 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Robin
Date: 2000-07-20 06:09
After recent posts, I'm asking whether people have found Vandorens to have dropped in quality, even from a year ago.
All year, I've found fewer great reeds and even fewer reeds which improve with any sanding.
I've been very loyal to good old Vandoren, and this is the first time I've noticed such a downturn in quality.
Rob
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Author: Graham Elliott
Date: 2000-07-20 16:41
There was a bad downturn in the mid 1970s.
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Author: Elke Schmidt
Date: 2000-07-20 20:24
I had been a loyal Vandoren customer for years when two years ago I tried Rigoletti Gold. I find that I can use 9 out of the 10 reeds in the box and I certainly would play publicly on 7 of them. Because these reeds very much suit my taste, I find I don't have to search for that one perfect reed and then try to pace my use of it so as to prolong its life for optimum performance work. What I don't like about Rigoletti are the blue plastic reed holders; they sometimes bend the sides of the tips of the reeds. And that is usually the reason why I don't get 10 good reeds. Sorry for the bad English.
Elke
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Author: Meredith H
Date: 2000-07-21 02:16
I had a good talk to a clarinet player that runs the Sydney outlet of one of the largest music retailers in the country about clarinet reeds. I said that I had always played on Vandoran reeds and was still happy with most of them but was there another brand he could suggest I try. He said that most of the good Vandoran reeds stay in Europe, there had been a major cane failure there recently and that in they were getting reeds from Vandoran that were still green. He suggested I try Grand Concert reeds which I had tried and hated. His other suggestion were Vintage XL or Grand Concert Reed Thick Blanks. The Vintage were OK but I loved the Thick Blank GC reeds. The Vintage reeds actually come marked with the year the cane is harvested so you know you are not buying improperly aged reeds.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-07-21 03:12
Meredith H wrote:
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He said that most of the good Vandoran reeds stay in Europe, there had been a major cane failure there recently and that in they were getting reeds from Vandoran that were still green.
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LOL! A common complaint among the European players is that the best cane is being shipped overseas and they're left with the bad ones!
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Author: Graham Elliott
Date: 2000-07-21 08:06
and in the 1970s the bristish players complained that the best reeds were being kept in France. No doubt the burghers of Lyon complain that the people of Paris have all the best ones.
Mark Charette wrote:
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Meredith H wrote:
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He said that most of the good Vandoran reeds stay in Europe, there had been a major cane failure there recently and that in they were getting reeds from Vandoran that were still green.
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LOL! A common complaint among the European players is that the best cane is being shipped overseas and they're left with the bad ones!
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Author: Allen Cole
Date: 2000-07-23 05:14
I have always been bothered by the quality of Vandoren clarinet reeds. I think that larger instruments seem to get the pick of the cane and we are often left with the dregs.
I've been relatively happy with Zonda reeds. I almost never have to throw one away. I'm also curious about Rigoletti's.
The big question is Legere. I use bari plastics on all the saxophones, but have never been able to use them satisfactorily on clarinet. If Legeres are as good as I'm hearing, I sure would be a happy camper.
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Author: mandy
Date: 2000-07-24 02:27
how do the Rigoletti Gold compare to the V12's in strength? thanks!
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2000-07-25 06:48
I totally agree to Graham's first post.
More specifically:
Reeds:
Old vandoren reeds sounded far better than the usable present Vandorens. It is not the matter of number of usables but tones! Very frustrating now. I should have bought many boxes then. I now buy many boxes of Alexander Classique since they may not continue to sell them after its owner's death(he is now alive).
Mouthpiece:
Somewhere around 1970, I used Vandoren 2RV. It was like a hand crafted one. Sounded great with old Vandorens. Peter Ponzol said somewhere typical defects is table flatness after material thermal treatment.
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Author: Ron
Date: 2000-07-31 02:56
Yes, I have experienced this also. One box of Java alto sax reeds was pretty much unplayable. You may get two or three good ones out of a box. Ron
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