 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: kris
Date: 2000-03-22 01:48
Has anyone tried the fibracell reeds? If so, are they worth the price?
Thanks!
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Author: Jim Carabetta
Date: 2000-03-22 02:09
I think so, Kris. I use them for clarinets, as well as alto, tenor and "C" sax. Thjey'll pretty much last forever as long as you don't bend them, and they don't need wetting/soaking/break-in.
Being just about moisture-proof, they don't soften as you play, so use a strength just a tad softer than you would with cane. I'd suggest a medium or a medium soft to start with. A medium-hard, until you get used to them, will be like blowing on a brick.
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Author: paul
Date: 2000-03-22 15:12
Gotta agree with Jim's posting on this point. The medium-hard Fibracell reed is a bit stiff and takes a lot of air support just to get it to work. I believe that this particular reed in the medium-hard strength is too hard for an adult novice. At least it was for me. I'm not going to buy another medium-hard Fibracell reed. As it was, my tutor had to shave the reed with a very sharp knife to get the reed to behave better. There was some improvement, but not enough for me. I still have my Fibracell reed somewhere, but darned if I know where I put it. As Jim mentioned, this particular reed is nearly indestructable, which makes it a good back-up reed, especially for very rugged environments on seldom used horns that can't be warmed up in time for performance.
IMHO, the Legere reed is a much better candidate for this kind of work. It does tend to get a bit soft after warm-up, so keep this in mind when using the Legere reed. However, because the Legere reed is built from a microtubular base (long, stringy strands of plastic fibers deep inside the reed) that's more like a natural cane reed, I believe that it mimics a cane reed's frequency response behavior much better than the solid plastic Fibracell. I still believe that no plastic reed can compare to an excellent quality, broken in, and customized cane reed. On the flip side, plastic reeds last an extremely long time compared to natural cane reeds. Both of these plastic reeds build up moisture very fast, compared to an equal strength natural cane reed. I have found that I need to take the reed off the mp and swab everything out more often when using any plastic reed.
From what I can remember, both the Fibracell and the Legere reed are roughly equivalent in price, which is about 10 times the price of a single cane reed ($1.50 US retail for one cane reed vs $15.00 US retail for one plastic reed).
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