 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: zodiac
Date: 2010-06-02 19:47
Here is a question for you experts out there. I have a Fobes 4L mouthpiece. Great sound & tuning but I only seem to get one use out of an otherwise good reed. Does not seem to matter which brand of reed I use. Does not happen on my other mouthpieces (Vandoren M30, Grabner K11*). I am using a Vandoren Optimum ligature. I am a good player with many years experience but I have not come across this before.
Suggestions please.
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2010-06-02 23:06
It's really hard to say for sure. A few thoughts to consider...The facing of the mouthpiece may be off sightly, the mouthpiece may need to be cleaned or has been cleaned, causing the rails to be slightly off.
If the cane was cut too young, such as a year or 2 old will cause the reeds to collapse. There was/is a huge cane shortage, which I won't get into, and the cane now days comes from other places around the world, less and less from France. As a result cane from other countries simply doesn't hold up. Several years ago you could often get a reed to play for a very long time, before the reeds start to break down. That cane came from the VAR region of France.
If the rails are on the thicker side of your Forbes mouthpiece compared to your Vandoren this could very well be the reason why you are having trouble. The reeds don't seem to hold up, because they break down and with thick rails the vibation of the reeds are even more restricted.
You may wish to try other brands of reeds. If you have used other brands let us know what you've tried. By the way, even Vandoren is getting a lot of their cane from other countries.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2010-06-03 03:40)
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Author: William
Date: 2010-06-03 02:08
I've given up on cane reeds and am playing Forestone reeds exclusively on all of my clarinets and saxophones. And contrary to an earlier posting, I have found that the new Forestone 4.5 Bb reed is perfect for my vintage Chicago Kaspar #14 mpc. Great response in all registers, stays strong for the entire gig and is always ready to play. This new F4.5 Bb reed feels much like my older F4's which have lasted for six months and more. I have been playing it now for over three weeks and it has remained as resilient as when new.
For me, the sax reeds run a little stiffer than comparable cane and I am using F2's on my "Hollywood" Gregory alto and Guardala "Studio" tenor metal mpcies. For my Selmer C* alto & tenor mpcies, the F2.5 or F3 seem about right, depending on wheither I'm blowing big band or combo jazz. Like the clarinet reeds, great sound--all registers (altissimo is rock'n), always ready to go and never die half-way through the gig. In fact, they haven't shown any sign of strength loss since I started using them two months ago. Try them and you may trash all your cane reeds like I did.
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Author: 2E
Date: 2010-06-03 06:04
William, thats a great post that doesn't answer anything about the posters original question.
Zodiac, It sounds to me that Bob Bernardo's diagnosis is spot on.
If your Forbes 4L does not work with a large number of reeds when your Vandoren M30 and Grabner K11* do, assuming you're using the right kind of reeds for that facing, then the Forbes 4L mouthpiece may be warped. This often happens ever so slightly over time and may be invisible to the naked eye. I would suggest taking the mouthpiece to an experienced repair technician who may be able to measure the dimensions and if needed, possibly reface the mouthpiece.
I don't think the problem is with your reeds (whether they be cane, plastic or synthetic) as you mention this does not happen when tried on your other mouthpieces.
Hope this helps,
2E.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-06-03 13:11
If it is fault of the mouthpiece, which I think is unlikely but possible, in which case Bob is probably correct in what he stated. The other possibility is that you are putting more pressure on one side of the reed than the other because of the facing of the mouthpiece being different from the others. The final possibility is that you're not breaking your reeds in properly so they don't last long, especially if you're playing them to much right out of the box. If you haven't already, check my reed page on my website about breaking in and stabilizing reeds, it might help, then again, it might not but it's probably worth a reed, that is read of course. A little humor, very little. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
PS. I am a Rico performing artist so I'd recommend you try some of the thick blank and reserve cuts, they've been very good for me over time, maybe they would be for you too. You still have to break them in properly though.
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Author: zodiac
Date: 2010-06-04 16:15
I have tried Vandoren V12 & blue box reeds & Rico Reserves and always break them in so I think that is not the problem. Getting the facing checked out sounds like a good idea so I will give that a try thanks.
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Author: Chris Hill
Date: 2010-06-04 21:22
Are you using the same strength reed as on the others? The Fobes will require a harder reed, so you could be just using a reed that is too soft for the mouthpiece. If this is the case, the reeds are simply collapsing after the first use.
Chris
Post Edited (2010-06-05 16:09)
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