Who can share experiences with Fiberreeds?

[windydankoff]

I also use Fiberreed Carbon Classic Tenor sax reeds on bass clarinet. An old plastic Vito MP seems best of anything I've tried. What mouthpiece do you find best for these reeds?

[super20dan]

selmer c* woodwind steel ebonite-runyon and brillhart

[super20dan]

the old vito bass mpcs were high quality riffault mpcs. i have one also

[Windsong]

I have not tried Fiberreed, but will place it on my "need to try" list.  I have liked the Fibracell reeds, but their longevity has changed recently, and they are costly.  Also, their quality has diminished of late.  The bottom of the Reed shifted and delaminated on all of the last batch I bought.  I believe I will return to Rico Royal 3s and stay put. In a box of 10, 3 are typically throw-aways, but for the price, I am okay with this.  The one fiber reed I can caution all to stay clear of is the Bravo.  You get what you pay for, usually, and these were very inexpensive.

[windydankoff]

I will remind everyone to recognize the distinction between the tradename products Fiberreed™ and Fibracell™. They are both synthetic reeds, but are totally different.
And Fiberreed makes about four versions using different materials.

D'Addario Venn is established now. Mine was terrible so they sent a replacement and it was worse. Vandoren has one out now too.

Bravo is a very cheap one for beginning children. They do make a noise.

[Windsong]

"Bravo is a very cheap one for beginning children. They do make a noise."
Indeed they do, Windy.  I was unaware a reed could be so bad, and think it provides a disservice to children everywhere.
Their slogan has me in stiches.

[philpedler]

Back to the original topic:
Dannie Hofmann has been super patient with me.
I tried a whole bunch of Soprano sax reeds, and almost all of them are too soft for me. I play a 3.5 Vandoren reed on the Soprano. I was very surprised that all the M and MH strength reeds were WAY too soft for me. But finally Dannie sent me a Carbon Onyx MH reed, and that was great with my mouthpiece.
I am currently waiting on a Carbon Onyx clarinet reed and have hopes that it will work better than my previous choices for the clarinet.

My suggestion for the Fiberreed company is that it would be good for there to be similarity of hardness similarity between all their reeds with differing composition. The Carbon Onyx MH reed is way harder than all the others. If all their reeds were similar in strength for all Medium Soft, Medium, MH, etc, then players could focus on the tone difference between the different materials.

[LarryS]

I had a fibracell that Windy sent me but it was. 1.5, way too soft. Would try a stronger one though

[Fotogravinnetje]

Welcome to the discussion! I like Fibracell too but for me, it did not always last as long as Fiberreed. Kindly let us know how well yours holds up.

I actually broke one in a stupid action. Although they played nicely, I wasn't really happy with the sound. Also our director likes a darker sound. So after some contemplating and research I decided to take the plunge and buy myself a Legere French cut. First thing I noticed: it is transparent. Really unusual look. Second thing to notice: a really plastic feel in the mouth, but within a few notes I didn't notice it anymore. It's really easy to get used to, and the smooth surface is really friendly to my sensitive skin, so that's a bonus. And I loved the sound and the way it plays.
After a few days we had our rehearsal night and one of the first clarinets turned around: it sounded really nice tonight! So I told her I changed to this reed. She asked me to play a few notes and then asked me if I could clean it before the next rehearsal and if she could try it herself. No problem! It's just a piece of plastic, so easily cleaned. Yesterday night she tried it and decided to buy one herself. One of the others heard about it and decided to do the same.
For jazz I would stay with Fibracell, but for a darker, more classical sound definitely go for Legere French cut. It is worth the price difference. Oh, and I never could play altissimo g. With this reed it came with ease AND in tune first time I tried!

[philpedler]

I'll have to try the French cut. I loved the Legere Signature series until I found that they were making me too flat. But that was before there was a French cut series.

[windydankoff]

I prefer crinkle-cut fries.

     couldn't resist  - I'll delete this later  :-)   

[Fotogravinnetje]

I prefer crinkle-cut fries.

     couldn't resist  - I'll delete this later  :-)

;D

[Fotogravinnetje]

I'll have to try the French cut. I loved the Legere Signature series until I found that they were making me too flat. But that was before there was a French cut series.

I'm really glad they developed the French cut. It was the only one I thought would suit my needs better than the Fibracell I was using, based on the description of the characteristics on their website. I found that description to be quite accurate

[Bea706]

Hello...I been a piano player all my life and stumbled upon a used clarinet yesterday at an Estate Sale...was gonna give it to my granddaughter but the more I looked into it the more I felt the desire to learn how to play it.
This one is an old Reso-tone Vito 3  7212
I ordered some reeds and will attempt to clean it inside out...
Probably will put it together as soon as I get the reeds and clean the inside and buff it outside.
To take all the parts of is a little more intimidating...
Hope it sounds ok and it's not too difficult to learn to play...
Bea

[DaveLeBlanc]

Hello...I been a piano player all my life and stumbled upon a used clarinet yesterday at an Estate Sale...was gonna give it to my granddaughter but the more I looked into it the more I felt the desire to learn how to play it.
This one is an old Reso-tone Vito 3  7212
I ordered some reeds and will attempt to clean it inside out...
Probably will put it together as soon as I get the reeds and clean the inside and buff it outside.
To take all the parts of is a little more intimidating...
Hope it sounds ok and it's not too difficult to learn to play...
Bea

Thanks for posting. Please start a new thread with your topic, this thread is for discussion of synthetic reeds!