I used to use a bari reed on my Rico Royal Graftonite mpc for tenor, but it gave me an almost artificial sound, real edgy and thin, so I switched to a plain rico royal and it plays great, tons of thick edge.

I can't beleive that people can play on those Rico Royal mouthpieces. I find them dreadful, but i know a few people that like them and they can play rather well. As for the synthetics, has anyone tried the Legere Studio Cut?? they are a great reed!

I'm sure there are better mouthpieces out there, but I too like their tenor mouthpieces. I could always get a good sound out of a Rico Royal Graftonite B5 with a Selmer lig and plain reeds. That was before I upgraded tho with the new horn. I think I'm gonna get a Dukoff D7 for the tenor, which would add along to the stock S80 C* which is pretty blah.

I have tried the legiere reeds, and they are good reeds, but a little harsh sounding and will cut up your tongue if you're not careful.

im using vandoren java 3.5.. and for the "duds" or some of the harder reeds in the box ive found a lil trick that helps to soften em up.. my teacher showed me this.. u press pretty firmly up and down the back end of the cut part of the reed.. right where it tapers upward towards the lig.. so after uv wet it and started playing, and uv realized its a dud.. get it nice and wet, and press around on the cut up part of the reed.. focusing on the middle part.. letting it flex and bend around.. i dont know if that made sense.. haha worked for me tho..