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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2007-04-24 19:54
Just putting it up. I was curious so I ordered some Grand Concert Select Evolution size 3.5. I'm switching between a Richard Hawkins B mouthpiece and a Fred Rast crystal mouthpiece to test them out.
When looking at them, I realized it's the first time I ever saw a thick blank reed that was NOT file cut (I've only ever played thin reeds not file cut, or thick reeds file cut). Also, when putting them against the mouthpiece, they're pretty long. The butt of the reed goes pretty far down the table of the mouthpiece.
Of the reeds, most were very consistent with their resistance and balance. Granted, these two mouthpieces are very 'reed-friendly', but most of them were playable (and probably performable) out of the box. A few need some tweaking, but it shouldn't be too hard to balance them out properly. It holds the sound very well from pp to ff and seems pretty easy to control the level of volume on the notes (one thing I always play is this intro to a song our quartet has where we have to play an eighth note on each beat at piano. It's usually hard to keep a consistent level of volume between the eighth notes as they are different pitches all over the range of clarinet, but it was slightly easier with these reeds. I guess they were more 'consistent' as to how it they were going to respond.)
I have yet to see how long they last, but if they last a respectable amount of time, they may end up as my reed of choice (for the record, I do change reeds MUCH less frequently than mouthpieces, so reed of choice actually means for a good duration of time when I say it)
Alexi gives them a tentative two thumbs up for initial impression and is waiting to see how long they last.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: CEC
Date: 2007-04-24 20:26
Hi Alexi,
Thanks for the review.
Do you think there'd be any benefit to a DIY file cut on them?
Chris
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2007-04-24 23:08
I have tried Evolution reeds and they died very quickly although I played 1st day=5min,2nd day=10 and so on but they died just second or third day af brakeing them in. I know of least two other people with the same result.
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Author: Allegremente
Date: 2007-04-25 02:32
I haven't tried these - how do they compare to the GC thick blanks? My main problem with the Rico products, even the thick blanks, is that they seem to be essentially disposable; they play wonderfully for about two days and then all of a sudden they die and leave you with the shattered husk of a once-wonderful reed.
Out of curiosity, what reeds were you playing on before the Evo's got your attention?
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Author: energia eolica
Date: 2007-04-25 03:59
The Grand Concert Evolutions are pretty good, but the new Rico Reserve reeds are even better in my opinion.
Although, neither one does it for me more than Vandoren V12s.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2007-04-25 05:07
I've played with these reeds for a while and I thought they were very good. I don't break in reeds or work on them.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2007-04-25 16:03
Like I said, I haven't played them that long, so we'll see how long I can get them to last.
I was using Vandoren V12 before them. I do like Gonzalez thick blank reeds, but the V12 (well adjusted) seem to just have a nice ring to the sound. I don't know how to do a DIY file cut, so I can't help you there. And I haven't played the standard GC thick reeds so I can't compare to that.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Mike Clarinet
Date: 2007-04-27 07:49
I used GCS evol. select for a time on my Buffet RC and Vandoren RV5 lyre mpc. I first tried them because there was a free 2-pack in my RC when I bought it. and was fed up with vandy trad reeds being so inconsistent. I liked the tone - a lot - but couldn't get a lot of power out of them. I also found that they did not last very long. They did seem to have a second life after blowing in, then putting aside for a time. I got through 3 boxes fairly quickly. I also found that strengh-wise, each box was consistent in itself, but consistency between boxes was very poor. The first box was no. 3 and for me, just right. 2 further boxes of no.3 were both too soft. I then bought 2 loose 3.5's to try out, but were too hard, and didn't want to waste even more money on a box of potentially too hard reeds. My conclusion is that with the RV5 lyre mpc, for me, - if I can find some the right strength, great for small ensemble, but not cor concert band, which is where I mostly play.
ps The lack of power problem was eventually solved by changing both mpc and reed to M30 & V12 #3.5.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2007-05-16 18:39
For what it's worth (FWIW) those reeds just started to die out on me a few days ago. So that gives them a life of about three weeks. Playing every day about two to four hours.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2007-05-17 15:08
These are OK. Quite a piercing sound, cuts to the chase. But I have a tendency to overblow on them, so they've fallen out of favour for the moment.
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