 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: David Eichler
Date: 2025-07-06 06:03
To soften these reeds, I have been using the technique of dipping the vamp section briefly in boiling water, which seems to soften them between 1/8 and 1/4 of a grade per dip. I have not tried to go any farther with this so far, since I am reluctant to risk making a reed unplayable on any mouthpiece. Has anyone tried to go farther than this without damaging the reed? If so, how much softer can you make the reed?
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Author: kdk
Date: 2025-07-06 17:05
Legere has suggested this from the start. I don't know why you'd want to go any farther - if the reed is too hard by more than 1/4 strength, trade it back for a softer one.
Karl
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Author: lydian
Date: 2025-07-06 23:29
I've found the boiling water trick only lasts temporarily. I've also boiled for a minute or more, and it didn't do much. Better to exchange.
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Author: David Eichler
Date: 2025-07-07 06:34
In my experience, the softening is permanent with this technique. Boiling for an hour? You are only supposed to dip the reed very briefly. I would think just dropping the reed in and leaving it there for much more than that would ruin the reed.
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Author: donald
Date: 2025-07-07 18:09
I've never tried this with Legere clarinet reeds, but for a couple of years played Legere exclusively on sax (classical style) and used this trick. For me the odd thing was it worked great for Alto sax reeds (in fact, for a long time I relied mainly on a couple of reeds given to me that had been softened this way) but when I tried it with bass clarinet reeds it never really worked out.
This will be just something to do with mouthpieces/voicing etc, but I thought it was interesting enough to mention....
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2025-07-07 18:11
I've found that I can get about a half strength reduction with boiling water. Longer immersion than a second or so doesn't add to the reduction but doesn't appear to damage the reed. The reed will slightly harden after dipping but only a liitle.
Tony F.
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2025-07-12 03:54
Hi All,
To exchange your reed with Legere' is a bit complicated. There are several things that impact the process such as submitting the reed with a receipt within 30 days. The steps are not impossible, but you need to be sure you understand the "fine print" to avoid any misunderstandings.
I did this a couple of times and the process, although somewhat slow, works but takes a bit of time.
HRL
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Author: lydian
Date: 2025-07-12 05:51
Actually it's a lot easier since Covid. They don't want the old reed back. Just fill out the form online and attach your receipt. New reed, any size or cut, arrives in a week or so. But you are limited to a small number of exchanges per year.
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Author: Jarmo Hyvakko
Date: 2025-07-12 12:31
My experience too is that the hot water treatment softens the reed only temporarily. I returns normal the next day. You could also try to soften a slightly hard reed by warming it up by rubbing it with your thumbs when it's on your mouthpiece.
IMHO, as the strength of the reed is the major issue in deciding if the reed is good or not in legeres, they should have a tighter selection of strength, in 1/10's perhaps. But the exchange system 5/year has left me satisfied, i usually get in the end as many usable reeds i have bought. And i am a heavy user!
Jarmo Hyvakko, Principal Clarinet, Tampere Philharmonic, Finland
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