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Re: Oboe profiler

Author: veggiemusician
Date: 2015-03-26 13:41

I have been using oboe profilers since the late 90's and I believe they are the greatest invention for an oboist. They save so much time and adds consistency to reed making. One has to be much more careful when it comes to gouging, shaping and tying on as any shortcomings will be reflected in a profiled reed. Also a profiler is only use to someone who can make a great reed by hand!

I have owned a K.Michel, Rieger, Reeds N Stuff and TA Machine and have also used a Bucher Profiler.

TA Machine.... Good for student reeds - that's it!

In my opinion the K.Michel Machine is the best. I don't feel the Bucher machine makes any better reeds at the increased cost. The Bucher may work well for a player who is not so good at reed making as the fine tuning adjustments are done for you. I find it quicker to get the reed knife out than place it back in the machine again. The quality of the scrape cut of the Michel is slightly above the Bucher, but getting the Michel blade sharpened can be very difficult. Both are top class machines.

Rieger is a crude basic machine that actually works very well. I feel it has the best Standard template of all the machines. However, it will not scrape a reed to playing stage and it still requires about 5 mins worth of hand scraping. The blade is easy to sharpen, but quality control between machines are poor. Every Reiger machine I have seen has a different length tip and some are off centre... try before you buy! Saying that, Rieger are among the best for after service and always quick to send out spare parts etc. Reiger is my most used machine - it can be thrown in a bag for trips as its small and indestructible.

My Reeds N Stuff is brand new and not yet received in the post, but I have used one for a few weeks. Its similar in concept to the Rieger, but has a few useful extra's such as being able to move the template about to change tip length. It produces an excellent tip and there are so many templates available - even by world famous players! Quality of scrape cut is just a little behind the Michel, but certainly produces better finished reeds than the Rieger that are more even and symmetrical. In fact I sold my Michel to get the Reeds n Stuff! The company is just light years ahead in terms of service and advice and I have had long chats talking about template options.

I sold the Michel because living outside of Europe I find it just too difficult and expensive to get blades sharpened. Template options are limited to 4 and none offer a reed style with a large step behind the tip that I like.

Oboists are so lucky today as even 20 years ago we had to book trips to Hanover and camp outside of Kuni's door hoping that he will answer to get machines! I can walk into Howarth of London and buy machines as well as ordering online from oboeshop.de, rieger and reednstuff websites.

Jerome Broun
Principal Oboe UAE NSO Symphony Orchestra

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Oboe profiler new

mjfoboe

2015-02-14 21:04