 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ddavani
Date: 2010-09-27 00:58
Lately, I've been talking to many different clarinetists who are all now advocating Rico Reeds. I've been using Vandoren V12 3.5's and there are still many other players sticking to Vandoren Reeds. Can anyone give some positives/negatives on the playability and the general feel of Rico Reeds (be it "Grand Concert" or "Classic Reserve") compared to the Vandoren V12's?
-Dave Davani
http://allclarinet.blogspot.com/
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2010-09-27 01:23
I have found a much greater level of consistence and durability with the Rico Reserve reeds than I had with the V12 reeds. The mouthpieces I have (both a Grabner K13 and a Smith Chedeville 1+) were designed/optimized fir V12 reeds, but I seem to have better results with the Ricos.
Jeff
“Everyone discovers their own way of destroying themselves, and some people choose the clarinet.” Kalman Opperman, 1919-2010
"A drummer is a musician's best friend."
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Author: xarkon
Date: 2010-09-27 01:24
Have been using the Grand Concert Evolutions for almost two years now. My experience is that the quality and consistency is much higher than the Vandorens - I have to work on virtually every Vandoren reed a great deal, whereas most of the Ricos require only minor work.
Dave
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Author: tonyl
Date: 2010-09-27 01:25
Dave, having played all three you have mentioned. I have found the Rico Grand Concert Select Thick Blank to be the best that works for me. I moved away from VD V12's several years ago. I found Rico to be the most consistent in longevity and performance all round. I tried several boxes of Rico Reserve Classic several months ago. They just didn't work for me. You may want to try several boxes of each of Rico's premium brand reeds. Ultimately you have to decide what reed best suits you.
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Author: NBeaty
Date: 2010-09-27 03:12
The rico reserve (red box) are unplayable on any mouthpiece\strength combination. The reserve classics are usable and some are excellent, although I found that I couldn't find the right strength. The 3.5's were nice, but were a bit light. Several boxes of the 3.5+'s later, they were too hard and a bit stuffy.
Grand concert\select and all variations I find to be sub-par compared to V12's, blue box, or reserve classic. Not even worth the effort.
Since switching to a Behn Vintage Model D, I've only played blue box vandoren 3.5. I get more reeds to work out of a box than V12's and the cut yields far superior response. I usually have two boxes rotating (broken in about a week or two apart) and have been playing two boxes for 6-7 weeks.
I know other players playing reserve classics, many of whom look at me funny and laugh a bit when they hear people still play vandorens. I laugh on the inside when they struggle getting a good sound or struggle finding a functional reed day-to-day.
Many people find success with non-vandorens, and I have in the past. I'm always back to Vandoren and am quite reluctant to join the "I finally don't play vandoren anymore" crowd without consistent results to justify it.
-Nathan
(I know many people have success with non-vandorens. I know William will be on here about forestones pretty soon. =) )
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-09-27 03:38
I'm an un- compensated Rico performing artist and use them on clarinet and bass clarinet. I use them because I like the tone, feel and consistency of them. But with that said it's an individual taste thing. Rico makes several different cuts to choose from but many players still prefer other brands. That's what makes the world go around, clarinet wise. I suggest you try a box of a few different cuts and decide for yourself. My preferences are the Thick blank and Reserve and Reserve Classic cuts but you may differ on your preferences. Try some, you may like them. ESP.
http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Eddydavik
Date: 2010-09-27 03:47
As mentioned, I find the Rico Grand Concert reeds more consistent in terms of playability out-of-the-box than Vandorens.
Edward Escobar
Suita City Wind Ensemble
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Author: Maestro_6
Date: 2010-09-27 04:28
I'd be one to speak for Vandoren, especially after I've just went through a good trial of Rico's GCS reeds. However, I prefer VD Traditional and the Rico GCS Thick Blank for comparison. To me, though the Rico's are very, very consistent, none of them just feel right to me in terms of being a concert reed. Don't get me wrong, some are of the most responsive reeds I've tried (even including synthetics), and they have a round tone. I choose Vandoren because (1) They give roundness to the tone, yet more depth and dimension, which makes tone sound more interesting (2) A good one is a GOOD one, and (3) These good ones are quite flexible, meaning I can go soft and gentle to bursts of energy without over-blowing or losing much quality of sound. This isn't just on my Vandoren mouthpiece, since I feel the same on a Gigliotti or Hite.
As I've seen others say, I always seem to come back to Vandoren. That being said, let me emphasize that this works FOR ME. You must self-assess.
Oh, and for the matter, I use the Vandoren M30 Series 13 mouthpiece, VD Blue Box 4's, Rovner Mark III ligature.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2010-09-27 15:02
Hands down Vandoren 56 Rue Lepic. They last and last and have a phenomenal sound particularly on mouthpieces with long lay facings.
I never got a Rico to sound good in the upper registers......thin, no meat.
................Paul Aviles
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Author: Ed
Date: 2010-09-27 15:06
Just to add-- I like the sound, consistency and response of the Ricos. I use Grand Concert Thick and Reserve Classic. They don't need much adjustment to play well for me. They are flexible sound great and last quite long.
Vandorens are fine and can work well. For me they take a bit more work to find good ones and work up. The Ricos allow me to be able to just play and spend less time and effort fussing. For years I tried many different reeds and always seemed to come back to Vandoren. In this case I feel as if the Ricos are a step up in many ways and I don't feel any desire to go back. (In fact, I sold off my old Vandorens that I had stocked up)
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2010-09-27 20:15
Everyone's going to have a different experience with their own sound concept, and equipment.
I played Vandoren V-12's till the early 90's when I fell in love with the sound of the Grand Concert Reeds.
I play both the Reserve, and the Classic Reserve and am an Artist for them because I like them the best, not because they are making me rich....
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: Maestro_6
Date: 2010-09-28 02:51
Agreed with Mr. Blumberg. -- However, I have been a little closed-minded as to focusing on Vandoren. I just realized that I haven't really tested my Rico GCS Thicks on my VD M30. Well, I pulled some out and was quite floored!
The response was as I remember (incredible). The articulation was as I remembered (remarkable). The consistency was as I remember (I could work with all 10). But the lack of tone color I was talking about... Well, on the M30 there was a myriad of colors! Go figure. I feel really confident about soloing in 2 days now! I must say I am very impressed by this match-up. If this remains, I'll be thinking of making a switch.
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2010-09-28 14:39
I've said it before here but with my test of 20+ brands/type of reeds the Rico Reserve(red box) has to be on the bottom of the list after Marca which I found have terrible quality cane(except the FG Premium). I found the consistence of the Rico Reserve to be all over the place and day to day stability to vary a lot. I haven't tried the Thick blank or Reserve Classic and I might at least like the Thick blank because one of the reason I really like about the V-12 is the profile and French file cut that give me more resistance feel and even sound all over the rance. That is one of the reason I don't like profiles like Gonzalez FOF or Vandoren Rue Lepic that sound nice down low but are more and more freeblowing the higher up you go(not even across the range) and just sound a bit too bright high up.
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Author: William
Date: 2010-09-28 15:22
After trying most major brands of cane reed, I always came back to the Vandorans for the quality of sound a "really good one" produced. And it was really a toss up between the Blue Boxes and the V12's. FWIW, I still have a couple of old twenty reed Vandoran boxes from the 1960's (2.5-3.0s, remember those days??) that I intend to open one day just for "old times sake". However, as I am now playing Forestones, they will have to wait a while :>)
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2010-09-29 18:03
I think the upmarket Rico brands are OK. Though the demo duopack Evolution were much nicer than what finally arrived in 10's... shame! I play GCS on Bass from time to time. But none of this stops me carrying Vandoren Blue Box as standby. It's still the standard by which all else must be measured, though I don't have the patience to wait for a 'hero' reed.
(... darn it, got Bonnie Tyler going through my head now ...)
There are of course other manufacturers, though their product isn't as widely available.
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Author: Maestro_6
Date: 2010-09-30 01:39
Blue Box and Traditional are the same thing (hence the packaging being a blue box).
I just did my solo performance on the Rico GCS Thicks. They have a great sound that fills up the air and projects well. The only thing I noticed was that they seemed be not have as much "pop" as when I performed on my Blue Box 4's. That wasn't a big problem as there was still good response.
That being said, the decision is difficult after seeing the great amount of good reeds with the GCS's. I believe the best VD Blues have a slight more something compared to the best Ricos... As a personal opinion, of course.
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