Author: Bob Barnhart ★2017
Date: 2020-03-09 22:20
Paul,
WRT your Vandoren reeds settling in with a concave shape, I have been working reeds for the last year or so with the Reed Geek, whose designers specifically address this kind of warping. As I scrape the butt of a new reed during the break-in process, I see material being removed from the rails only in about 50% of the reeds. This would indicate that the reed has warped into a concave shape (from side-to-side). Less frequently, perhaps 20% of the time, I might see material being removed from the center-line of the reed, indicating warping into a convex shape.
I typically see reeds that warp from tip-to-butt in a concave shape. I will attempt to reduce this by scraping or sanding on a flat surface until I can detect no light between the reed an a flat reference surface (e.g., the Reed Geek).
I would suspect that the magnitude of reed warping in either direction is typically greater than any deviation of a mouthpiece table from being perfectly flat.
Regardless, I've found that ensuring that the bottom of the reed is flat has resulted in reeds that perform better (wrt both tone and response) with both mouthpieces having a concave table (e.g., Zinners) or a flat table (e.g., Vandorens).
Bob Barnhart
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