The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: NOLA Ken
Date: 2019-12-02 06:55
One of the clarinetists in the community band I play in is playing "Platinum" Bb clarinet reeds, apparently Royal Platinum brand reeds. I've never heard of them and the only mention on the web that I can find anywhere (including here) is that of a vendor in Hawaii who sells them. Apparently they are made in the USA. Does anyone have any experience with these reeds?
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Author: NOLA Ken
Date: 2019-12-03 02:16
The Corbin Clarinet Products blurb at his web site for these say that they are made in the USA. The address given at the Royal Global web site lists the contact person for the Royal Global firm (which apparently produces them or at least sells them under their name) as Brian Corbin in Bedford, Massachusetts. Nothing says where the cane is coming from.
But my primary question is: Has anyone here actually tried them?
(As for Royal Global, I picked up one of the Royal Global Cohler fatboy-style barrels on that auction site and it's beautiful and definitely improves the sound of my vintage R13. And their clarinets are very uncheap.)
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Author: elmo lewis
Date: 2019-12-04 20:19
The original website was royal-musical.com. globalroyal was their international branch. Looking up royal-musical on the Wayback Machine suggests a Chinese origin for the company.
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Author: Ken Lagace
Date: 2019-12-15 00:34
First Impressions;
I always buy reeds 1/2 strength harder to tweak them down to 'perfection'. I ordered a box of #4s and they are very hard! I had to take them down a lot to be playable.
The cane looks great and the cut shape is near what I like, and very consistent. However they are consistent with imperfections. With all 10, the left side starting 1/2 inch from the tip to the bark is stronger (thicker) than the right side and there is a 'dip on both rails 3/4s of an inch from the tip. They sound 'imbalanced' until these anomalies are corrected. After working on five, one is a beauty, a 2nd is pretty good, and I think the rest will be fine. If the cane is good, there is always a fantastic reed in there waiting to be released.
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Author: Ken Lagace
Date: 2019-12-16 17:02
Update;
Four of the five are gems. the other is still coming along. The cane is great and I am expecting them to last a long time.
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