mellow with a very dark sound and extremely full. The articulation and response was a bit tubby, however when I tried with my shorter faced mouthpiece it was much better. The vamp is definitely shorter than the Rondo and Morré cuts, so it looks like it may be optimized for a shorter faced mouthpieces.
Rondo - not quite as dark and covered as the Dolce. Very vibrant and extremely full sounding. The articulation was clean and crisp, and the sound was also very colourful. The vamp was about the length of the V12s just without the filed cut.
Morré - first off let me say that I had tried Blackmaster Vandoren reeds (made for the Austrian mouthpieces, and almost exactly like the old Morré reeds) and I loved the sound. Very dark and a full core. The only problem I had with them was articulation and response was extremely sluggish with my setup. Well, after trying the Morré cut from Pilgerstorfer, I probably have to say these are my favorites and I'm having a very hard time deciding between this and the Rondo cut. Pilgerstorfer's website couldn't explain it any better the way this reed sounds - (Translated by Google Translate) - "The model "Morre - French cut" is intended as a universal premium Boehm model and ideal for a very dark and velvety tone on Clarinet." Couldn't explain it any better. The articulation was very clean, sound very focussed and super "Velvety" as quoted from the website.
I highly recommend these reeds to people frustrated with the Vandoren regime and their declining quality control with their reed production. The cane quality is outstanding, the cuts are clean and the sound is beautiful. These reeds played right out of the box and were almost perfectly balanced on each side. They may need just miniscule amount of balancing later on for fine tuning. They can be ordered directly from Fobes at www.clarkwfobes.com. I definitely recommend the sample pack while they're around to find the cut that works for you. They are about $25 after CA tax and shipping. Give them a try! I will update you guys after breaking them in over the next few days!
I am in no way affiliated or sponsored by Clark W. Fobes or Pilgerstorfer Reeds. I'm just a college student fed up with Vandoren and exploring outside the box. 
Post Edited (2012-04-27 05:49)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2012-04-28 12:52
Morre reeds were a VERY thick stock.......more so than anything currently on the market and particularly thicker than the Black Masters.
In addition the Black Masters are thinner than most reeds (side to side) so as to be more compatible with an actual Austrian Mouthpiece. Morre reeds were made quite substantial side to side with a very nice arc across the top.
Of course I in no way endorse the Morre as exceptional. By the time I got to them in the late 70s, they were quite inconsistent and I never found them anywhere near as spot on as the Vandorens.
..................Paul Aviles
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2012-04-28 21:32
> I'm just a college student fed up with Vandoren and exploring outside the box.
Who on earth told you to start with Vandoren in the first place? ;-)
--
Ben
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Author: metalheadsimon
Date: 2012-05-02 17:07
I first switched to pilgerstorfer when i found the reeds i were using were causing a particular resistance with my most recent mouthpiece (ridenour HW model). I had always played on harder reeds as this for me achieved the tone i wanted. But i found that air was escaping out of my nose and i was suffering from holding in too much stale air when i play.
I have gradually moved back through the strengths of pilgerstorfer dolces to my current 3 and a half strength and i have never been happier with my tone, however these are still generally softer than any other 3 and a half reed i have tried.
Another cloes comparision is AW reeds (available from reeds direct i think) where a 3 is very close to that of a 3 and a half pilgerstorfer dolce.
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Author: AAAClarinet
Date: 2013-04-19 21:03
has anyone else tried these recently. if so, what did you think.
AAAClarinet
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Author: Bill Patry
Date: 2013-04-19 22:21
I have. I got them from Clark Fobes. I like the Dolce quite a lot, and the Rondo sometimes.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2013-04-20 06:24
These are very nice reeds, each having some good points. I particularly like the Exquisit style. They have a very nice and full sounding with good response.
Post Edited (2013-04-20 12:18)
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Author: Grabnerwg
Date: 2013-04-20 14:59
The Exquisit style has also worked well for me. I have played several concerts on them recently. It was a nice feeling going into the concert with three or four good reliable reeds in my reedholder. I still buy some Vandorens (I use them to test mouthpieces), but I believe I will continue with the Pilgerstorfers. I hope the quality holds up.
Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com
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Author: Dm Zisl
Date: 2016-05-07 09:17
Just got a reed sampler from Clark Fobes. Tried Peter Leuthner when I saw Clark in New York, it just didn't work on my setup(s) (which are all Walter Grabner's mouthpieces, the main being PERS / personal model, and then G11 and K13e reserved for European tours), maybe I did something wrong or just the reeds I tried were not the best ones... I loved Pilgerstorfer though. OP has described each cut quite precisely, I can concur on most of that.
Morré gave me the most focused, "German" kind of sound. Rondo and Dolce are much more "French," have more "ping", hard to describe it otherwise, and yes, out of those two, Rondo is a bit brighter, but not in a nasal-nasty way, just more brilliant, whereas Dolce is somewhere in between Morré and Rondo, though leaning much closer to Rondo. All these reeds allowed me seamless articulation and all sorts of wide intervals, very reliable and stabile (after two days of playing). Purely subjective description: almost like you've slipped a CD into a player, and it plays, just in your mouth.
At this point it's hard for me to commit to just one cut. I will keep playing on the reeds from this sampler while they last and then maybe order a couple more. Perhaps I will be alternating between a couple of those. Why not, after all... I play all different sorts of music in different types of ensembles, it's good to have more well-working tools (than less).
That said, I had been quite happy with the new V21 reeds, before that I had been using exclusively 56RP for 15 consecutive years. After trying Pilgerstorfer I still find V21 highly usable and way more consistent than anything else Vandoren I had played.
Post Edited (2016-05-07 09:22)
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2016-05-07 23:17
Obviously, the longer the name, or more difficult to remember, pronounce, or spell- the better the reed. Why else do you think Rico became D'Addario?
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
Post Edited (2016-05-07 23:18)
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Author: Dm Zisl
Date: 2016-05-07 23:22
Haha, great observation. I was almost ready to say, I can't play stuff I can't pronounce.
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