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PlayNick Master Cut Synthetic Reeds

Author: zhangray4
Date: 2018-05-04 11:33

I think back in February someone started a thread regarding PlayNick synthetic reeds. There weren't many reviews and information regarding their reeds, especially their French cut reeds. Since it is a pretty well known company in Europe, I decided to order the Master Cut reeds from PlayNick. I expected them to compete with Legere. So I just wanted to share my experiences with these reeds after a few weeks, since there seems to be a lack of info on these reeds.

It took a long time for the order. The people I talked to said it was because the reeds are so popular, and they are busy meeting the demand. I ordered it sometime in February, and I received the reeds in April. However I don't mind the wait at all as I wasn't in a rush to try it.

Ordering procedures: Basically the reeds come in a box of three, and it doesn't have to be the same strength. They are much cheaper than Legeres (3 for 30 euros), but since I lived in the US, the shipping was a whopping 20 euros. But that's still a bit cheaper than Legere European Cut reeds. You fill out a "contact form" so that a representative will email you. And you order the reeds that way. Oh and they do not use the standard 1-5 reed strength, they use soft, medium/soft, medium, medium/hard, and hard. I play on Legere Euros #4.25, so I got 2 medium/hards and 1 hard.

The actual reeds themselves: They were a huge disappointment. First off, the reed doesn't look like it was precisely made. It wasn't symmetrical, and was uneven. The only advantage they had over the Legeres were that they were more free-blowing, playing at pianissimo without any hiss was fairly easy, and articulation was slightly better. But they had so many problems. The altissimo notes were really flat even when I tried to force it sharper. And I could barely go above A6, when I could get to C7 somewhat comfortably on Legeres and cane reeds. And the sound was just more spread and direct, something that didn't suit me. I tried different mouthpieces, different embouchures, but not much help.

So here's my review on the PlayNick Master Cut reeds, French cut, since not a lot of people have played on them before, and there seems to be a lack of info on them on the web. They just don't work for me, although maybe they work well on PlayNick's own mouthpieces? The material of the reeds are also very different than the ones used on Legeres. They are much harder, and the tip looked much less likely to be chipped than a Legere Euro reed. Also these reeds are advertised as grindable, but I didn't mess around with them. Maybe I will in the future when I have time.

-- Ray Zhang

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