Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-07-21 05:08
Matt74 wrote:
> In many
> cases you can pick out at least one or two reeds that are duds
> simply by looking at them in the light. The tip may be clearly
> darker on one side, the cut looks wonky, or the grain is not
> parallel to the center line.
I don't know how old you are, but this was much worse when i was a student in the 1960s. It was really incredible what some of those reeds looked like on a light table - no wonder so many players made their own!
> I have wondered if it is possible to shape the reeds as
> precisely as they let on. Wood changes shape from the time it
> is cut until it wears out. The shape it was finished in won't
> be exactly the same as when you get it.
That's exactly why cane is the best of bad alternatives and why synthetics are gaining adherents. That and all that follows in that paragraph in your post is why cane reeds can't be really consistent and why they change from one day to the next, especially when new.
> Reed manufacturers could do their customers an immense favor
> by classifying the type of cut (in easily understood terms) in
> each box. For example "thin tip - thick vamp" etc.,
Maybe avoid general terms altogether and give the tip thickness and thickness of the blank in millimeters or fractions of an inch. It wouldn't account for any of the possible variations in the cane itself, but it would tell you a little about what the manufacturer is trying to produce (in comparison with other manufacturers) - gets back to the issue of design.
> They could also grade cane
> like "Premium cane, Var Region", or "Raw bamboo refuse from
> someone's backyard".
Don't most of the major manufacturers claim that their cane is either from the Var region or some specific region in Argentina? Anyway, what is "Premium" cane? They'd all claim that description and the term would become as meaningless as it is for whiskey or steak.
I agree with you, but commercial advertising being what it is, once you get past tip and blank measurements (and those might change from cutting machine to opening the box at home), you can't count on the meaning of anything more.
Karl
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