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RE: Recent VanD's

Author: Gregory Smith
Date: 2002-06-28 04:44

Well, yes and no. Vandoren simply changed the cutter that trims the tip of the V12 in the last few months and now the curve of the tip is slightly straighter across - less rounded at the tip corners.

Whether it fits the Vand. mouthpieces more accurately is one thing. Whether this is therefore *better* for Vandoren mouthpieces than other mouthpieces is highly a doubtful claim from what I've been able to determine. However, the change in how the reed responds and feels will be evident to most since the reed dimensions have changed irrespective of what mouthpiece one plays.

Vandoren has purchased land for more of their own cane fields near their factory in France instead of relying on Argentinian cane as they had in the past. It is taking some time for them to grow enough cane to keep up with demand for the V12 (the V12 cane tube is larger and is also used for sax reeds). Until they have enough land and cane fields to be able to harvest more cane overall, they won't have access to as much of the larger, thicker tubes for thicker blank reeds like the V12. This limits the amount of stock from which they have to select and perhaps the quality control is not up to high enough standards for lack of supply on which to draw. This doesn't mean of course that Vandoren should put this inferior cane in the box anyway.

All one has to do is look at the quality of fibers in the present V12 3 1/2's compared to let's say the Gonzalez and see that Vandoren is having quality problems with their cane. No fibers in the heart going to the tip (lately) means an immediate disqualification of most of the reeds in the box. But then again there are consistency problems when they do have a run of boxes where the fibers go high enough up into the heart of the reed. Changing the tip configuration AND having a run of extra bad looking cane is a double whammy.

I think GBK is right when he speculates that the worker in the factory chosen to put the one reed in the box that plays is out of town. They probably demanded a vacation to save their reputation - at least until the cane bound for their inspection at least seems to "look" right again.

Gregory Smith

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Recent VanD's new

William

2002-06-27 16:36