 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: rick77
Date: 2011-10-16 23:15
I'm a lifelong sax player who now also plays soprano and bass clarinet. I've only had the bass clarinet for about a year now and haven't tried many different brands of reeds. The first bass clarinet reeds I bought were Vandoren (blue box) 3's but they wore out very quickly and sounded very thin on my Vandoren B-45 bass clarinet mpc. So I then tried Vandoren (blue box) 3.5 and they were extemely dull sounding and lifeless for me. I usually order reeds from WW&BW and don't really see any other options other than Rico reeds which I don't care for at all on my other clarinet and saxes, except for the Rico Jazz Selects and they don't offer those for bass clarinet at WW&BW.
What are some good reed brands for bass clarinet (not synthetic) that are readily available at online stores? I actually have been using tenor sax Rico Jazz Select 3M on my bass clarinet recently and I'm thinking that the 3H would work well on my set-up for Jazz playing.
I'd like to find a good bass clarinet reed for all around playing which for me would include Jazz combo's and community concert band playing.
Thanks for any helpful advice!
P.S. FWIW, I play Mithell Lurie #4 reeds on soprano clarinet with a Vandoren B-45 mpc. Very playable setup for me.
On tenor sax I play Rico Jazz Select 3M on a Doc Tenney perfected Otto Link STM 7* which is an incredible setup for me.
Soprano Sax - Rico Jazz Select 3M reeds on a Doc Tenney hard rubber 7 Otto Link mpc. A pretty good setup but not perfect.
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Author: claritoot26
Date: 2011-10-17 00:21
The Vandoren V12 bass clarinet reeds are somewhat better than the blue box ones, for me at least. Rico Reserve Classic is making the bass clarinet reeds now, as well, and I've only tried 1 or 2 and liked them. They are new, not sure they are on the market yet, I got samples at ClarinetFest. I use 3.5 in the V12, and 3+ in the Rico Reserve Classic.
Good luck.
Lori
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Author: LarryBocaner ★2017
Date: 2011-10-17 03:45
There are a lot of better bass clarinet mouthpieces than the B45. I've had a number of them pass through my studio; problem seems to be that the facing only wants to play loudly unless you use a too-soft reed--in which case upper register is sacrificed. Suggest that you try mouthpieces from Fobes, Garrett or Grabner. You might find it much easier to find reeds that play well with any of those.
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Author: john4256
Date: 2011-10-17 11:09
I use a Selmer 85 mouthpiece with Vandoren blue box strength 2 on my Yamaha Bass at the recomendation of my teacher and it made a hell of a difference stopping using a Yamaha 4* and Rico reeds.
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Author: Fishamble
Date: 2011-10-17 11:51
As is so often said on these boards: you're probably the only person that can make the call, so try as many brands as possible and decide what you like. Vandoren blue box 3.5 are the best for me, but you've already found them to be dull sounding. Someone else coming along and saying that Rico Reserves are the best is not going to be THE ANSWER.
I agree with the mouthpiece advice above. I started with some generic mouthpiece, then bought a Selmer C*, and then bought a Moba. The Selmer was a vast improvement on the generic one, and the Moba was again a huge improvement on the Selmer.
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Author: claritoot26
Date: 2011-10-17 13:53
Agree with Larry on the mouthpieces. I use a Fobes, and I know others who have great success with Lomax, McClune, Grabner...
Lori
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Author: rick77
Date: 2011-10-17 19:38
Thanks all for the helpful advice. The B45 plays well but I think a nicer mpc would definitely be a significant improvement, especially in the upper range on my Bundy bass clarinet. But the B45 actually plays really well in the lower to upper mid-register.
I plan on trying the Van Doren V12 reeds and hopefully try out a Fobes and/or Grabner LB mpc. It'll be a good while before I can upgrade to a nicer bass clarinet so maybe the mpc upgrade will help out a lot.
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Author: DNBoone
Date: 2011-10-17 20:12
Personally I keep going back to the C*. I made the round of Grabner, Fobes, and Behn. I did spend considerable time picking this one though since the C*s vary widely from piece to piece.
I do find the Rico Reserves play fantastic on the C* though. Always found regular vandorens to work best on Fobes and the Grand Concert Select to work best on Grabners. Just a thought to keep in mind if you switch MPs, you might want to try different reeds on the new mouthpiece if you switch too. Just because you like them on one MP you might like different ones on another MP.
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Author: time2walkthedog
Date: 2011-10-18 00:53
I started playing bass a year ago. Once I started getting used to it I upgraded to a C* mp and then figured I try a Legere plastic reed (3). The combination has worked well so far and I like the convenience of not playing the reed game (which I do still play with my B-flat... I'm still tied to conventional reeds there...call it tradition).
I find the Legere takes a little warming up (or maybe it is me)...but after about 10 minutes it plays quite nicely.
(BTW, I play blue box vandoran 3.5 on B* MP on my sop. clarinet as a point of reference)
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