Who can share experiences with Fiberreeds?

[philpedler]

I have looked at the thread that Windy started in 2020.

There seem to be 6 styles at https://www.fiberreedusa.com/Clarinet-Reeds-s/107.htm,
and I don't want to spend the money to try each one at different strengths!

The different appearances like Carbon, Hemp, Onyx, etc look cool, but is that just the appearance, or are there tone differences?

I have recently reduced my reed strength for Legere reeds to 3 1/4 for the Bb and A, and 3 for the G clarinet.
How do Fiberreeds compare in strength to Legere Signature reeds?

Thanks everyone!
Phil

[lydian]

Not sure how strength compares, but I can confirm all will make you irresistible to ducks of the opposite sex.

[windydankoff]

Phil - I have been playing clarinet exclusively the Fiberreed Carbon Classic for the past 5 years. I have never found a better playing reed. They are all consistent from the first blow to the last. I keep 3 at a time going and I'd estimate that lasts me a year, at least. A minor chip occasionally appears after a short time but  makes no difference until more eventually appear.

I play soft reeds so I use the S. I also sell these, and most of my repair clients prefer MS. You can contact Dannie Hoffmann at the company and he can sell you an assortment to try and return what you don't want.

I use the Tenor Carbon Classic "G-Sax" MS for bass clarinet.

The Copper Classic is the favorite among my sax clients.

[philpedler]

 
... ducks of the oposite sex!"

Thanks for the valuable advice, Windy.  I'll report back on what I find out.

[philpedler]

Windy, please give me an email address for Dannie. The contact address at the Fiberreed site bounced: fiberreed@earthlink.net

[windydankoff]

fiberreed@pm.me

[lydian]

... ducks of the oposite sex!"

Thought that was a little more lighthearted than sounds like a kazoo. I also read the glowing recommendations then instantly regretted wasting my money. Unfortunately the only way to know for sure is to try it yourself. Best of luck to you.

[windydankoff]

The different versions and materials play differently. I didn't like the hemp or non-fiber versions, but I have one client who likes them all, and others who  don't like any of them. They probably match up with some mouthpieces, and not with others. Like all things in the clarinet world, this matter is highly individual and seems to transcends rationality.

I say "Try it ... you MAY like it" – and if you do, you'll be liberated.

I am especially grateful because I often appear with 2 clarinets and a flute and I live in the desert southwest, so it's a real nuisance keeping cane prepared. For others, it's not such a problem.

[LarryS]

Lol lydia 

[philpedler]

I got 4 clarinet Fiberreeds from Dannie and one from Windy.

2 Carbon Classic French M or 3 in strength. (one each from Dannie and Windy)
1 Natural Classic French M (or 3)
1 Copper Carbon Classic  2.5   
1 Hemp French              M (3)

The Copper Carbon Classic was way too soft. The Hemp reed was softer than the Carbon Classic, and perhaps darker in sound.

Taking the Carbon Classic and the Hemp models as a whole, I felt like the reeds are responding like a new reed, as if they are bending away from the rails of the mouthpiece. So although they play freely, there is an uncomfortable 'new reed' feel to them. I would characterize it as maybe a bit buzzy, and slow in response. This is felt primarily when I tried to play something with large interval jumps between registers. (And I am talking of playing the Bb or A clarinets here.)

I felt that this would probably work itself out rather quickly. But Windy told me (I think by phone) that Fiberreeds don't change like that. He said that they often develop a slight chip at the edge, but that this doesn't affect the tone. He said that when Fiberreeds fail and change in response, they do that rather immediately.

Windy, I will be testing to see if this is how it works for me. You play a Soft strength, and I play Medium. So I wonder if my M-strength Carbon Classic will warm up a bit and not have the new reed feel and sound, and I also wonder if my reeds will rather suddenly fail.

I think I will use my Carbon Classic M only for the G clarinet. If feels more open and easy-playing on the G. The G clarinet really deserves a bigger and wider mouthpiece. But since it still uses the same mouthpiece as the Bb and A, it is nice that the reed feels more open. It gives a beautiful rich sound on the G clarinet.

The hardest of the bunch was the Natural Classic M. That is the reed that is stark white in color. I will be able to play the Natural Classic on the A and G. Perhaps I will play it on the Bb also. I am pretty sure I would not want to play the M-strength Natural Classic in a band where I might need to play the first part on a Sousa March. But for when I play in church, it will probably work well enough.

I have ordered a Natural Classic M and Carbon Classic M for my soprano sax, and I will report back.

[DaveLeBlanc]

Boy, been a while since I've been in the synthetic reed game. I used to play almost exclusive on Fibracell 3 on soprano and bass.

For Contra Alto, I always used Legere, a softer one though I don't remember exactly which. One day I'll pick things back up.

[philpedler]

Small update: I was shocked that my Soprano Sax mouthpiece is obviously way different than my clarinet mouthpiece. The two M strength reeds we way too soft for me. I can't believe that they are rated as M strength. I recently played a VanDoren 3 1/2 on the Soprano Sax. Both Medium strength Fiberreeds were maybe like a number 2 strength.

The clarinet reeds are warming up a bit. For now, it looks like I will be able to use them.

[Fotogravinnetje]

I bought a new mouthpiece yesterday (Vandoren BD4) and a fibracell 3 to go with it. I decided to go for fibracell after reading several reviews for different brands of synthetic reeds. I am surprised how natural it feels to me to play it. Other than the fact that you know you get a good quality reed and you don't need to break it in like natural reeds I haven't noticed much of a difference with my best reeds (not that I have that much experience: I've still some unused reeds in my first box of 10). So I think I wouldn't be using any other reeds anytime soon. Maybe a stronger reed in a few months, because I'm still quite new again to playing clarinet. I think my embouchure is still developing

[windydankoff]

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.

[super20dan]

i have only experience with bass clarinet and fibereeds using tenor sax reeds. i have several of the carbon classic and copper carbon models in ms and m. not every mpcs works with these but when you find a match -its heaven-like playing the best setup you have ever played the coper carbon is brighter and faster responce while the carbon classic is closer to cane. strengths are a pretty close match to cane also. i plan to keep using these for quite a while. no squeaks.