 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: tdinap
Date: 2008-03-06 09:12
I'm about to make a large reed order so that I have enough for my term abroad to avoid having to pay for them in British pounds, and it got me thinking: how does everyone purchase their reeds? I've only ever spoken to one of my teachers about this, and it was a few years ago. I believe he said he buys them in bulk (groups of 50 or 100, possibly?). I've always wondered how many other people tend to buy, and how often.
Also feel free to mention any good deals on three months' worth of V12's...
Tom
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Author: NorbertTheParrot
Date: 2008-03-06 09:45
"to avoid having to pay for them in British pounds"
V12s at WW&BW are $22.95 a box. At Reeds Direct they are £14.30 a box, or £13.25 if you buy five boxes. £1 is $2, near enough. The UK prices include tax and postage - I don't know about WW&BW and whether they follow the strange American practice of quoting prices net of tax.
Unless you are buying enough to build a raft to sail home on, I don't think it's worth worrying about stocking up in advance.
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2008-03-06 10:00
Reeds Direct are very helpful, though their website has been a little flakey of late.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2008-03-06 10:04
"the strange American practice of quoting prices net of tax."
It's not really strange. The prices in WW&BW (and probably all stores in USA) are without tax because you only pay the tax if you physically come to the store to buy, or order to the same state as the store. If you order to another state you don't pay the tax.
In some countries, like mine and yours, you pay the same VAT anyway so prices without VAT are mostly irelevant (actually in my country there is only one city where you don't pay VAT!).
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Author: tdinap
Date: 2008-03-06 10:59
That's good to know about the price usually including tax and postage. I had based my initial estimate on prices listed online at Howarth, which after VAT are over £16, meaning at least $32 USD. Buying them here, they'd be under $25 per box, and on a budget already strained by exchange rates and tuition, that's definitely enough of a difference to warrant buying at least a few boxes here first. I suppose I'll have to look into that aspect of things a bit more this weekend...
Tom
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2008-03-06 11:37
If you get them from WWBW, you will pay (as said above) $2295 a box for the reeds. If you get 5-10 boxes of the reeds, you will only pay one shipping fee, and if you don't splurge on next day delivery, you should come out pretty well. FOr a shipment of say, 10 boxes of reeds, sent economy shipping, you should bay next to nothing for shipping. Often, WWBW will ship for free if the order is more than $100. Call and ask them.
Jeff
“Everyone discovers their own way of destroying themselves, and some people choose the clarinet.” Kalman Opperman, 1919-2010
"A drummer is a musician's best friend."
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2008-03-06 11:40
Tdinap,
VanDoren V12 Bb soprano clarinet reeds can be bought in packs of 10 or 30. I've never seen larger packs...has anyone else?
And for that matter, how come I have to buy my bass clarinet reeds in packs of 5???
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: GBK
Date: 2008-03-06 12:25
NorbertTheParrot wrote:
> V12s at WW&BW are $22.95 a box.
Be aware:
At WW/BW, only the #5 and #5+ V12's are $22.95. The other strengths of V12's are $24.49.
The prices of traditional Blue Box Vandorens also vary by the strength, from $16.49 to $18.75 per box.
As far as I can see, WW/BW is the only company that sells V12 and Traditional Vandoren reeds at different prices per strength...GBK
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Author: NorbertTheParrot
Date: 2008-03-06 12:30
Tom - Howarth's is a fine shop, no doubt, but you are paying Central London prices. Also their reed prices exclude postage and packing. There are several alternatives that may be cheaper for particular items both large and small, including Reeds Direct, Dawkes and Myatt.
Where Howarth's does shine is in its stock of sheet music.
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Author: Mike Clarinet
Date: 2008-03-06 13:37
If you told us where in the UK you will be, then some of us may be able to recommend a place close to you where you can go in person.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2008-03-06 15:59
re GBK's comment-
I am wondering if some of these are older stock? I have seen other items at WWBW that are sold at different prices and sometimes have wondered if when new items come in there is a price increase, but the older items remain until sold out. This may make sense on the reeds, as the harder ones don't sell as fast, being somewhat less in demand than the medium strengths.
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Author: Brenda ★2017
Date: 2008-03-06 19:35
So who of us actually buy a carton of reeds so that we can age them? Aren't they better when aged for 20 to 30 years?
I just used my last La Voz reed from the mid '70s... Actually I gave it away because it's too soft for my needs now so I can't tell if it got better with age. I think the oldest box of reeds on my shelf is only a couple of years old.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2008-03-06 20:43
Brenda wrote:
> So who of us actually buy a carton of reeds so that we can age
> them? Aren't they better when aged for 20 to 30 years?
I've been buying, playing and storing excess reeds for more than 30 years.
Although some may disagree, I think that virtually ALL reeds benefit from additional aging.
Since the 1970's, whenever I've ordered reeds, I always bought twice the amount I needed, dated the surplus boxes and stored them away.
I even have a pretty good cache of Morré reeds which I carefully ration out for special performances - and to remind myself of the "good old days" when cane was dense and produced great coloration of sound.
Currently I am playing on a mix of 30 year old Vandorens, 10 year old Gonzalez reeds and an occasional Morré from the early 1970's.
...GBK
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Author: redwine
Date: 2008-03-06 20:59
Hello,
I recently inherited 3 shoe boxes full of VanDoren reeds and another shoe box full of Morre, Lucien (I've never heard of these), and another brand that I can't remember, nor had I heard of, from the wife of a jazz clarinetist in Baltimore who died. We had both used the same bass player (Joe Byrd--Charlie's younger brother) for several gigs, which is how we met (even though we never met). This clarinetist last played in 1971, so these reeds are at least 35 years old.
I switched away from VanDoren several years ago because I was completely frustrated with their consistency. I am using the inherited VanDoren in my playing with the Navy band for ceremonies and marching and find them to be jut as inconsistent as modern day production. Thank God I have three shoe boxes full of them! I guess that means when I've gone through them all, I'll have found about half a shoe box that played.
Ben Redwine, DMA
owner, RJ Music Group
Assistant Professor, The Catholic University of America
Selmer Paris artist
www.rjmusicgroup.com
www.redwinejazz.com
www.reedwizard.com
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Author: GBK
Date: 2008-03-06 21:42
Ben,
I see we slightly disagree on the consistency of Vandoren's from the 1970's.
Sure, there were some duds in every box, but I've always found that the percentage of concert reeds in every box (even with adjustments/balancing) was higher than today. For sure, the cane was better.
One thing to remember, in the early 1970's there was only ONE model of Vandoren reeds, which today we call the "Blue Box" Vandorens. ALL cane was dedicated to this brand of reed
Only after the popularity of the Morré reed did Vandoren attempt to market a reed in response to the demand for a thick blank reed.
Later came the hand selected reeds, 56 Rue Lepic reeds, German and Viennese cuts.
I think all the different products have spread the company too thin (pun intended) and the quality has greatly suffered.
Isn't this similar to Buffet in the 60's and 70's when the R13 was the ONLY top of the line clarinet offered by Buffet and the best grenadilla went toward that model?
...GBK (who plays a 1965 and 1967 R13 with reeds from the early 1970's)
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2008-03-06 22:11
Norbert when it comes to mouthpiece,instruments,ligatures,cases and more then Howarth has the most brands in stock of any stores in UK both the ones I've looked at on the Ineternet Dawkes,Reed Directs and such and I've also been both to Myatt and Howarth and the price difference between them is not very much eccept Myatt has more often items on special offers.
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2008-03-09 20:39
Discount Reed Co. of Valencia CA sells V12's box of 10 all strengths at $21.15 a box.
Tradional Vandorens at $16.15 a box all strengths.
Clarinet Redux
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Author: GBK
Date: 2008-03-09 21:06
Old Geezer wrote:
> Discount Reed Co. of Valencia CA sells
> Tradional Vandorens at $16.15 a box all strengths.
A slight correction - It's now $16.40.
They went up when you weren't looking ...GBK
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2008-03-10 00:26
What can I say about reeds???
Well, they are much too expensive but we are talking about an inelastic market....similar to tobacco and scotch. We have to buy them or make them.
The best reeds I have ever used I made. But I do not have time once I had kids. So that is no longer an option until I am retirement age. And then no one will care how I sound.
So what's left?
Vandoren's are cut well but their cane quality is erratic as best. I have been lucky to live in Chicago and make use of their distributor's tip indicator. That works....about 50% of this method works.
I have been using Gonzales FOF and the cane is really great. They tend to run hard so be careful and order a size weaker then you might with VD.
I work on them. And they have nice resistance due to the nice grade of cane.
I also have played on Legere reeds with great success. So go figure.
The most important thing to remember is that a reed beats against the mouthpiece rails and can be made of any flexible material that is comfortable and gives a quality of sound that is pleasing to the ear.
Even Kryptonite.
Good Luck to All!!!!
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Author: 53engine
Date: 2008-03-10 21:53
I find it very interesting and telling of the human condition that when I was a kid taking lessons in the late 50's, my teacher swore that the reeds had never been good since the Germans bombed the French cane fields in WWII. Now we are saying that our reeds aren't as good as the ones that weren't as good as the ones 20 years before that.
I bet in 20 years, players will be saying, man if I could only get reeds as good as they used to be in the early 2000's.
If you're a clarinet player, you need to get a grip on the reed thing. Probably percussion people say that you just can't get mallets like they used to make them years ago, Those were really mallets.
I never buy reeds. I get all my buddies to send me all of the "bad ones in the box", then work them until they play the way I want them.
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Author: voodoosausage
Date: 2008-03-11 13:17
Just for all to know - weiner woodwinds (20.75 for a box of v12's) has free shipping right now for orders over 60$
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Author: C2thew
Date: 2008-03-11 16:04
"Although some may disagree, I think that virtually ALL reeds benefit from additional aging."
with the exception of rico reeds. add to that: (with the exception of rico grand concert and select reeds)
=)
Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. they are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which was already but too easy to arrive as railroads lead to Boston to New York
-Walden; Henry Thoreau
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