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Re: Bravo reeds?

Author: Tony F
Date: 2016-01-13 18:45

As a follow-on from my previous post, I'm back playing again and I've given the Bravo reeds a trial.

They are softer than the number would suggest. I ordered 3's and the reeds I received were about what I would expect from Vandoren 2's or Rico 2.5's. As they were softer than I'm comfortable I decided to try clipping one. They can be successfully clipped, but the clipper must be very sharp. The material is quite hard. Removing a bare sliver of material brought them up to a more comfortable (for me) state.

They are a bit brighter than cane but produce good volume. I found them to be sensitive to correct placement on the table, rather like Legere's. I had no problems with articulation throughout the range of the instrument. I tried them on several mouthpieces and found that on one very closed mouthpiece they tended to squeak. On more open mouthpieces they were OK.

Do I like them? Yes, with some reservations. I wouldn't use them in a concert or orchestral setting, but they would be very useful in an outdoor setting. They don't produce the rich quality of sound that cane does, but for band work this would not be an issue. I used one for a jazz gig and it was fine. I think that doublers might like them. So far they have shown no tendency to soften, but they haven't had a lot of use yet. All 5 of the reeds in the box were pretty much identical in performance. These are all my highly subjective observations, your mileage may vary.

Tony F.

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