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Re: Reeds in quarter step strength?

Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-08-11 19:29

fuzzy wrote:

> I notice many discussions now indicating quarter steps in
> strength. Has this always been an option - or is this
> something new? If new - did it come about due to the synthetic
> reeds...or some other factor?
>
Some reeds have been graded in quarter strengths for years. They sometimes are identified as "+" - e.g. #3.5+ or #3+. Regular "Traditional" Vandorens by contrast have never come in quarter strengths and even skip from #4 to #5 without a half between them.

Synthetics are not the genesis of this.

> Final question: For those of you who use 1/4 step strengths -
> do you find consistency down to the 1/4, or do the reeds
> sometimes fluctuate up or down 1/4?

There is always a range of resistance within any box of reeds. With luck the average strength comes down incrementally with each gradation. I have no idea what 1/4 strength really means or feels like, so I can't say if the range is actually +or- 1/4 or something else.

Karl

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