 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: John Stackpole
Date: 2004-12-10 16:05
Searched the BB archives and found the most recent discussion of the Legere (plastic) reed is about 4 years old.
Any updates on quality improvements over the years? The Legere webpage says lots of good things, but one could hardly expect anything else. (They advertize here, too, at least recently.)
Are they really good enough to play professionally? (I'm sure not but that is a different story.)
The no fuss-no adjustment bother sounds kind of attractive. For real?
JDS
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-12-10 17:04
John Stackpole wrote:
> Are they really good enough to play professionally? (I'm sure
> not but that is a different story.)
Why would you assume not?
There are a number of professional musicians, (even some "regulars" who post on this board) who use Legere reeds professionally...GBK
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Author: hans
Date: 2004-12-10 19:09
Artie Shaw says that he played some of his biggest hits on plastic reeds and his sound was outstanding. Technology tends to improve over time; it seems reasonable to assume that plastic reeds should be even better now.
I have a legere that plays (IMO) as well as a good cane reed without the disadvantages of cane.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2004-12-10 20:14
It's a fiddeen dolla admission fee, Spanky.
Go find out, those of us playing them made the same leap of faith.
PS - Add 1/4 to the number reed you currently use.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-12-10 20:36
Legeres can't be clipped to be harder, but they come down about half a strength when you dip the tip in boiling water for about 1/2 second. Therefore, buy one a bit harder than your usual cane reed.
I use one all the time for practice.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2004-12-10 21:02
The tips of Legeres can in fact be cut with scissors to be harder, and elsewhere the reeds can adjusted with a knife (scraping heel to tip ONLY). Ask me how I know.
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Author: jim S.
Date: 2004-12-11 16:22
It's strange, but I seem to be the exception. I find that Legere's are stiffer than my Gonzales reeds of the same (or even 1/4 greater) strength. It may be a matter of the relative profiles and the curve of the mouthpiece I suppose.
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Author: Pappy
Date: 2005-01-15 01:10
Just got a Legere Quebec Cut #4 to try. I usually use v12 4's. I found it "softer" than the v12. Also, while the clarion and altisimo registers seemed to respond well and sound pretty good, the chalumeau register played very thin and pinched next to the Vandorens. Had my sons - both string players who think that all wind players are "button pushers" - listen to them side by side as well and they noticed the same thing. Since there is no way to really adjust them, does anybody know a way around this? (I was playing the Legere 4 with a Portnoy BP3 and an R-13)?
Post Edited (2005-01-15 01:12)
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Author: William
Date: 2005-01-15 15:23
After spending almost six months exclusively playing Legere reeds on my soprano clarinets--LeBlanc Concerto w/Chicago Kaspar #14, Legere regular 3.0 & "Quebec" 3.25--I have concluded that, while they play as well as cane and are "hassel free", they just do not produce the kind of sound that I like to play with--especially in the upper register (A5 on up). I am continuing to play them during scale excercises, etc, but have resorted to my trusty V12s for serious concert work.
Last Fall, Ted Lane wrote to me and reported that he sold his Kaspars (on eBay) because the Legeres he is now using "exclusively" did not play well on them. I believe that he said he was playing a custom Hawkins model. My experiance has been somewhat different. I found that the Legere worked best on both of my Chicago and Ann Arbor Kaspars, and not so well on my various other mouthpieces, which included a Hawkins, a Stowell, both Greg Smith Ched and Kaspar copies, a Ridenour, an O'Bien "OCM" model, and various Selmer and LeBlanc models. The sound bits from his website sound quite good (he is a talented clarinetist), but I have personally yet to hear a live clarinetist playing Legere reeds that produces a great sound. And that includeds the great Larry Combs who used a Legere reed on his custom Hawkins mpc during a clinic presentation at IMS and whose sound was "less than impressive" for that session. While he stated that he would "never use one with the (Chicago) symphony", he did mention that it is "nice to know that you always have a reed (Legere) in your case that plays". And I agree--Legeres are always ready to go with no moistening or extended warm-up......but for my ears, they just do not produce the sound.
However, on my larger instruments--bass clarinet and the saxes--I continue to use Legeres for all my performing duties and am satisfied with their sound. For combo and big band gigs, I do use Legeres on my clarinet as well and sacrifice sound to avoid the dry reed syndrome. But for my orchestral and wind ensemble concerts where I play soprano clarinet exclusively, I am once again playing cane. It simply sounds better than plastic--at least, to my old ears.
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Author: vrufino
Date: 2005-01-15 21:16
I am using them on bass clarinet and bari sax for pit orch. work. The sound and response are very acceptable, and I do not worry about wetting a reed between numbers.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-01-16 19:29
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Legeres can't be clipped to be harder, but they come down about half a strength when you dip the tip in boiling water for about 1/2 second. Therefore, buy one a bit harder than your usual cane reed.
I use one all the time for practice.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Ken - they can be clipped twice!!! Yes, 2 times.
I have a couple of students who play them and I have found that you can clip it one time after about a month and another time a couple of weeks later. Don't clip too much but you can absolutely clip them with a cordier (or any) reed cliper to get a second life to them.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-01-16 19:30
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The tips of Legeres can in fact be cut with scissors to be harder, and elsewhere the reeds can adjusted with a knife (scraping heel to tip ONLY). Ask me how I know.
David S.
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Hey David - are you a surgeon? I doubt I could even come close to clipping a reed to end up looking like a reed with scissors 
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