Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2011-10-10 17:53
Does anyone know what the nominal blank thickness is for V12s?
I've been measuring a number of them over the past few days as a kind of project. I started out wondering which of a couple of different brands and models were made from thicker blanks than other others, as a possible way to predict (or at least explain) their response and sound characteristics. The other brands and models will have to wait a little longer, though, because I became fascinated with the surprising (to me) disparity among the V12s I've measured.
The samples I've used - several dozen reeds, all #4.5 - are of varying ages (I don't have them time-stamped in any way) and range from 2.89mm all the way up to 3.37mm, all measured for valid comparison on the bark just below the end of the vamp (many of them taper to a smaller thickness down at the butt end). A sample of 10 reeds from a box I just opened this month (with purple print instead of the old black) - all of which, BTW, are unplayably stiff out of the box - range from 3.08mm to 3.22.
The interesting thing to me is that, although I would have expected the thicker ones to be consistently stiffer (more wood) or more vibrant (softer wood from deeper in the tube), there really seems to be no correlation between playing strength (resistance) and the thickness. So the resistance level and, it would seem, the sound quality itself comes from dimensions elsewhere as well, at least in theory, as the natural density of the piece of cane the blank was made from.
I did measure a few 56 Rue lepic samples (which was actually the real genesis of this project), because I wanted to see if there really was a difference. I found the range to be similar, so that some of the Rues were thicker than some of the V12s and thinner than others. I haven't yet measured enough of my Rues to know how wide the range actually is for them, though right now I suspect it's about the same as for V12s.
I've not measured any Vandoren traditionals nor any of the Rico models - that will have to be later.
So the underlying question that originally prompted all of this measuring was, what really is the effect of the thickness of the blank on the reed's performance qualities? So far, I'd have to say I suspect it's mostly marketing hype and that the actual cut of the vamp and, perhaps, the cane's natural vibrancy, have everything to do with how the reed plays (or doesn't).
I'd be interested, if anyone knows, what the blank thicknesses of these Vandoren models are *supposed* to be and what causes the range I'm measuring.
Also, for anyone who makes his/her own reeds, do you try to maintain a consistent thickness in the blanks you use, or is it more a matter of sanding the section of tube flat and working with whatever the resulting thickness is?
Karl
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