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 Legere European Stiffness Dip
Author: WhitePlainsDave 
Date:   2017-05-23 05:11

I imagine some of you have tried this product at strengths closest to that of the cane you like (or as per Legere's conversion chart,) in addition to a tolerance of strengths around this target.

I like the product, almost enough to put down cane, and I haven't felt that way about synthetics, including other Legere product offerings, (and Forestones) until now.

For me though, they do tend to soften during the playing process, so maybe I need to buy some slightly stronger than my target strength to balance slight initial stiffness when first sitting down to play, for the correct strength for the bulk of a practice session as they soften during said practice.

I did buy a couple to adequately rest/cycle them.

Do people have advise on how many of them one should cycle if playing, say, 2 hours a day, or how often they should be played, or for how long during any one sitting? Do people have thoughts on how much, using Legere's own scale (e.g. .25 strength, .5 strength) they soften for them during a play cycle?

Do many/some of you find that the Euro's tend to go through an initial softening?

...not ready to BREXIT these Euros yet.

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 Re: Legere European Stiffness Dip
Author: kdk 2017
Date:   2017-05-23 05:41

WhitePlainsDave wrote:

> For me though, they do tend to soften during the playing
> process, so maybe I need to buy some slightly stronger than my
> target strength to balance slight initial stiffness when first
> sitting down to play, for the correct strength for the bulk of
> a practice session as they soften during said practice.
>

They do seem to me to respond a little easier after a minute or so of playing. I've never been sure if I've adjusted or they've softened, but it isn't drastic - not as much as a 1/4 strength.

> Do people have advise on how many of them one should cycle if
> playing, say, 2 hours a day, or how often they should be
> played, or for how long during any one sitting? Do people have
> thoughts on how much, using Legere's own scale (e.g. .25
> strength, .5 strength) they soften for them during a play
> cycle?

They definitely soften after 45 minutes or an hour of playing time. At a rehearsal or concert I change to a fresh one at intermission. When I practice, I rarely spend more than an hour at a stretch, so it's less of an issue, but if I continue later I use a fresh reed anyway. I have played them on consecutive days and don't think anything bad happens - they recover from whatever softening the previous session caused. But I have 4 each of two strengths (3.75 and 4) just because there's enough variation among reeds of the same strength that I sometimes prefer one specific one in a specific context. A difference between plastic and cane is that the variation remains reliably constant - I don't have to also worry about changes in the way a particular reed responds from one day to the next. Most of the Euros I'm currently using have been in use since late last summer. I have discarded a couple of them (cleaned them and gave them to a student, who liked them very much).
>
> Do many/some of you find that the Euro's tend to go through an
> initial softening?
>
I haven't found this to happen, but I think others have mentioned it.

> ...not ready to BREXIT these Euros yet.

They aren't going to play *exactly* like cane. The point for me and many others is that the slight sacrifice of sound is (in my current opinion) more than offset by the convenience and reliability Légère Euros offer.

Karl

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 Re: Legere European Stiffness Dip
Author: WhitePlainsDave 
Date:   2017-05-23 19:38

Thanks for your insight.

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 Re: Legere European Stiffness Dip
Author: ClarinetRobt 
Date:   2017-05-23 19:46

Dave/Karl:
I think I've mentioned this on another thread. During my excruciating outdoor concerts in Corpus Christi, TX (think hot/high humidity), I always switch my Legere (Euro Sig 3.75) half way through the concert. My reeds do get a tad soft after 45+ minutes of play. With softening Legere my pitch does suffer in extreme altissimo...anything above G6.

In a pinch (I forget to carry my reed case with me) I'll just raise the reed on my mouthpiece without incident. I don't notice the change on my Legere Euro as much in the winter months (cooler/dryer).

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 Re: Legere European Stiffness Dip
Author: toffeeman3 
Date:   2017-05-27 20:00

My experience of coated/synthetic reeds is that they don't play as well as natural cane.
I take an identical mouthpiece and second reed with me so it can be swapped quickly. These will be my "prime reeds" I like 2.5 so it does happen that they can become waterlogged and jam if you are unfortunate.If you cannot afford for that to happen then synthetics are an option.
The issue I have is that they are quite expensive so you cannot experiment with them(unless you have an unlimited buget) and find the right one for you.

07469847273

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 Re: Legere European Stiffness Dip
Author: WhitePlainsDave 
Date:   2017-05-28 01:48

toffeeman3: just so we're on the same page, it's not the we dislike synthetic reeds. In fact a general consensus is that the newest of the lot, the Legere Euro cut, while not perfect, gives cane a good run for its money and presents certain advantages (and disadvantages) to it, as well as improvements from prior synthetic models.

More issue lies with the length of any single play session on the Euros, without intermittent rest, which seems to be shorter than with good cane.

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