After nearly a year of searching, I found a winner.

[brother cavefish]

here are many great reeds, the onyx has it place, a little buzzy and bright for me, , but many good reeds out there ,,personally i prefer the cane, it just sounds better to me , it it definitely a journey each one of my mouthpieces work with a different reed,

[Pete]

Well played Louis,( thought I was listening to Johnny for a moment) it sounded great. Regarding the reeds I agree with you
I bought the Hartman hemp reed months ago and it is still going strong, then I bought the carbon onyx like the one you used in the demo, love them both, last week bought a box of ZZ cane reeds just to see if I was “missing” anything with the cane and I can honestly say I am not.

[Louis]

I can see where you’re coming from Brother Cavefish. So far this reed has worked well on my SYOS and my Otto Link Tonemaster. I feel I still get a warmer, darker, vintage jazz tone on the Link with the new reed still, but it is still slightly brighter than a cane reed. I’d be curious what the other Hartmann reeds would sound like on it for the heck of it. Might be something I’ll try in the near future.

And thanks a lot Pete, that is quite a compliment! When you got the hemp reed, and then the onyx reed, did you notice any difference in the playability with the consistency of the strength between the two? I wouldn’t mind giving the hemp a try. I really don’t think I will be buying cane reeds anytime soon.

[Pete]

Louis I prefer the hemp reed of the two, I think you will like the sound and ease of playing the hemp but hey why change you have a very nice sound, I would stay with it.
The carbon onyx is a little brighter IMO.

[john]

great track Louis, you sound really good.
haha, I woke up this morning with my onyx in mind cause yesterday I noticed it chipped (yes this is the 2nd one).
I will make another video update regarding these reeds cause they’re kinda new for me as well.

as for your testimony and thoughts on them…I couldn’t agree with you more!
Vandoren java have been the best reeds for me over the last 20-30 years and now I just play the onyx.
are they better than that perfect java I get in a box? No, but they’re so responsive, give me the sound I want (which is full and bright) and I don’t spend any more time soaking, testing, soaking, filing etc etc…
an onyx has averaged me around 10 months and they’re under 20 bucks.

[brother cavefish]

10 months , something to say right,,,,yea the Javas are sweet, i have got into rico select unfiled too,, the vandoran trad for real dark, the hemp one might be worth trying,,, for me each one of my MPs need a different reed the woodstone like Java, the Gerber likes V16, and the refaced otto likes Select,, my 10mfans well we will see

[Robert Frederick]

Louis:

What kind of mouthpiece and ligature do you use on this demo?

My Black Onyx plays perfect out of the box and then can get buzzy or stiff with time. I am thinking it is my ligature.

Dr. Bob

[jake]

Great recording!! I too am a synthetic carbon onyx user. Again, not for everyone but after years of various canes I love these things. I hated Legeres, stiff and horrible to me. I actually played on Fibracells before switching over. I am horrible to my reeds. Leave them on my horn on the stand. Pick em up and go when I play. After a couple of minutes warm up, good to go in my opinion. Love how they just respond to me right away. Also, the altissimo is easier for me with these reeds too. I have a hemp reed and way more subtle sounding as compared to the loudness and brightness of the onyx. Not a hemp fan, again, it personal choice. It’s a great feeling when ya get a go to setup!! Keep Rockin!!
Jake

[john]

Legere was my first try at synthetics and I didnt like it ( made a video on it which still might be in the blog section)
Fibracells were better, by that I mean felt closer to a cane reed but it wasn’t until I tried the Fiberreeds that were good enough to leave the cane behind.

[RockinRobin]

I left the cane reeds some time ago and found the carbon onyx reeds to be reliable 100%. So now I’m playing Leanard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” using a medium soft carbon onyx reed with my Guardala King mouthpiece. Cheers

William

[Author]

Posts