{"id":26674,"date":"2011-07-31T09:26:31","date_gmt":"2011-07-31T16:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=26674"},"modified":"2024-05-25T16:47:33","modified_gmt":"2024-05-25T23:47:33","slug":"i-betcha-youve-never-seen-a-reed-like-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2011\/i-betcha-youve-never-seen-a-reed-like-this\/","title":{"rendered":"I “Betcha” You’ve Never Seen A Reed Like This…"},"content":{"rendered":"

OK… So maybe you have, but it’s kinda’ interesting anyway. I hadn’t seen this particular brand before, but it does bear a striking resemblance to the Maccaferri Plastic Reed<\/a> that I wrote about on July 9<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A seller on eBay currently has a vintage, “Betcha” alto saxophone reed<\/a> up for auction.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

     Source: daveluth<\/h6>\n

The seller doesn’t say much about this curiosity. He\/she simply writes this:<\/p>\n

Maybe for playing, but certainly a blast from the past. Alto plastic reed and sleeve.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The auction for this vintage, piece of white plastic ends later today. At the time of writing there was 1 bid of $2.00 on this “blast from the past”.<\/p>\n

Now if you’ve missed this auction\u2014which there is a good chance that you will have\u2014fret not, because while trying to do some background research on “Betcha” reeds, I happened across another one for sale. However, this one is a tenor reed.<\/p>\n

This “Betcha” tenor reed that Ruby Plaza<\/a> is selling, appears to be in pretty darn minty condition\u2014as is its original packaging.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

     Source: rubyplaza.com<\/h6>\n

The owners of Ruby Plaza are a bit more descriptive about their vintage, synthetic treasure. Here is what they say about this plastic reed:<\/p>\n

This is an old tenor saxophone reed from the 1940\u2019s. The Betcha is a plastic reed and from the information on the back it is; Always Uniform in Tone- Practically Permanent. The reed itself has the Betcha Trade Mark and the number 1.<\/p>\n

The reed measures about 3 1\/8\u201d long and 5\/8\u201d at the widest point and appears to be in good condition with very faint scratches and pitting. The package measures about 4\u201d by 2\u201d and is in good condition with minimal wear.<\/p>\n

The pictures are not shown at actual size. Please refer to the description for actual measurements.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n

   Source: rubyplaza.com<\/h6>\n

If you are interested in acquiring this interesting, vintage, synthetic reed for your display cabinet, you can buy it from Ruby Plaza for $15.00.<\/p>\n

I have tried to find some concrete information about these “Betcha” reeds, but unfortunately have not come up with much. Pete Thomas mentions them on his website under the category of Rare and Unusual<\/a>. He however, notes that they are circa 1950.<\/p>\n

I have tried doing a patent search for these “Betcha” reeds. However, without an inventor’s name, I have not had any luck. And since nothing on the packaging indicates that they were patented, or that a patent was pending, I suspect that even with a name, a patent search would be fruitless anyway.<\/p>\n

In any event, I believe that it is interesting to take a look at the synthetic reeds of the past. While they may not be as good as the ones we have now, they are an indicator that even 60 and 70 years ago, some players were getting sick and tired of fiddling around with their reeds, and with the inconsistency of cane reeds.<\/p>\n

\n
…this is just my blog<\/em>. <\/span> My \u201creal\u201d <\/b> website is<\/span> www.bassic-sax.info.<\/a> If you\u2019re looking for <\/span> sax info<\/strong>,<\/span> you should check it out too.<\/span>There\u2019s lots<\/em> there! <\/span><\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OK… So maybe you have, but it’s kinda’ interesting anyway. I hadn’t seen this particular brand before, but it does bear a striking resemblance to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[94],"tags":[41,660,644,143,239],"class_list":["post-26674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accessories-saxophone","tag-accessories","tag-ebay","tag-photos","tag-reeds","tag-synthetic-reeds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t