 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: BarrelOfMonkeys
Date: 2023-12-05 14:24
Got the Legere French Cut reed Saturday. I jumped from a 2.75 Euro Cut to a 2.75 French Cut. No airflow adjustments or embouchure adjustments needed, although for good-sounding tone, it required some adjustment. It felt natural.
It sounds exactly how Legere describes it: full-bodied, dark, and centered with lots of projection potential. VERY rich sound.
Intonation is about the same, but FC seems a little bit tighter in terms of pitch stability and effort required to hit certain notes in the green zone. Not sure whether it will play flat for others. That was a common complaint with Euro Cut, I think. Both are spot on in my setup. I have a well-tuned Lyrique (Ridenour) tooter with a Vocalise H and a Rovner Dark.
The FC is narrower, too. It's a little easier to bend/smear notes downward with embouchure. Good for the glissando crowd (jazz, klezmer, Balkan, Arab, etc), although some might like VK1 better. It has a different feel, too, like the reed is less noticeable when playing or something.
Euro Cut seems to be the current favorite among Legere users. I think the FC will take its place. I like it a lot better, and I'm sure the orchestral/chamber people will also like it better.
Ordered a 3.0, too. I'll get it by Friday.
Tom
The Cosmic Pipeazoidist
And people say I monkey around...
Post Edited (2023-12-06 01:17)
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Author: Gerwin
Date: 2023-12-05 19:06
Very happy with your review. I play a EC 2.75 myself, so now I feel confident buying an french cut of the same strength.
Thx!
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Author: LostConn
Date: 2023-12-05 20:17
I have a French Cut 3.25. I haven't tested it extensively yet, but in terms of strength, it seems comparable to a Vandoren VK1 40 and maybe a Euro Cut 3.25 on a Backun Vocalise G1 mouthpiece. In other words, it's comfortable.
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Author: BarrelOfMonkeys
Date: 2023-12-05 23:54
Sticking with the same strength as the Euro Cut I have worked out for me. Someone on Facebook who played EC 3.5 got a 3.5 FC and said it was way too hard. He's exchanging it for either a 3.0 or a 2.75. An employee of Legere told everyone to go up a quarter strength from whatever EC they were used to.
Tom
The Cosmic Pipeazoidist
And people say I monkey around...
Post Edited (2023-12-05 23:56)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2023-12-06 01:17
The strength chart that Legere has on their website suggests that the French Cut is roughly the same strength as the Euro Cut and may be slightly softer. For me it's one to one, but I had made a side trip to the Signature Soprano Saxophone reeds in the last few months (a half strength softer to match) so I cannot definitely say.
............Paul Aviles
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