Saxophone Forum


by saxxything78
(14 posts)
19 years ago

Flying Goose soprano sax reeds?

Does anyone know and/or heard of Flying Goose soprano sax reeds? That's what came with my cheapo sop sax I bought. To tell you the truth, it appears to be the only reed I can get a "good" tone with. It's a 2.5, and from the sound, it must be a "soft" reed. I could barely get a note out with a Vandoren 2.0! What the @#$%? Does anyone know of a "good" equivalent to this brand? I don't even know where to start.

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  1. by sax_maniac
    (984 posts)

    19 years ago

    Re: Flying Goose soprano sax reeds?

    I've heard those Flying Goose reeds really honk. Assuming you have a stock soprano mouthpiece, Vandoren 2's are probably a bit soft. At least your intonation and control will suffer on a more closed tip. I've been really happy with Vandoren 3 traditional and 3-1/2 Java. Try a harder reed. It may actually play easier as it won't pinch off so easily. Are you new to soprano? What mouthpiece are you using?

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    1. by saxxything78
      (14 posts)

      19 years ago

      Re: Flying Goose soprano sax reeds?

      Yes, I'm new to soprano. I'm a tenor player by nature. I bought a Selmer S80 C* mpc. I researched these reeds on Ebay, and they were only available for alto. The picture had Chinese or Taiwainese writing on it. The sop is a Bandnow from WWBW. It comes with a straight and curved neck. The sound isn't all too bad considering the low price I paid. I just ordered some Helmke 2.0 reeds from music123 last night. I've got a Vandoren 3.0, and haven't even tried it. I honestly don't think a harder reed will do, but I'll try the Vandoren tonight.

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      1. by sax_maniac
        (984 posts)

        19 years ago

        Re: Flying Goose soprano sax reeds?

        C* is a good facing for the S80 sop mpc. Give the Vandoren 3.0 a soak before you play it and spend some time breaking it in. I play an old Selmer piece that I've refaced to what is halfway between an E and F facing, and Vandoren 3.0 turns out to be optimum for me - I go to 3.5 if I need more resistance or a slightly darker tone. When I've put on 2 or 2.5 reeds, I haven't liked the tone and the intonation starts to suffer. Have you checked your horn with a leak light? I doubt that music 123 did a full set-up. Even if they said they did, it's worth doing a check yourself. Sopranos are unforgiving when it comes to pad leaks - you can normally get away with slight leaks on tenor, but sopranos are much more fickle. Just do that check to be sure that it's not the horn before you invest too much time, effort, and money on reeds.

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        1. by saxxything78
          (14 posts)

          19 years ago

          Re: Flying Goose soprano sax reeds?

          where would one get a leak light?

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        2. by sax_maniac
          (984 posts)

          19 years ago

          Re: Flying Goose soprano sax reeds?

          Buy a 6 foot stretch of rope lighting at a hardware store like Home Depot. Maybe a $10 purchase. The multiple lights in those are quite bright so you can check the whole horn at once.

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        3. by sax_maniac
          (984 posts)

          19 years ago

          Re: Flying Goose soprano sax reeds?

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      2. by saxxything78
        (14 posts)

        19 years ago

        Re: Flying Goose soprano sax reeds?

        Damn! You know, upon further inspection of the size and shape of the stock reed that came with the sop, it appears it might be a clarinet reed. It's slightly longer than the various Vandoren sop reeds I got at my local shop. It's definitely not as big as a alto sax (my son has an alto). Funny thing is, I'm getting great warm tone, and the notes are fairly easy to get out (even the lower register). Has anyone ever heard of this? Should I continue to use clarinet reeds, or should I train myself into using the "correct" soprano reed? Any replies welcome.

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        1. by sax_maniac
          (984 posts)

          19 years ago

          Re: Flying Goose soprano sax reeds?

          Some reeds are longer than others. Are the reeds the same width? There's some room for difference, but clarinet reeds are quite skinny and I wouldn't expect them to work on a soprano mouthpiece though they just might if they were wide enough to touch the rails. The length from tip to vamp would be different, too. The true test would be to go buy a single clarinet reed and see how it fits and plays on your horn.

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        2. by saxxything78
          (14 posts)

          19 years ago

          Re: Flying Goose soprano sax reeds?

          It's the same width; just about 1/4" to 3/8" longer. I tried a Vandoren 3.0 reed last night. While I can get a tone out, it requires much more effort than the stock 2.5 flying goose reed it came with. I may run the whole kit-n-kaboodle out to my local shop, and have them determine what reed best fits my needs. I have Vandoren 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 single reeds, with Hemke 2.0 reeds on the way.

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        3. by sax_maniac
          (984 posts)

          19 years ago

          Re: Flying Goose soprano sax reeds?

          If it's the same width, then you've got yourself a soprano reed. Clarinet reeds are noticeably thinner. Takes me a couple of one hour sessions to break in a Vandoren 3.0 (or any reed for that matter) to know if it needs adjustment or not. All cane reeds are a little stiffer at first than they will be after after being played for a while. Once they are broken in, they hold steady for until wear and tear sets in - they they might get to be too soft. I've had cane reeds that played great right out of the box, but then I found them to be a little too soft once they broke in. Lightning may strike me dead for asking this, but have you tried or considered synthetic reeds? I'm not totally crazy about them on soprano, but they do work for some set-ups. I like BARI's and Fibracells on alto, tenor, bari, but on soprano, BARI's don't work as well intonation-wise as Fibracells. And Fibracells are more cane-like in their tone and performance.

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        4. by saxxything78
          (14 posts)

          19 years ago

          Re: Flying Goose soprano sax reeds?

          The goose got shot! Got a box of Hemke 2.0 reeds on 2/24, and these are sweet! The Rico website claims this is the reed Kenny G uses (hold the bashing please). I'm satisfied, and for somebody who doesn't want a whole box of reeds (i.e. 10), the 5 pack is great! End of story.

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