 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: SteveP
Date: 2015-09-02 00:48
Recently I noticed a problem with some Vandoren V-12 reeds from a box I just opened.
This was a box of V-12s (S4) that I had bought several months back with a number of other boxes, and it looked identical to the others. I opened the box and the reeds were packaged inside identically to other V12s. In rotation, however, I noticed that they played differently from my other reeds and seemed to be harder and sounded different.
On comparing them, I noticed that the thicknesses and profiles are different and they are stamped on the flat with black ink that says "Vandoren" rather than with the Brown ink that says "V-12" as on the other boxes. I have opened most of them by now and even though the boxes and wrappers are all V12 packaging, the reeds appear to be not V12s and may be the Traditional, though it is hard to tell.
This is the first time I had this happen, and at first I just assumed that they had changed the way they stamped the reeds, but now I think it is a packaging error.
It's not a big deal, but I thought my embouchure was going soft until noticed the difference.
Anybody have a similar experience?
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Author: GBK
Date: 2015-09-02 01:18
Does each reed have an individual code number (letters and numbers) on the back?
If not, they may be old stock reeds from a few years ago.
...GBK
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Author: SteveP
Date: 2015-09-02 02:02
No, now that you mention it. There is a UPC on the individual foil wrap but no numbers printed on the back of the reed like on the V12s from the prior box.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2015-09-02 02:34
Well, the brown, etched trademarking is relatively new - they used to be printed flat in black ink and didn't say V.12, only the Vandoren/Paris logo, so it was hard to tell V.12s from traditionals unless you recognized the thicker heels by eye. I don't remember now if the individual foil wrappers came before or after the change, so maybe it was just an old box.
Karl
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2015-09-02 13:35
Any chance they could be fakes? I heard that Vandoren introduced the serial numbers precisely because there were cases of imitation VD reeds made of poor cane. I've never knowingly encountered them, though.
The foil wrapper predates the change in lettering/numbering. But I don't think V12's have changed dimensions at any point - certainly not at a level that could be obvious to the eye.
Can you post some side-by-side pictures?
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2015-09-02 15:13
>> I don't remember now if the individual foil wrappers came before or after the change, so maybe it was just an old box. <<
I think it was long before. I have a bunch of boxes from the last few years with the individual plastic wraps and none of them have a serial number or V12 written on them. It's probably an older box.
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Author: Filettofish
Date: 2015-09-02 22:57
I've encountered some similar V12s and I can assure you they are not fake. My former clarinet instructor sold me a box, which he claimed to have bought from a reputable seller (I have no reason to doubt him) some years back. All had black ink stamps just reading "Vandoren" rather than the newer brown stamps and V12 logo, and all were individually wrapped in foil. I actually quite liked the consistency of those older V12s, I got almost all 10 to play quite nicely and evenly with minimal break in/adjustment.
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