{"id":46312,"date":"2017-10-07T09:06:07","date_gmt":"2017-10-07T16:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=46312"},"modified":"2024-06-24T11:32:19","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T18:32:19","slug":"vintage-reeds-from-a-local-music-store","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2017\/vintage-reeds-from-a-local-music-store\/","title":{"rendered":"Vintage Reeds From A Local Music Store"},"content":{"rendered":"

You never know where you’ll find a stash of vintage reeds<\/h3>\n

Last week I was in our local mom & pop music store to pick up some stuff I had ordered for one of my students. While there, I decided to see what kind of reeds they had. Truth be told, my reed supply is probably already close to that of many a small music store, but hey, you never know what you’ll find…<\/p>\n

As it turns out, I was really lucky that day, as my friend who works there pulled out an old box of reeds that they keep in the back. These cane reeds pre-date the current store, and were part of the inventory of Dewit’s Music.<\/p>\n

Dewit’s Music was a mom & pop-run music store in Abbotsford back when I was school. I took guitar lessons from their daughter back in the day, and went to high school with their son\u2014who himself was a trumpet player. Although not a source for band instruments, Dewit’s was a local place to buy reeds and accessories for your school horns.<\/p>\n

When the Dewit family sold the store a little over 20 years, the current owner bought it, and King’s Music<\/a> was born. Twenty years on, King’s is doing well, and holding its own in the face of competition from the big chains.<\/p>\n

The reed selection that King’s currently has is more than adequate for the students in the area. As a matter of fact, their selection is probably good enough to cater to most intermediate players, and many pros as well\u2014it depends entirely on what you’re looking for.<\/p>\n

Given that my tastes tend to run a bit on the obscure side\u2014although not nearly as obscure as some\u2014I didn’t hold out a whole lot of hope that they would have what I was looking for. Although I was lucky, and did find a box of tenor reeds to try out, I never imagined that I would leave the store with all of these vintage cane gems from 20+ years ago…<\/p>\n

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

Four of the 6 boxes of these vintage reeds are unopened. The top box of clarinet reeds is no longer originally sealed. However, it contains way more than the 4 reeds indicated on the box top. I haven’t counted them, but there are at least 10 or more in the box. Given how little I play clarinet, I suspect the three boxes pictured will be a life-time supply for me. \ud83d\udc7f<\/p>\n

The other box that has been opened, is the Rico brown box for C melody. I haven’t counted the remaining reeds in it, but at most 4 or 5 are missing from the box. I wonder when those reeds were sold, and how old that box is? Although my Runyon C melody MP does take tenor reeds, I do have an original C mel MP kicking around. I’ve never used it since I’ve never had any reeds. Problem solved! \":mrgreen:\"<\/p>\n

We know cane ages well, and some prefer vintage reeds because of this. The question is, does plastic-coated cane age well too? Do the Rico Plasticover reeds from 20-40 years ago play better than the ones of today?<\/p>\n

Mmm… Good question. I wonder if I can answer that.<\/p>\n

Since I have had little joy in finding a synthetic replacement for my older Fibracell baritone reeds\u2014IMHO the ones made in the last 10 or so years are shite\u2014I have switched back to Rico Plasticover. I have been buying new ones, but I do have older ones that I bought 20 or so years ago. (You know, the ones in the silver box.)<\/p>\n

What I should do is test some of the new ones compared to these older, silver box ones I have. I certainly would love to come across a bunch of white boxes of Rico Plasticover for bari in 2\u00bd and 3. Sadly, that has not happened in my travels.<\/p>\n

Mom & pop stores are incredibly important to the musical community<\/h3>\n

I know I sound like a broken record, but seriously, support your local mom & pop stores. Besides being a possible source for vintage stuff from days gone by, they provide valuable services to the community. Let me try to explain…<\/p>\n

Sure ordering online can be convenient, and the selection can be greater. But let me ask you something: How often have you received something that was either: 1. The wrong item, or 2. Broken?<\/p>\n

Given how infrequently I order online, it is quite shocking how frequently I get the wrong stuff sent to me.<\/p>\n

The advantage with dealing with a local store is that if something arrives broken, they deal with it. If the wrong item arrives, again, they deal with it.<\/p>\n

Returns can be a hassle, and if you’ve ordered from a place online, you’re the one stuck dealing with the company’s return policy. Furthermore, there’s no guarantee that the replacement won’t be broken or wrong again either.<\/p>\n

On a more immediate level, the possibility always exists that something breaks just before your show. Maybe a pedal craps out. Maybe a cord frays. Perhaps you lost your box of reeds. Or maybe you need an emergency repair.<\/p>\n

Without a mom & pop shop in your community, you won’t have a place to go to get what you need in an emergency. Sure, a large chain can offer stuff as well, but as we’re seeing lately with large, non-music-related chain stores here in Canada, they are not immune to loss of revenue from online shopping.<\/p>\n

Online shopping through places like Amazon and WWBW, seriously put a dent in the bottom line of retail stores everywhere. If you don’t support your local shops, where are you going to go when you desperately need something NOW?<\/p>\n

Food for thought as you go to order your next box of reeds… Or your next ligature… Or key oil, cork grease, cleaning swabs, books, etc, etc…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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