Légère Signature Series Reeds: 18 Months In & Still Liking Them
Légère Signature Series Reeds: 18 Months In & Still Liking Them

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Légère Signature Series Reeds: 18 Months In & Still Liking Them

This entry is part 14 of 16 in the series Saxophone & Gear Reviews

     Photo by H. Kahlke ©2011

I’ve been using the Légère Signature Series reeds exclusively on my tenor for nearly 18 months. These are by far and away the best reeds I have come across.

Now that my Fibracell alto herd is getting thin, the other day I decided to pick up a couple of alto Signature Series reeds from David’s shop. I am just as happy with them as I am with my tenor reeds. For alto though, I prefer the 2½, rather than the 2¼ that I play on tenor.

Looking back at the original review that I wrote when I started using the reeds, I would say that the information presented is still accurate for the most part. I have however, revised the Pro/Con chart to reflect my thoughts after more than a year’s experience with these reeds.

After using the Légère Signature Series reeds for a year and half, I would say that the Pros & Cons of these great reeds could be summed up like this:

Pros Cons
 
Availability—These reeds are currently in production for alto and tenor.

 

Only alto and tenor reeds are available. When will the company be developing Signature Series soprano and baritone reeds? IMO these would be a huge improvement from what’s currently available.*
Very responsive over the entire range of the horn Darker—More core tone and less overtones present. Although many people would see this a “Pro”.
Long lasting—4 reeds in rotation last about a year. (Depending on amount of playing of course, and how well a player takes care of his/her reeds.) Hard to see the reed tip against silver mouthpieces.
Can be worked on Fussy with regards to ligature placement. EG: If you don’t have the Rovner’s fastening screw placed exactly in the middle, the response is impeded and sound is compromised.
Company has a return program to ensure you get the right strength reed. It is easy to overshoot the altissimo note you’re aiming for. Although a player does get used to the reed’s altissimo ability in time, it is still easy to go too high.
Extremely easy altissimo The cost. These reeds cost approx. $25 each… Or about $26.99 in Canada. (Which is pretty funny, since Légère is a Canadian company, and our dollar has been worth more than the US one for quite some time now! )  :wtf:
Overall very playable The reeds may “fatigue” easily, and need to be exchanged during a performance. I guess that’s what set breaks are for.
I have found that the newer reeds I’ve bought (those with a diamond pattern) don’t seem to fatigue as badly as the earlier ones.  

* The reed strength chart on Légère’s website shows soprano Signature Series reeds. Perhaps that means that the soprano reeds are not that far away! ❓

If you haven’t yet tried a Légère Signature Series reed, I encourage you to do so. Even if you don’t like synthetic reeds, be brave, and give one a blow. :saxy:

Even the most dedicated cane user, of which I was once one, could benefit from having a great-blowing, synthetic in his/her sax case. Even if you just keep it there for that 1 in a million chance that you’re at a show and your reed craps out, and your other cane reeds aren’t prepped, or have become water-logged, or were chewed by mice overnight, or ??? The point is, being prepared is not a bad thing, and with a Légère Signature Series reed, you can guarantee that you will be.

…this is just my blog. My “real” website is www.bassic-sax.info. If you’re looking for sax info, you should check it out too.There’s lots there!
 
Series NavigationReplacement Bass Saxophone Case For Vintage American Style Saxes: A ReviewKeilwerth SX90R Shadow Tenor Review

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