 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bart
Date: 1999-08-24 11:53
I´ve just searched the archives for talk on Legere reeds, and most of it dates back to March and before.
I´ve played on two Legere reeds since somewhere in April. I broke one about six weeks ago, by pressing it against the mouthpiece with my thumb. The reed cracked, but still played quite OK for a couple of weeks. Now that there´s only one reed left (still have some old Vandorens as backup), it appears to be losing some of its tone quality . Maybe because it does not get enough time to recover?
For me, it´s time to order some new Legeres.
I was wondering how others´ Legere reeds are doing.
Anyone?
Kind regards,
Bart
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Author: Mario
Date: 1999-08-24 12:28
Hello:
I am also a keen user of Legere reeds. I have been for about one year now. In general, I am very happy with those reeds.
I use 6 reeds in rotation out of a pack of 10 that I bought then. I change reed every hour or so (because they soften a bit after about one hour of playing). But I also noticed that my reeds seem to be getting a little bit weaker over time. I will be ordering another batch of 10 to keep my supply of reed fresh.
These reeds are made of and advanced synthetic material. They work hard and vibrate constantly. Any material (including synthetic ones) will eventually loose their structural integrity when subjected to the kind of motions (in the form of fast vibrations) reeds are.
As well, we had a very hot humid Summer in my area. On hotter days, I experienced a definite loss of tone quality with everything becoming too bright and too thin. It is probably another side effect of the behavior of this synthetic material under extreme conditions. I talking about playing at 85F with 75% relative humidity...
But these issues (which have to be understood and managed) are relatively minor compared to the lack of reliability and predictability that I have experienced all my life before discovering the Legere. The response, tone quality and intonation that I get out of those reeds is amazing. I simply will not switch. I am perfectly happy to buy, once a year, a fresh batch of these excellent reeds if it is what it takes to keep them lively.
As well, I understand that Legere just started producing his reeds with a new high-precision piece of machinery yielding measurable improvement in the cut of the reeds. I cannot wait to see if these mechanical improvements in the cutting (in particular, the enhanced symetry of the resulting product) will also generate improvements in reed performance.
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Author: Bonnie
Date: 1999-08-24 12:49
I, too, recently banged up my "favorite" Legere, and it's limping now. I have an order in for another couple, but since they have to be ordered through the WW&BW now, no telling when I will get them. They told me when I placed the order that they were on back order and could give me no estimate of when they'd come.
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-08-24 14:06
I have three Legere reeds of varying strength from the initial process. I also have three Legere reeds of the same strength of very recent vintage. I believe that I was one of the last people to order directly from Legere.
The recent batch of reeds seems to be even better quality than the original batch. Keep in mind that these reeds are extremely expensive, compared to natural cane reeds, so breaking a Legere reed is an expensive mistake.
I only play for an hour a night and I swab out at about the 30 minute mark. The horn never leaves its safe and cuddly nook in my temperature and humidity controlled house. At this very gentle rate of use, all of my Legere reeds should last for years.
I am surprised that the Legere reeds seem to break so easily. Here's what I personally do to prevent such a tragedy. I stole a couple of my Vandoren reed holders from retired natural cane reeds. I use these to protect the Legere reeds in storage. I treat the Legere reeds with as much kindness and TLC as a natural cane reed, especially during installation on the mp and during removal from the mp.
As for WW/BW stating that Legere reeds are on back order and they don't have a clue for delivery time, I'd say there is something wrong somewhere in the distribution chain. Whenever I ordered directly from Legere, the reeds always arrived in my mailbox within 2 weeks. It shouldn't take much time to turn around the reeds from the manufacturer and send them to the customer. If you don't get your reeds within 3 weeks, write WW/BW immediately.
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Author: Bart
Date: 1999-08-24 14:31
Breaking reeds will always happen, there are always moments you´re a little less careful (at least, there are moments that *I* am).
Every now and then, when I stop playing to look at the score, I press the reed towards the mouthpiece. Just like I always did with natural reeds, it´s just a habit that I picked up. I learned it from my teacher to make a new reed play a little more comfortable when it´s young.
At the time, my teacher was surprised at the sound of the Legere, more ´classical´ than he´d expected from plastic. He bought a Fibracell to try a synthetic for himself. When I showed up for my next lesson, he had broken the thing in the same way I would later destroy my Legere. The Fibracell, however cracked it was, did manage to sound quite OK for a couple of months (being used not too intensely), just like my Legere.
I never broke any cane reed in this way, but then, once a cane reed was damaged, it sounded like (....).
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-08-24 14:39
Bonnie wrote:
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I have an order in for another couple, but since they have to be ordered through the WW&BW now, no telling when I will get them.
----------------------
Not quite true. You can order them via International Music & Brook Mays, too. Maybe they have some in stock ...
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-08-24 18:03
Can I still order directly from Legere? Mr. Guy Legere seems to be a very straightforward and honest businessman. At least that's what I've personally experienced from him and his company in my past dealings. His products great, too.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-08-24 18:30
Paul,
The Légère Web site (www.legere.com) shows only Canadian and
"International" (other than US) ordering directly from Légère.
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Author: Rob Maeda
Date: 1999-08-25 00:28
I recently purchased 2 Legere reeds, but haven't tried them yet, so i can't comment on their quality. However, in the process, I received an E-mail from the Legere people confirming that they were only selling in the US via their distributors. I was able to get my reeds through IMS. They were prompt, friendly, and shipped the reeds out to me that very day (as opposed to WW&BW, who never got back to me).
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-08-25 16:57
What's the price for a Legere soprano cl reed from the resellers?
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Author: Wyatt
Date: 1999-08-25 23:16
I paid $15 plus tax at Brook-Mays in Oklahoma City.
Wyatt
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Author: Daniel
Date: 1999-08-26 04:37
Mario wrote:
-------------------------------
As well, we had a very hot humid Summer in my area. On hotter days, I experienced a definite loss of tone quality with everything becoming too bright and too thin. It is probably another side effect of the behavior of this synthetic material under extreme conditions. I talking about playing at 85F with 75% relative humidity...
I hate to imagine how they would play here in Houston where it's 95+ degrees.. although it's abut 50% humidity except when it rains, then it's up in the 90% range for a couple of days...
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Author: Frank
Date: 1999-08-27 06:51
I just gave one to my jazz instructor - he is a professional musician as well as a third level teacher.
He is very satisfied with it. Since he plays several hours a week, I will get a reasonable history on how well this reed lasts.
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-08-31 14:52
I paid $12 per reed (excluding shipping/handling) for the reeds directly shipped to me, yet B/M sells them for $15 each (excluding taxes)? Sounds like the retail music industry in the US took another perfectly good idea and is taking us to the cleaners on it. I love the product, highly respect the inventor/manufacturer, but loathe the "new" pricing and distribution scheme for the US. On the plus side, I do have to admit that this scheme should make Legere more money a lot quicker, which is the nature of the game. I just hope that the new found riches are used to make the product and the renowned warranty service even better. Now, that would be worth the money.
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Author: Bart
Date: 1999-09-01 16:36
Delivery times for ´International Customers´ are very good, by the way: I received my reeds within one week (in Continental Europe) after having placed the order.
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