What reeds go best?

[Jonathan Hurst]

I have a Yamaha Custom 4CM Tenor mouthpiece. I’ve tried both Rico Select Jazz, and La Voz, and they worked great until someone stole them. I have Vandorens V16s, and original Vandoren blue box reeds. Which of the two may work better?

[Z]

There’s no way for us to tell you what will work for you when you play them. The only way to find out if something works for you or not is to TRY IT. What works for one player might not work for another; that’s why they make dozens of different types of reeds, mouthpieces, and even horns for that matter, for all of us players to try out and discover. ;D You have to just try them and see if they work or not.

[Anonymous]

La Voz reeds are very similar to V16’s.

I’ve only got 4 mouthpieces, and i’ve found out in general there are usually 2 different reed brand types that are roughly equivalent.

my local music shop is run by staff who play sax’s in orchestras and jazz bands, and i often ask them what a reed is like, and they can roughly tell me how different types compare in terms of strength and which ones are better for different styles of playing.

At the end of the day you still have to try them, and keep a cross reference chart of similar brand types/strengths that work for your mouthpiece. But don’t be surprised if you change mouthpieces, they don’t work as well

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